Secretary-Treasurer Southern Golf Association North Palm Beach, Fla. - Eighteen-year-old Lanny Wadkins became the youngest champion of the Southern Golf Association tournament since Bobby Jones' days when he captured the title at the Lost Tree Club near Palm Beach in July of 1968. Wadkins, of Richmond, Va., stood off the challenge of the finest field in history to take the title on rounds of 71-70-69-74 for a total of 285, one shot in front of University of Houston player David Shuster. Wadkins won the coveted crown despite starting the 72 holes in a most disastrous way. He put his first shot of the tournament out-of-bounds yet came back from that start to post his opening 71 and go on to a three under par total for the 72 hole route. Bobby Greenwood, Cookeville, Tenn., blistered the famed ocean layout for a course record 64 in the second round and this helped him to third place at 287, one shot back of Shuster. Greenwood's hot eight-under-par round broke the old course record by two shots set by a couple of fair country golfers named Nicklaus and Palmer. Rounding out the top ten were Robert Babarossa, University of Houston, at 288; Dale Morey, High Point, N.C. and John Mahaffey, another Houston U. player at 289; Bill Harvey, Greensboro, N. C., Hubert Green, Birmingham, Ala., and Bruce Fleisher, Miami, at 290 with Joe Inman, Jr., Greensboro, N.C. at 291. Of the top ten finishers only Greenwood, Morey and Harvey were non-collegians. Greenwood got there with his second round 64, Morey was helped by a 67, also in the second round, and Harvey fashioned a two-under 70 in the last round to gain a spot in the top ten. Fleisher, the Miami junior college hot shot who later in the year won the National Amateur, had troubles in the second round with a 75 or he could have put on some pressure in the final 18. Marvin (Vinny) Giles III, the 1967 Southern winner from Charlottesville, Va., finished in a tie for 11th at 293. The redhead just couldn't get a hot round going as he shot 72-74-72-75. However, he came back later in the summer to finish second by one shot for the second year in a row in the National Amateur. Florida won the Bob Jones four-ball championship with Shuster (137), Barbarossa (144), Fleisher (144) and Downing Gray (144), combining for a total of 569 for the first two rounds, four shots in front of North Carolina. Shuster took medalist honors with his 69-68 opening rounds for 137, a shot better than Greenwood's 138 fashioned with a 74-64. The field for the 62nd annual Southern closed at the earliest date in history with the 210 spots taken a month before the tournament, indicating that interest continues to grow in this prestige tournament. The field was reduced, after 36 holes, to the championship, first and second divisions with 109 contestants. Bobby Wadkins, younger brother of the champion, won the first division with a 294 total and Mike Schlueter and Jay Horton tied for first in the second division. The 1969 Southern Golf Association championship is to be played at the Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville, July 16-19th. |
| Final Results | ||
| Lanny Wadkins | Richmond, Va. | 71-70-69-75--285 |
| David Shuster | No. Palm Beach, Fla. | 69-68-76-73--286 |
| Bobby Greenwood | Cookeville, Tenn. | 74-64-75-74--287 |
| Robert Barbarossa | Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | 70-74-76-68--288 |
| Dale Morey | High Point, N. C. | 74-67-75-73--289 |
| John Mahaffey | Houston, Tex. | 72-72-74-71--289 |
| Hubert Green | Birmingham, Ala. | 71-72-72-75--290 |
| Bruce Fleisher | Miami, Fla. | 69-75-73-73--290 |
| Bill Harvey | Greensboro, N.C. | 69-75-77-70--290 |
| Joe Inman, Jr. | Greensboro, N.C. | 73-72-71-75--291 |
| Marvin Giles, III | Charlottesville, Va. | 72-74-72-75--293 |
| Mickey Van Gerbig | Palm Beach, Fla. | 72-73-75-73--293 |
| Bobby Wadkins | Richmond, Va. | 75-73-76-70--294 |
| Jack Veighte | Clearwater, Fla. | 73-73-76-72--294 |
| Elliott Kirven | Columbus, Ga. | 75-74-73-74--296 |
| Steve Melnyk | Brunswick, Ga. | 76-75-73-72--296 |
| Lew Oehmig | Chattanooga, Tenn | 77-73-74-73--297 |
| Cobby Ware | Atlanta, Ga. | 70-74-76-77--297 |
| Michael Killian | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 77-75-74-72--298 |
| Downing Gray | Pensacola, Fla. | 77-67-71-83--298 |
| Kenneth Sawyer | Guilford College, N.C. | 69-74-82-74--299 |
| Allen Keminisky | Atlanta, Ga. | 67-76-77-79--299 |
| Kevin Butler | Palm Beach, Fla. | 74-74-72-80--300 |
| Marlen Vogt, Jr. | Jacksonville, Fla. | 74-73-80-73--300 |
| Tom Jones, Jr | Valley Head, Ala. | 72-74-75-80--301 |
| Corker DeLoach | McMinnville, Tenn | 76-74-76-75--301 |
| John Durr | Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | 73-76-77-75--301 |
| Charles Harrison | Atlanta, Ga. | 82-71-76-72--301 |
| Lyn Lott | Douglas, Ga. | 74-80-74-74--302 |
| Allen Miller | Pensacola, Fla. | 76-79-75-72--302 |
| Charles McCallum | Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | 76-74-76-77--303 |
| David Everett | Macon, Ga. | 74-76-78-75--303 |
| Eddie Pearce | Temple Terrace, Fla. | 72-76-82-73--303 |
| Richard Stephens | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 69-78-77-80--304 |
| Dick Pride | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 74-75-76-79--304 |
| Billy Joe Patton | Morganton, N.C | 75-73-82-74--304 |
| Mike Taylor | Meridian, Miss | 74-81-71-78--304 |
| David Barnes | Atlanta, Ga. | 69-76-81-79--305 |
| Phil Lockey | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 72-75-80-78--305 |
| Larry White | Chattanooga, Tenn. | 78-74-80-73--305 |
| Bobby Egerton | Raleigh, N. C | 80-72-74-79--305 |
| Sam Farlow | Birmingham, Ala. | 77-76-76-76--305 |
| Jeff Thompson | Knoxville, Tenn | 78-71-78-79--306 |
| Jerry Greenbaum | Atlanta, Ga. | 73-77-77-79--306 |
| John Stolz III | Coral Gables, Fla. | 77-73-75-81--306 |
| Curtis Person, Sr. | Memphis, Tenn. | 74-79-75-78--306 |
| Jav Horton | Wilmington, N.C. | 81-75-77-73--306 |
| Mike Schlueter | Greensboro, N.C. | 78-78-74-76--306 |
| Dick McNeil | Miami, Fla. | 74-76-76-81--307 |
| Kim Schwencke | No. Palm Beach, Fla. | 73-78-79-77--307 |
| Robert -Stevens | No. Palm Beach, Fla. | 73-78-79-77--307 |
| Edward Everett | Macon. Ga. | 74-76-82-76--308 |
| Bucky Avers | Athens, Ga. | 72-77-81-78--308 |
| Richard Whitfield | Vero Beach, Fla. | 70-78-82-79--309 |
| Bob Thompson | Greenville, S.C. | 73-84-79-73--309 |