Wigington’s Chip-In Magic on No. 12 Seals First Win of 2025 Calhoun County Tour

Wigington’s chip-in on No. 12 proves decisive in final-round battle with Calvert, and defending champion gets his first victory on ’25 Calhoun County Tour.

By Joe Medley

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GLENCOE — The calendar turns to July on Tuesday. Around the Calhoun County Golf Tour, call it ‘Twig’ Time.

Gary Wigington nailed a clutch 25-yard chip-in to separate himself in a final-round showdown with Chad Calvert on Sunday and emerged with a three-stroke victory in the Etowah County Open on the Links at Briarmeade.

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Wigington got his first victory of  the season, coming in the fifth points event. It came on the final weekend of June, same weekend that saw him bag his first victory on the 2024 Tour.

He went on to win his fifth county player-of-the year title.

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“I start off slow, for whatever reason, every year,” Wigington said. “I can’t get it going early, but this time year year, around July, I start playing better.”

Wigington entered the weekend third in the county points standings and picked up 300 points, more than enough to make up his 211-point deficit off the leading pace. The top two in points, Ty Cole and Jacob LeCroy, didn’t play at Briarmeade.

Wigington entered Sunday with a one-stroke lead over Calvert, marking the second consecutive Tour event for Wigington to lead after the first round. This time, he finished what he started, but only after a challenge.

“I was just back and forth all day,” Wigington said.

Calvert birdied five of the first six holes to take the lead, and the two stood even after Wigington suffered a double bogey on the par-3 11th hole.

On a day when a thunderstorm forced play stoppage in the middle of the round, Wigington mounted the last lightning strike. He chipped in from 25 yards on No. 12.

“I hit a good drive down the middle, hit it fat,” he said. “I left it seven or eight yards short of the green, chipped it, and I rolled up there and went in.

“I was trying to make par, obviously. When I hit it, I knew it was going to be pretty close, but you never expect them to go in. I didn’t have to putt, and thank goodness, because I’d been putting bad. I missed several 3- to 5-foot birdie putts on the front.”

The chip-in on No. 12 in combination with Calvert’s bogey left Wigington with a two-shot lead.

Wigington hit a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 16 to keep his distance and finished 66-66—132 for the tournament. He began the day with a long eagle putt on No. 1.

“Putting long ones was good, but putting short was just a little different out here, and I wasn’t putting them good,” he said. “But that chip-in was huge.”

Calvert finished 67-68—135, one shot ahead of third-place finisher John Rollins.

“I just couldn’t get it going on the back,” Calvert said. “It was a good battle. He was giving it away,. then I was giving it away, and he just finally took control of the match.

“He played good, and there’s just nothing you can do about it except congratulate him and move on to the next tournament.”