Soaker

Oxford, AL – Downpours had their say in second round of Sunny King Charity Classic, but Burgess/McCullum maintain one-stroke lead. LeCroy/Hughston, Bussey/Montenegro one stroke back, and Cole-Wigington make a move.

Late Sunday tee times

By Joe Medley

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The Sunny King Charity Classic’s 2021 move from mid-July to mid-September brought mostly good for Northeast Alabama’s long-standing gem of a charity golf tournament, but potential weather patterns was a wash.

The Sunny King traded July’s frequent afternoon thunderstorms for September’s potential tropical patterns.

Hurricane Francine’s outer bands left behind a tropical moisture pattern, and it laid tracks from southeast to northwest over Calhoun County during Saturday’s second round. The top three teams coming out of Friday’s first round, weathered the rain train reasonably well, all shooting 14 under par on Saturday to hold position.

The two-man tandem of Garrett Burgess/Taylor McCullum stands at 55-58—113 to maintain a one-stroke lead over Jacob LeCroy/Harrison Hughston (56-58—114) and defending champions Layton Bussey/Jesus Montenegro (56-58—114).

Ty Cole/Gary Wigington shot the day’s best round at 15-under 57 to move into fourth, one stroke back of LeCroy/Hughston and Bussey/Montenegro.

It sets up a Sunday showdown at Anniston Country Club, and the best news just might be that Mother Nature appears to have had her say in the 45th Sunny King. Forecasts call for overnight showers but only a 15 percent change of rain come early afternoon, when the leading teams will tee off.

That will come as a relief after Saturday’s soaker, which prompted organizers to briefly call teams off of the Cider Ridge on Saturday because of unplayable conditions.

“When the rain started falling, it was real tough,” McCullum said. “The course was pretty soft, so you could just hit it in the air, and the ball was just hitting and stopping.

“There was no wind, really. I mean, it was tough, but kind of let it get away from us there at the end, when the rain started falling. We drug our feet all the way to the house.”

After turning in their scorecard, Burgess and McCullum made a beeline to their car and headed off to change into dry clothes as soon as possible.

Burgess, a Sunny King regular who teamed with Cypress Hathorn to win in 2013, could not recall rain quite like Saturday’s in previous Sunny Kings.

“We’ve never in rain like this, I don’t think,” he said. “That rain we had on 6 through 9 coming in was almost impossible. It was unbelievable.”

Burgess/McCullum started their round on the back nine, shooting 28. After parring their seventh (16) and eighth (17) holes, they went into the turn with a birdie, the first of six in a row.

They parred three of the final four holes, 6-9 on the course.

“The rain was howling after we got done with 4,” Burgess said. “We ended up hitting driver-driver on No. 5, and I was able to get up and down for birdie.

“After 5, it was like, I do’n’t know how we’re going to be able to finish. There was water everywhere.”

Burgess-McCullum played later in the day than their two nearest competitors and got the worst of the rain. Could that end up playing a role in the final outcome?

“I would’ve liked to have had a few extra shots Jacob and Harrison and Jesus and them,” McCullum said. “We kind of messed up there. We could’ve at least made one or two more (birdies) and had a two- or three-shot lead.

“We’re going to do our best. I do’n’t know if we can hold those young bucks off, but we’re going to try.”

Bussey-Montenegro went 28-30 front to back with 14 birdies and no bogeys.

“On 10, it started raining, and by 12, it was really raining pretty hard all of the way through,” Bussey said. “Jesus played really, really good, and we made some good putts again.

“Some shots, I feel like we got affected by the rain a little bit. Some people, the rain really mentally affects them. so I really don’t know. The course is playing good. It’s in good shape. The greens were rolling great, but they got a little wet, and some of the tee boxes late in the round were just standing water.”

LcCroy-Hughston made 12 birdies and an eagle on No. 15.

“I didn’t have any expectations heading into it,” :LeCroy said. “I knew if we got it going, that type of thing, but we didn’t make near enough putts.

‘We still played pretty good. We made a bunch of good shots. I’m happy with 14.”

Championship – Grand Highlander

Championship B-Honda Pilot

First-Toyota Tacoma

Second – Honda Accord

Third – Acura MDX

Fourth – Ford Mach E

Fifth – Toyota Tundra

Sixth – Honda Odyssey