SOUTHERN AMATEUR
CHAMPIONSHIP
1974

By Grantland Rice, II
SGA Executive Director

Orlando, Florida-Atlanta's Danny Yates brought the famed Bay Hill course to its knees in his final drive for the Southern Golf Association's 1974 championship.

The slender Yates shot an amazing 30, six under par,to take the field and win the 68th annual event by three shots over big Andy Bean, the University of Florida long-hitter.

Yates had trailed the leaders by four shots all into the final nine, then took command for good when he rolled in a tremendous 60-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole.

The amazing stroke was enough to put Bean and Vance Heafner, of North Carolina, in the position of having to gamble for birdies on the last three holes.

Yates' final round 69 gave him a 72 hole total of 281, three in front of Bean and five ahead of Heafner, who had made shambles of medalist honors with opening rounds of 67-68.

Actually, Danny thought the turning point probably came on the 568-yard 12th hole when he whistled a four wood shot within four feet of the pin for an easy birdie.

Yates eagled the final hole while trying to lag up for a par. He had risked a three-iron shot over the big lake guarding the green and sank another "snake" with a putt of over 30 feet. That was just icing on the cake.

Haefner,, of Cary, N.C., closed out with rounds of 75-76 for his 286 total.

Jerry Pate, who was later to win the National Amateur and had won the Florida Amateur previous to playing in the Southern, took fourth place with rounds of 72-72-70-73 while a couple of Georgians tied for fifth as Tim Simpson, of Atlanta, and Tifton's Joe Kunes both had 289 totals.

Gary Koch, Temple Terrace, Fla., and Phil Hancock Greenville, Ala., two of the pre-tournament favorites, took seventh and eighth with Koch's 290 total nudging Hancock by a stroke.

Heafner's medalist score enabled North Carolina to take the Bob Jones Four-Ball championship. Bill Harvey, Jamestown, N.C. (144); Dale Morey, SGA president from High Point, N.C. (147) and Jim Haney, Winston-Salem, N.C. (146) teamed with young Heafner's 135 for the team championship.

Danny Yates, Atlanta, GA 68-74-70-69-281
Andy Bean, Lakeland, FL 72-74-70-68-284
Vance Haefner, Cary, NC 67-68-75-76-286
Jerry Pate, Pensacola, FL 72-72-70-73-287
Tim Simpson, Atlanta, GA 73-74-68-74-289
Joe Kunes, Tifton, GA 71-73-75-70-289
Gary Koch, Temple Terrace, FL 71-73-75-71-290
Phil Hancock, Greenville, AL 69-76-74-72-291
Buddy Alexander, St. Petersburg, FL 78-68-75-74-295
Joey Dills, Tulsa, OK 74-71-76-74-295
Bill Harvey, Jamestown, NC 73-71-74-77-295
Dole Morey, High Point, NC 75-72-79-72-298
Mike Taylor, Madison, MS 73-73-76-76-298
John Pratt, Winter Park, FL 67-82-74-76-299
Glen Kirk, Orlando, FL 73-72-77-77-299
Ben Duncan, Quincy, FL 74-74-79-73-300
Kevin Butler, West Palm Beach, FL 75-74-74-77-300
Mickey Van Gerbig, Palm Beach, FL 73-77-75-75-300
Robert Michael, Sarasota, FL 76-74-71-79-300
Allen Powers, Orangeburg, SC 76-74-78-73-301
Bill Lewis, Florence, SC 77-75-77-72-301
Kenneth Scott, Atlanta, GA 73-77-74-77-301
Downing Gray, Pensacola, FL 73-80-76-73-302
Steve Mayo, Knoxville, TN 75-76-75-76-302
Mike Nelms, Chattanooga, TN 79-68-73-82-302
Charles McDuff, Vilalia, LA 73-77-76-77-303
Hinton Leigh, Greensboro, NC 77-75-79-72-303
Robert Dumas, Auburn, AL 74-76-75-78-303
Bill Seleirs, Orlando, FL 78-74-74-78-304
Craig Struthers, Stillwater, OK 77-73-75-79-304
James Homes, Aiken, SC 73-77-79-76-305
Shelby Houston, Shreveport, LA 77-76-75-77-305
Lew Oehmig, Lookout Mountain, TN 76-78-73-78-305
Wylie Ramsey, Morgan, NC 76-74-76-79-305
Jim Haney, Winston-Salem, NC 73-73-74-85-305
Robert Hoyt, Houston, TX 73-79-78-76-306
Buddy Roundtree, Fort Lauderdale, FL 79-74-77-76-306
Michael Murdock, Memphis, TN 79-75-75-77-306
Dean Sheetz, Charlotte, NC 78-74-75-79-306
Wren Lum, Mobile, AL 77-77-74-79-307
Sam Trahan, Cocoa, FL 71-81-75-81-308
Steve Brabner, Mobile, AL 72-78-78-81-309
Jess Bailes, Orlando, FL 73-79-80-77-309
Max Tullos, Jackson, MS 81-72-75-81-309
Robert Shelton, Monroe, LA 78-76-79-77-310
Tim Saylor, East Bend, NC 74-76-80-80-310
Doug Higgins, Fort Worth, TX 73-78-80-79-310
Chris Bateman, Apopka, FL 79-75-78-79-311
Mike Jones, Castleberry, FL 76-75-78-82-311
Jerry Orebaugh, Houston, TX 81-73-74-84-312
Joe Hager, Dallas, TX 80-72-81-80-313
Asa Candler, Atlanta, GA 74-80-76-84-314
Ronnie Kelley, Richmond, VA 75-78-84-78-315
John Gibbs, III, N. Augusta, SC 79-74-80-82-315
Ernset assel, III, Fayetteville, NC 77-76-83-80-316
Robert Wagner, Houston, TX 75-79-80-85-319
John Pacuk, Jacksonville, FL 76-76-83-85-320
Scott Hoch, Raleigh, NC 76-78-85-83-322
Brian McNamara, Orlando, FL 78-76-81-89-324