Anniston, AL – Brooks, Wigington tied for lead after first round of Anniston City Championship. Four players two strokes back. Includes scores and Sunday tee times.
By Joe Medley
Andrew Brooks was a fan of history after Saturday’s first round of the Anniston City Championship at Cane Creek.
Conversation about his two Calhoun County Golf Tour wins prompted him to look across a table at his co-leader and remind Gary Wigington just who won that County Match Play championship once upon a time.
Brooks and Wigington shot 3-under-par 69s on Saturday and will join Landon Straub and Brennan Clay in the final tee group for Sunday’s final round.
They stand two strokes ahead of Straub, Clay, Kevin Daugherty and Chad Calvert.
Brooks, who also won last year’s Calhoun County Championship, seeks his third tour victory while playing in the fourth Tour points event of 2023.
“There’s still a lot of golf left,” Brooks said. “It’s always good to be in this position, going into Sunday.”
Brooks co-leads in a tournament he skips most years. It worked out that son Anderson’s baseball pursuits as part of Alexandria’s 11-under all-stars took the weekend off, allowing him to make his third Tour appearance this season.
He shot his season-low round, one stroke better than his final-round 70 in the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational earlier this month. That put him on top of the Championship B Flight at Anniston Country Club.
He goes into the final round of the Anniston City Championship with a chance to win. Getting to that position came down to shaking off back-to-back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10, 11 and 12 on Saturday.
“I got off to a pretty good start, birdieing 2 and 4, then birdied 9 to cap off the front,” he said. “Went into the holler and made three straight bogeys.
“I just didn’t let it get me down the rest of the way.”
Brooks rebounded to par No. 13 and birdie the par-5 14th hole. That was the first of three birdies in four holes. He hit 11 fairways and 13 greens in regulation and finished the day with 27 putts.
Co-leader Wigington hit 10 fairways and 15 greens with 31 putts.
“One of the better days I had in a while,” said Wigington, who won the RTJ-Silver Lakes Championship to open the season and leads the Tour points. “Only had one bogey today. Just happy to be in contention for tomorrow.”
First-round scores
| CHAMPIONSHIP A FLIGHT | |||
| Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| Gary Wigington | 69 | 69 | |
| Andrew Brooks | 69 | 69 | |
| Brennan Clay | 71 | 71 | |
| Chad Calvert | 71 | 71 | |
| Kevin Daugherty | 71 | 71 | |
| Landon Straub | 71 | 71 | |
| Justin Graveman | 72 | 72 | |
| Jeremy McGatha | 74 | 74 | |
| CHAMPIONSHIP B FLIGHT | |||
| Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| Dustin Travis | 77 | 77 | |
| Chad Key | 77 | 77 | |
| Chris Cox | 77 | 77 | |
| Cam Hurst | 77 | 77 | |
| Dre Davenport | 77 | 77 | |
| Matt Rogers | 78 | 78 | |
| Hunter Carr | 78 | 78 | |
| Chance Harris | 78 | 78 | |
| Doug Huie | 78 | 78 | |
| Tyler Romine | 79 | 79 | |
| Chance Haywood | 79 | 79 | |
| Landon Holley | 79 | 79 | |
| David Coffey | 79 | 79 | |
| CHAMPIONSHIP C FLIGHT | |||
| Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| Blake Grisham | 80 | 80 | |
| Coleman Messer | 81 | 81 | |
| Bob Eaton | 82 | 82 | |
| Nick Pollard | 82 | 82 | |
| Benji Turley | 82 | 82 | |
| Taylor Vera | 83 | 83 | |
| Matt Hardigan | 83 | 83 | |
| Michael Ledbetter | 84 | 84 | |
| Houston Black | 87 | 87 | |
| Logan Turner | 89 | 89 | |
| Andrew Betts | 89 | 89 | |
| Jamarcus Stokes | 91 | 91 | |
| Larry Champion | 98 | 98 | |
| Greg Cordle | 99 | 99 | |
| SENIOR DIVISION | |||
| Player | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| Chip Howell | 70 | 70 | |
| Tim Steward | 76 | 76 | |
| David Fitzgerald | 79 | 79 | |
| Jerry Kemp | 80 | 80 | |
| Rocco D’Gomez | 80 | 80 | |
| John McKenzie | 83 | 83 | |
| Rick Dickson | 83 | 83 | |
| Dennis Moyer | 87 | 87 | |
| Jim Sirmon | 97 | 97 | |
| OTHERS | |||
| Greg Burnett | WD | ||
| Mike Thompson | WD | ||
| Eric Cannington | NS |
Sunday’s tee times
8 a.m.: Chip Howell, Tim Steward, David Fitzgerald, Jerry Kemp
8:15 a.m.: Rocco D’Gomez, John McKenzie, Rick Dickson
8:30 a.m.: Dennis Moyer, Jim Sirmon, Greg Cordle, Andrew Betts
8:45 a.m.: Larry Champion, Jamarcus Stokes, Logan Turner, Houston Black
9 a.m.: Michael Ledbetter, Matt Hardigan, Taylor Vera, Nick Pollard
9:15 a.m.: Bob Eaton, Coleman Messer, Blake Grissom, Benji Turley
9:30 a.m.: Starter’s time
9:45 a.m.: Tyler Romine, Chance Haywood, Landon Holley
10 a.m.: David Coffey, Matt Rogers, Doug Huie
10:15 a.m.: Hunter Carr, Chance Harris, Daniel Black, Dre Davenport
10:30 a.m.: Cam Hurst, Chad Key, Dustin Travis, Chris Cox
10:45 a.m.: Starter’s time
11 a.m.: Kevin Daugherty, Chad Calvert, Justin Graveman, Jeremy McGatha.
11:15 a.m.: Gary Wigington, Andrew Brooks, Landon Straub, Brennan Clay.
