Calhoun County Team Championship Winners

Calhoun County, AL – Cole-Wigington birdie two of the final three holes to break tie with Wells-Wilborn, win Calhoun County Team Championship.

By Joe Medley

SILVER LAKES — Gary Wigington could not recall ever being on the winning team in the Calhoun County Team Championship. Ty Cole’s was’t certain, but said it might’ve occurred early in his time as Wigington’s two-man partnership.

Feed the data into the Spandau Ballet “I Know This Much Is True” computer, and it’s at least been a long time.

Cole-Wigington birdied two of the final three holes to break out of a tie with Tanner Wells-Chandler Wilborn in Sunday’s final round Silver Lakes and definitely put their name on the list of teams that have won the county’s two-man championship.

They have the plaques to prove it and posed the picture, for posterity’s sake, with Cole standing atop the Silver Lakes fireplace hearth base next to his much taller teammate.

“It feels good (to win the county two man),” Wigington said. “I didn’t think we were ever going to.

“We’ve played in it every year, as far as I know, that they’ve had it.”

Cole-Wigington’s victory comes on the same day that Jeremy McGatha aced No. 17 to help him and partner Brennan Clay take the first flight by three strokes. They played in the same group with Mark McCaig and Sawyer Edwards.

‘I hit a gap wedge right up behind the hole, and it started trickling back,” McGatha said. “It got right to the lip and hung there, and we were like, ‘Ugh!’

“Then it disappeared. It was crazy.”

The county two man is not a points event but kicks off the Calhoun County Golf Tour each year. Individually, Cole and Wigington have combined to win 10 county player-of-the-year titles, including Cole’s title in 2023.

They’ve won just about every event and title there is to win on he county tour, but the season’s first event has proved to be, at the very least, elusive.

“I want to say we won it the first year we played in it together,” Cole said. “Whatever year we played in the Sunny King together for the first time, I think we won it that year.”

That would’ve been 2016. Cole-Wigington won the Sunny King in their maiden run together, and Cory Etter-Caleb Bowen won the county two-man title that year.

More certain was Cole’s clutch shooting in the final three holes Sunday.

Cole-Wigington entered Sunday’s final round at 12 under par and tied with Wells-Wilborn and Vance Lewis-John Rollins. They led by two strokes after Saturday’s first round.

Cole-Wigington and Wells-Wilborn were tied at 20 under par for the tournament going into No. 16, with Cole-Wigington play one group ahead of Wells-Wilborn’s group. Cole came through with birdies on the next two holes, and he an Wigington finished at 22 under par.

With Cole having culled his bag lately, he improvised.

‘I changed my bad setup, so what I normally would hit on that shot on 16 would be like a hybrid,” he said. “But I took the hybrid out and put my 3 iron in, and I was down, so I had to choke up a 3 wood.

“It just ended up on the back and then two-putted.”

His birdie putt on No. 17 needed every last bit of umph he put behind it.

“It would not have made if it had to roll another half inch,” Cole said. “I thought I hit it good, but it just broke more.”

Cole came close to sinking a birdie on 18 for good measure.

“We typically don’t play good early in the year, anyway,” Cole said. “For us to win this feels pretty good.”