With the Calhoun County Tour back at Gadsden Country Club, Cole making move in one of his favorite tournaments to lead the Gadsden Invitational by one stroke headed into final round.
By Joe Medley
GADSDEN — Gadsden Country Club came back onto the Calhoun County Golf Tour this year after, and one perennial Tour contender’s name spells out a six-letter GCC cheat code.
T-y C-o-l-e.
Cole shot a 3-under-par 68 Saturday to go with his 5-under 66 on Friday and sits alone atop the Gadsden Invitational field headed into Sunday’s final round, one stroke ahead of Chelsea’s Andrew Gladden.
Brennan Clay and Tour points leader Gary Wigington stand three strokes off of the pace.
Cole, who has won the Gadsden Invitational four times, was easy to point out as a potential favorite Tour rekindled with GCC. He’s a Gadsden native and knows the course as well as anyone in the field.
He last won the Gadsden Invitational in 2021.
“I’ve always liked this tournament,” he said. “I started playing it when I was 16 or 17, so I’ve always liked the golf course.
“I guess being from Gadsden originally, I’ve just always liked playing the golf course.”
What’s more, if Cole gets his second Tour win of the 2025 season, it will tighten up an already tight Tour points race. The six-time player of the year stood in third place with 1,152.5 points coming into the tournament despite missing two Tour events this season.
Points reset to factor in each player’s top-five finishes going into the Calhoun County Championship on Aug. 16-17 at Anniston Municipal. The season’s final points event counts points and a half, meaning a win counts for 450 points instead of the usual 300.
Cole is 226 points behind Wigington and 111 behind Jacob LeCroy.
Cole is coming off of a third-place finish in last weekend’s Oxford City Championship. After struggles with the putter at Cider Ridge, he bought a new putter going into a tournament on what amounts to his home course.
“I was about to throw that other one in the pond,” he said. “Who’s to say if it made any difference. Any time you get something, and you think it’s going to help, you may think it helps more than it actually helps.
“It’s just a different style, just a totally different look with that putter I’ve had forever. It’s something that looks different, maybe try to keep some short putts on line a little bit more.”
Cole said his round Saturday was “nothing spectacular.” After going bogey-free on Friday, he bogeyed Nos. 3 and 6 Saturday to go with three birdies and finish the front nine at 34.
He matched that with a 34 on the back nine, bogeying No. 11 but scoring birdies on three of the next five holes.
“I just tied to keep it in front of me and avoid big numbers,” he said. “If you start missing fairways out there, it’s easy to make big numbers on that golf course.”
As for the new putter, its continued place of honor in Cole’s bag remains uncertain. Check with him after Sunday’s final round.
“It may work,” he said, “and it might be in a closet next week.”
Elsewhere in the field, John Rollins shot Saturday’s best round at 4-under 67 to 2-under 140 for the tournament, six strokes behind Cole.
Clay, a first-round co-leader after shooting one of three 66s, shot hits first over-par round of the year at 73.
Gladden, a Greystone member and Cole’s nearest competition, had one birdie on the front nine, No. 9, and three on the back Saturday, on Nos. 11, 15 and 17.
“It was a little bit of a struggle today, versus yesterday,” Gladden said. “I didn’t hit it as good. I just had to grind it out, made some good par putts and just hung in there.”
Gadsden Invitational scores through Saturday
| FLIGHT 1 | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1-RD. 2 | TOTAL |
| Ty Cole | 66-68 | 134 |
| Andrew Gladden | 66-69 | 135 |
| Ken Goforth | 68-70 | 138 |
| Brennan Clay | 67-72 | 139 |
| Gary Wigington | 71-68 | 139 |
| Dane Moore | 70-70 | 140 |
| John Rollins | 73-67 | 140 |
| Jacob LeCroy | 70-71 | 141 |
| Luke Armstrong | 66-75 | 141 |
| FLIGHT 2 | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1-2 | TOTAL |
| Chad Calvert | 74-68 | 142 |
| Justin Graveman | 73-70 | 143 |
