Mike Jenkins and two of his fellow Chattanooga Golf and Country Club members received good news when the last group of seniors posted their scores Wednesday.
Jenkins, Neil Spitalny and Tom Baird each advanced from the stroke-play rounds to the Tennessee Senior Match Play Championship quarterfinals on Thursday at CGCC.
“I was getting very nervous because I didn’t want to go to bed thinking about that last putt I missed,” said Jenkins, who shot a 4-over 146 through the two stroke-play rounds. “It literally wasn’t a foot long.”
Garry Siddons earned medalist honors in the senior championship with a 139. Baird tied for third at 144 while Jenkins and Spitalny tied at 145. Kevin Mullins shot 146 and earned the final spot in match play with a birdie on the third hole of a three-for-one playoff.
“I didn’t miss a shot,” Baird said. “I had birdie putts on every hole. But I still bogeyed three holes coming in.”
The first potential friend-vs.-friend matchup could come Thursday afternoon if Jenkins and Spitalny advance.
“You’d think with us having three of the eight, that we’d have to face each other early,” Jenkins said.
Five Chattanooga-area golfers advanced to the round of 16 in the open division on Wednesday.
Nick Blakely shot 7 under and earned the No. 2 seeding behind Memphis’s Jonathan Fly, who shot 8 under.
Ryan Thornton tied for third with University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Steven Fox. Steve Johnson and Jeremy Lawson tied for the final spots with even-par scores. Thornton will face Lawson on Thursday morning.
“I haven’t played a whole lot of match play,” said Blakely, who hasn’t competed in the format for nearly five years. “I do like that you can get real aggressive because the hole doesn’t matter on the next tee shot. I can make a lot of birdies if I’m playing well.”
Fox shot a 1-under 70 on Tuesday and followed with a 4-under 67 on Wednesday after making a tweak to his putting stroke.
“Me and coach looked at it, and in two minutes it was fixed,” said Fox, who was 4 under through five holes. “I was making putts all day and that was a plus.”