Georgia Amateur begins today at AAC’s top Highlands Course

There have been plenty of historic moments at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course.

It was the site of Jerry Pate’s laser-like 4-iron approach on the 18th hole that led to his victory at the 1976 U.S. Open. It’s where Cobb County’s Larry Nelson won the 1981 PGA Championship, the first of three majors in his Hall of Fame career. It’s where David Toms made a third-round hole-inone and held off Phil Mickelson with a gutsy up-anddown on the 72nd hole to win the 2001 PGA.

This weekend the home club of Bobby Jones — site of three PGA Championships, one U.S. Open and one U.S. Amateur — will host the 99th Georgia Amateur Championship. It will be the seventh time the club has hosted the event, but the first on the high-profile Highlands Course, elevating Georgia’s premier amateur event to an even higher pedestal.

“It’s kind of like when you go to Augusta National. It’s kind of like when you go to Pine Valley,” said David Noll of Dalton, a two-time Georgia Amateur champion and Georgia Golf Hall of Fame inductee. “It’s just a different feel when you step on those grounds. I can remember seeing video of Jerry Pate’s shot, and I can remember seeing David Toms’ shot. ... There’s just a different feel there than some of the other places we go.”

The Atlanta Athletic Club, one of the founding members of the Georgia State Golf Association, hosted the state amateur five times at its East Lake Course. Since selling that property and moving to the suburbs, it has hosted the Georgia Amateur once, that in 1995 on the adjoining Riverside Course — a venue strong enough to host 1990 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

“You look at the club, and the history is unbelievable,” said Jeff Fages, the GSGA’s manager of rules and competitions. “From Bobby Jones to all the major championships that they’ve held there, it’s just such a prestigious and highly regarded club that’s so steeped in history. I think everyone, when they saw it was going to host the Georgia Amateur, kind of circled that one as a special place, one they wanted to try and qualify for.”

This year’s Georgia Amateur will have a different look and feel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The size of the field has been cut to 120 players, and the tournament has been shortened from 72 to 54 holes. Players will be required to walk, although they may use a push cart or employ a caddie, and numerous safeguards have been put in place by the GSGA to protect the health of the players, volunteers and spectators.

The field includes seven former champions — Noll (2003, 2011), Lee Knox (2010, 2012), Brett Barron (2018), Justin Connelly (2017), Colin Bowles (2016), David Denham (2004) and Rick Cloninger (1999) — and reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion Bob Royak of Alpharetta, the GSGA’s 2019 Player of the Year. Jonathan Keppler, who won the title a year ago at Ansley Golf Club-Settindown Creek, turned professional and will not defend his title.

The state’s Division I schools are well-represented. Georgia Southern has five players in the field — Barron and Bowles, Wilson Andress, Lindsey Cordell and Jake Maples. Georgia has three — Nicolas Cassidy, Will Kahlstorf and Will Chandler. Georgia Tech has Luke Schniederjans and Andy Mao. Mercer has Spencer Ball and Daniel McKenzie. Kennesaw State is represented by Parker Rostowsky.