Breakthroughs for Calhoun County Golf Tour Victory

Calhoun County, AL – Georgia native Rollins prevails for first Calhoun County Golf Tour victory, and White Plains grad Jason Rich has ‘by far’ his best Tour outing for third

By Joe Medley

When John Rollins stops sawing logs at 5:30 a.m. Monday to go cut logs for a living, he’ll wear a grin wider than two-man saw.

When Jason Rich awakens to deliver food, he’ll be the happiest 2 a.m. riser driving a truck east of the Mississippi River.

Both men made huge breakthroughs on the Calhoun County Golf Tour this weekend, with Rollins scoring his first Tour victory in the Pine Hill Invitational and Rich scoring his Tour-best third-place finish.

Rollins shot a 4-under-par 68 Sunday to back up his 65 from Saturday to beat Ty Cole by four shots. Cole finished second after winning the past two Tour events, on the Links at Briarmeade and at Cider Ridge.

A cutter operator for Triple J, in Summerville, Ga., Rollins is playing his first season on the Calhoun County Tour. He’s also on a roll, having finished third and Briarmeade a week prior to winning at Pine Hill.

He was ninth in Tour points before Pine Hill. The 2023 Tour wraps up with the Calhoun County Championship on Aug. 19-20 at Anniston Municipal.

A former high school state champion and winner of two junior-college events for Northwest Georgia Technical College, Rollins called the Calhoun County Tour “a little bit better” than what he’s used to in Georgia.

After emerging victorious in foursome that included Cole, Brennan Clay and Chad Calvert, Rollins called it “the best feeling in the world ever.”

“Them guys, they’re hounds,” he said. “To be in the final group and win is great. It’s great.”

Rollins entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Clay and Cole and trailed briefly, after Clay chipped in from 25 feet on No. 4 to reach 8 under. Rollins birdied No. 7 to draw even with Clay at 8 under then regained a one-shot lead after the turn.

After bogeying No. 13 to fall back into a tie with Clay, Rollins hit a 15-foot birdie putt on 14 to take the lead for good.

“Finally, I got the long putt to go on the par-4 on the back,” Rollins said. “That really got me going, after that bogey.”

Rollins finished with a birdie, chipping from 15 yards to within 2 feet and tapping in after Clay teed into the woods.

“I was nervous on that last hole, trying to figure out what I needed to hit,” Rollins said. “I was telling them, I need to hit less club because my adrenaline was up so much because Brennan is a great golfer, and he took a bad break on that hole.

“I’ve been there, done that.”

Clay scored a 9 on 18, helping Rich achieve his best Tour finish.

Rich shot 70-68—138 and waited out the finish at the clubhouse. He had the low score before the final foursome finished.

He started on No. 10 and birdied. After leaving a putt short on 11, he went on what he described as “a bit of a birdie rampage” on the back nine.

The third-place finish was quite a coups for the long-time Pine Hill member and 2008 White Plains High graduate who described himself as “a nobody” in high school golf.

“I didn’t get a college scholarship,” he said. “I didn’t start getting a lot better at this game until later on in life. I just kept on playing, no lessons, and got better.

“It seems like, out here, for whatever reason, the last couple of months, I just can’t play bad out here. That’s not the case, if I go to Silver Lakes or Cider Ridge.”

Rich didn’t get to celebrate long. The final round concluded about 6 p.m., and he has to be up at 2 a.m. Monday to get ready to make his delivery rounds for Sysco.

Sleep or no sleep, he’ll be one happy delivery man.

“This is by far the best I’ve ever done,” he said. “This is, like, one of the best days of my life, to be honest with you. This the first time I’ve made the Championship A Flight and played incredible, considering the pressure.”

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