Council Fire professional Richard Rebne shot a 9-under-par 133 over two rounds to win the Tennessee PGA Senior Professional championship Monday and Tuesday at Brentwood Country Club. Rebne, who won for a third year in a row, defeated runner-up Buddy Harston of Kingston Springs (and the Vanderbilt Legends Club) by four strokes, 133 to 137.
The victory earns Rebne an exemption into the Senior PGA national championship, which will be played Oct. 15-18 on the Monterey Peninsula of California at the Bayonet & Black Horse course. Jared Melson of Tullahoma tied for fifth at 141 and also qualified for the nationals.
“I’m very much looking forward to going out to there,” Rebne said, “because I’ve heard it’s gorgeous and the course is fantastic.”
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s coach Mark Guhne also shot 141 and is the first alternate after coming in third out of a four-for-two playoff. Hunt Gilliland, Council Fire’s director of golf, tie dfor 13th at 1 44.
“I haven’t been playing much and I haven’t been playing very well,” Guhne said. “I found something up there and I got to hitting it better, and it ended up being a lot of fun.”