Golf Notebook: Senior Amateur Qualifier Puts Lookout Mountain Club in the Spotlight

July 14, 2024

Paul Payne

While last weekend’s Chattanooga Men’s Metro Tournament served as a dress rehearsal, all eyes will be on Lookout Mountain Club as the venerable golf club unveils its recent transformation to a wider audience on Tuesday with considerably more at stake.

Unveiled last summer, the highly acclaimed handiwork of architects Tyler Rae and Kyle Franz undoubtedly caught the attention of Metro attendees who had not previously seen the work, which was less a renovation and more a completion of the intentions of original designer Seth Raynor.

On Tuesday, the USGA will host an 18-hole qualifying tournament that will reward the top four players and two alternates with a spot in the U.S. Senior Amateur, which will be held on the Honors Course from Aug. 24-29. This is one of 50 qualifying tournaments to fill the full field of 156 players.

The field of 69 golfers includes 20 participants with local ties, including Steve Johnson of Lookout Mountain Club, who won the Men’s Metro Senior Division title, and Super Senior Champion Richard Brame, who was a member of the LMC before moving to the Honors Course.

Other members of the host club hoping to progress include Pat Corey, Pat McDonald, Zeb Patten and David Walker.

Creeks Bend Golf Club is well represented by Brent Henley, Kip Henley, Scott Patton and John Pierce, while Tom Baird and Jeff Kopet come from Chattanooga Golf & Country Club.

Other local participants include Gerald Burrell (Bear Trace in Harrison Bay), Jeff Cox (Brainerd), Neill Hatcher (Cleveland Country Club), Lee Philips (The Farm), Jay Potter (Bear Trace in Tims Ford), Tom Schreiner (McLemore Club), Jeff Sherrill (Moccasin Bend) and Chris Bloebaum.

Participants come from seven states, including California, and one participant is from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

To follow the action once play begins at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, head to the LMC Qualifier.

Whitfield in the US Amateur final qualifier: Signal Mountain native Thad Whitfield is in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, on Monday, just 18 holes away from advancing to the U.S. Amateur Championship. The recent McCallie School graduate and future MTSU golfer is at Lake Forest Country Club, competing with 51 other competitors for one of the coveted spots to advance to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, which runs Aug. 12-18.

Whitfield tees off at 9:42 CDT and the action can be seen at the US Am Qualifier.

Other players in the field with Tennessee ties include University of Tennessee golfer Evan Woosley-Reed of Shelbyville, incoming freshman Christian Pardue of Arlington, JJ Zimmer of Humboldt, Grant Milling of Nashville, Tennessee Wesleyan University’s Joshua Loveday of Englewood and Winburne Hughes of Memphis.

Also competing is Haymes Snedeker, the older brother of PGA Tour veteran Brandt Snedeker.

Future Vol Jackson Herrington of Dickson, who became the youngest winner of the Tennessee State Open last week, will travel to Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC for his qualifying match on Wednesday.

The legend of Blades Brown continues to grow: Blades Brown of Brentwood, one of the country’s top junior golfers, added another entry to his impressive accolades last week. The rising high school junior won the decisive point in the 34th round last week with a 2&1 victory.^th Wyndham Cup at the Golf Club at Briar’s Creek in Johns Island, SC

Since 1990, the Wyndham Cup has brought together 40 of the country’s best junior golfers (20 men and 20 women) in an east-west team match play tournament. The Wyndham Cup is not only known for attracting some of the best junior golfers in the world each year, but also for its legendary venues.

Given Brown’s demanding competitive golf schedule, it was also announced last week that the former Brentwood Academy student will transition his education to an online curriculum. Earlier this spring, Brown signed a multi-year NIL partnership with Transcend Capital Advisors.

Last year, Brown became the youngest co-medalist in U.S. Amateur history, breaking the record set by then-18-year-old Bobby Jones in 1920. In his first U.S. Amateur tournament, his second-round 8-under 64 was the best round of the day. Earlier, Brown had shot rounds of 65 and 62 to become a co-medalist on his qualifying spot for the U.S. Amateur.

In October, Brown won his third consecutive Tennessee Division II-AA state title. He shot 64 out of 66 for a 14-under-par total, tying the boys’ two-day state tournament scoring record, putting him five strokes ahead of his closest rival and leading Brentwood Academy to a 12-stroke lead in the team championship.

The following month, Brown shot another 64 in the final round – again the lowest score of the day – to win the Elite Invitational in Myrtle Beach, SC. His three-round total of 200 is another new tournament record. His other wins in 2023 include the AJGA Junior Invitational, the Huntsville.org Junior Invitational, the Wyndham Invitational and the Tennessee Junior Amateur, where he broke the scoring record with a three-round score of 22 under par (194 strokes).

Brown made his PGA Tour debut in May, finishing 26th.^th with a score of 10 under par (274) at the Myrtle Beach Classic. Together with fellow countryman Jackson Herrington from Tennessee, he reached the final of the US Amateur Four-Ball Championship in May.

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You can reach Paul Payne at [email protected].