| Harrison Martin | 73-70 | 143 |
| Trent Mansfield | 71-73 | 144 |
| Layton Bussey | 75-69 | 144 |
| Morgan Cunningham | 71-74 | 145 |
| Eli Edge | 75-70 | 145 |
| Daily Thomas | 74-71 | 145 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 74-72 | 146 |
| Corey Ray | 75-72 | 147 |
| Mason Dennis | 77-70 | 147 |
| Mark McCaig | 72-76 | 148 |
| Kevin Daugherty | 71-78 | 149 |
| FLIGHT 3 | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1-2 | TOTAL |
| Chris Hummel | 79-71 | 150 |
| Timmy Woodard | 81-69 | 150 |
| Lee Hubbard | 77-74 | 151 |
| Chandler Richards | 73-79 | 152 |
| Tanner Wells | 77-75 | 152 |
| Randy Lipscomb | 75-79 | 154 |
| Jeff Noah | 79-76 | 155 |
| Jason Britton | 79-77 | 156 |
| Jonathan Gibson | 79-78 | 157 |
| Houston Black | 81-76 | 157 |
| FLIGHT 4 | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1-2 | TOTAL |
| Michael Thomas | 77-81 | 158 |
| Andrew Gunnells | 80-79 | 159 |
| Cove McHugh | 81-79 | 160 |
| Chris Sanford | 81-79 | 160 |
| Dre Davenport | 81-81 | 162 |
| Chad Reavis | 80-83 | 163 |
| Josh Ballew | 79-93 | 172 |
| Vance Lewis | 78-WD | |
| REGULAR A FLIGHT | ||
| NAME | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Anthony Mancini | 70 | 70 |
| Jake Goggans | 72 | 72 |
| Keith Crumpton | 72 | 72 |
| Matt Rogers | 73 | 73 |
| Chase Hollingsworth | 73 | 73 |
| Bumper Jones | 75 | 75 |
| Michael Downey | 75 | 75 |
| Brian Woodfin | 75 | 75 |
| Charles Brand | 76 | 76 |
| Jeff Hammontree | 77 | 77 |
| Malachi Taylor | 77 | 77 |
| Tyler Coley | 77 | 77 |
| Eric Messer | 77 | 77 |
| Aaron Gregerson | 77 | 77 |
| REGULAR B FLIGHT | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| David Coffey | 78 | 78 |
| Caleb Morrow | 78 | 78 |
| Brad Landin | 78 | 78 |
| Andrew Ford | 79 | 79 |
| Ted Gregerson | 80 | 80 |
| Nathan Nailer | 80 | 80 |
| Hank Bangs | 80 | 80 |
| Ryan Huff | 80 | 80 |
| Alan Smedley | 81 | 81 |
| Greg Stack | 82 | 82 |
| Danny Whittaker | 83 | 83 |
| Justin Pickard | 84 | 84 |
| Graham Morrow | 84 | 84 |
| Chase Thomas | 84 | 84 |
| REGULAR C FLIGHT | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Henry Pritchett | 85 | 85 |
| Dylan Jackson | 85 | 85 |
| Mason Aulsbrook | 86 | 86 |
| Matt Greer | 86 | 86 |
| Scott Jimmerson | 87 | 87 |
| Mark Gaines | 93 | 93 |
| Larry Champion | 89 | 89 |
| Kenny Fulmer | 90 | 90 |
| James Harrison | 92 | 92 |
| Ryan Townley | 92 | 92 |
| Keith Hutcheson | 95 | 95 |
| Stephen Jenkins | 97 | 97 |
| Drew Keenum | 102 | 102 |
| SENIORS | ||
| PLAYER | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Donnie Sutton | 72 | 72 |
| David Lipscomb | 79 | 79 |
| Ed Lindsey | 87 | 87 |
Final-round tee times
8 a.m.: David Lipscomb, Donnie Sutton, Ed Lindsey.
8:10 a.m.: Drew Keenum, Stephen Jenkins, Mark Gaines.
8:20 a.m.: Keith Hutcheson, Ryan Townley, James Harrison.
8:30 a.m.: Kenny Fulmer, Larry Champion, Scott Jimmerson.
8:40 a.m.: Henry Pritchett, Dylan Jackson, Mason Aulsbrook, Matt Greer.
8:50 a.m.: Graham Morrow, Chase Thomas, Justin Pickard.
9 a.m.: Greg Stack, Danny Whittaker, Alan Smedley.
9:10 a.m.: Ryan Huff, Ted Gregerson, Hank Bangs, Nathan Nailer.
9:20 a.m.: Andrew Ford, Brad Landin, Caleb Morrow, David Coffey.
9:30 a.m.: Eric Messer, Aaron Gregerson, Tyler Coley.
9:40 a.m.: Malachi Taylor, Jeff Hammontree, Charles Brand.
10 a.m.: Brian Woodfin, Michael Downey, Bumper Jones, Chase Hollingsworth.
10:10 a.m.: Anthony Mancini, Jake Goggans, Keith Crumpton, Matt Rogers.
10:20 a.m.: Chad Reavis, Dre Davenport, Josh Ballew.
10:30 a.m.: Chris Sanford, Cove McHugh, Andrew Gunnells, Michael Thomas.
10:40 a.m.: Houston Black, Jonatthan Gibson, Jason Britton.
10:50 a.m.: Jeff Noah, Randy Lipscomb, Tanner Wells.
11 a.m.: Chandler Richards, Lee Hubbard, Timmy Woodard, Chris Hummel.
11:20 a.m.: Kevin Daugherty, Mark McCaig, Mason Dennis.
11:30 a.m.: Corey Ray,, Jeremy McGatha, Eli Edge.
11:40 a.m.: Daily Thomas, Morgan Cunningham, Trent Mansfield.
11:50 a.m.: Layton Bussey, Harrison Martin, Justin Graveman, Chad Calvert.
Noon: Jacob LeCroy, Luke Armstrong, John Rollins.
12:10 p.m.: Dane Moore, Gary Wigington, Brennan Clay.
12:20 p.m.: Ty Cole, Ken Goforth, Andrew Gladden.
