Oxford, AL – Wigington allays own doubts, finishes strong to win Oxford City Championship and become fifth winner in five Calhoun County Golf Tour events this season.
By Joe Medley
Golfers play into old age, but age and doubt dance as partners into the mind.
How long can one play at their highest level? When will seemingly younger and younger golfers begin to blast their way out of reach?
How many more times will one see his or her name in the championship flight, let alone on top?
“I was beginning to wonder,” the 55-year-old Gary Wigington said Sunday, reflecting on a long-for-him winless streak on the Calhoun County Golf Tour.
Wonder no more. Wigington sank a 40-foot birdie putt to finish off his latest Tour victory Sunday, finishing 69-70–139 to edge Jeremy McGatha by three strokes in the Oxford City Championship.
Wigington became the fifth winner in five Tour events this season. The four-time Tour player of the year bagged his 25th victory in Tour points events and 26th overall, counting last year’s County Match Play, the Tour’s de facto all-star tournament.
He scored his first points victory since winning 2023’s first points event, at Silver Lakes, and his latest victory ended a span of 12 points events without a first-place finish.
The victory left him feeling like he felt after winning last year’s match-play event … reaffirmed. Age hasn’t knocked him out of the always-contending group yet.
“Agewise, I’m 55, and it’s just hard to compete with these young guys,” he said. “They’re just good, and they hit that danged thing a mile.
“I’m not as sharp mentally or physically, for sure, so every win at this point is a lot more important than we was young, because they’re just harder.”
Wigington went wire to wire at Cider Ridge. He and McGatha finished the first round tied at 3-under 69, and Sunday’s five-birdie round kept him atop the field.
His day included two bomb putts … a 30-footer for birdie on No. 10 and the 40-footer on No. 18. The latter touched off applause from the clubhouse gallery, and he got high-fives from McGatha, Tanner Wells and Ty Cole, long-time Tour veterans who joined him in the day’s final foursome.
As Wigington cleaned his cart and put equipment into his pickup, two younger players in another pickup stopped, called him “Mr. Twig,” a reference to his nickname, and jokingly asking for his autograph.
“Give me about an hour,” he said with a chuckle.
Dawson Day, from Rome, Ga., finished third, four shots back of Wigington.
Ty Cole, tied with Wells for second after a first-round 70, struggled Sunday. This year’s winners at Cane Creek withdrew after running out of balls while playing No. 18.
Wells shot a 79 Sunday.
Four of this season’s five winners played in the Oxford City Championship, though Andrew Weathers (Silver Lakes) withdrew during the final round. John Rollins (Twin Bridges) finished in the first flight.
This was a day for one of Calhoun County golf’s most successful players over many years, another day to finish on top. He did it in a season that’s shaping up as one of the Tour’s most competitive in recent memory.
“Instead of it being five or six guys that legitimately have a chance to win one, now you’ve got 10-15,” Wigington said. “There’s just never been that many.
“The Tour has grown. We’ve taken people from everywhere, basically, and it’s just hard to win. It’s just all of the young kids, and they do it all day long every day. I think you’ll see a lot more of that in the future. There’s going to be a lot more different winners.”
![Gary Wigington (left) and Cider Ridge Golf Course owner and president Cory Etter pose with the trophy Sunday, after Wigington won the 2024 Oxford City Championship. (Photo by Joe Medley)](https://calhounjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/%E2%80%98Wonder-no-more.jpg)
Scores
CHAMPIONSHIP A FLIGHT | |||
PLAYER | RD. 1 | RD. 2 | TOTAL |
Gary Wigington | 69 | 70 | 139 |
Jeremy McGatha | 69 | 73 | 142 |
Dawson Day | 71 | 72 | 143 |
Matt Wilson | 71 | 73 | 144 |
Layton Bussey | 72 | 73 | 145 |
Logan Forrester | 72 | 74 | 146 |
Tanner Wells | 70 | 79 | 149 |
Ethan McCareeth | 71 | 78 | 149 |
Kevin Daugherty | 72 | 77 | 149 |
Mason Dennis | 71 | 82 | 153 |
Graham Morrow | 72 | 84 | 156 |
Ty Cole | 70 | WD | |
CHAMPIONSHIP B FLIGHT | |||
Brayden Cochran | 73 | 75 | 148 |
Caleb McKinney | 73 | 75 | 148 |
Will Reaves | 74 | 76 | 150 |
Chase Hollingsworth | 74 | 77 | 151 |
Andrew Brooks | 76 | 76 | 152 |
Jake Goggans | 74 | 78 | 152 |
Hunter Carr | 74 | 78 | 152 |
Greg Shultz | 73 | 79 | 152 |
Benji Turley | 73 | 80 | 153 |
Kilgore Knight | 74 | 80 | 154 |
John Rollins | 75 | 79 | 154 |
Austin Elliott | 74 | 83 | 157 |
Chip Howell | 74 | 84 | 158 |
Andrew Weathers | 73 | WD | |
FIRST FLIGHT | |||
Dalton Chandler | 76 | 70 | 146 |
Jonathan Pate | 75 | 71 | 146 |
Chad Calvert | 75 | 71 | 146 |
Janson Wilborn | 75 | 72 | 147 |
Cam Hurst | 75 | 75 | 150 |
Ott Chandler | 76 | 74 | 150 |
Ryan Huff | 75 | 76 | 151 |
Jeff Bain | 76 | 76 | 152 |
Carson Chandler | 76 | 76 | 152 |
Billy Thompson | 75 | 79 | 154 |
Jared Waits | 75 | 81 | 156 |
Sawyer Edwards | 76 | 80 | 156 |
Chris Reaves | 76 | 81 | 157 |
John Swader | 76 | NS | |
SECOND FLIGHT | |||
Matt Miller | 77 | 72 | 149 |
James Otwell | 77 | 72 | 149 |
Daniel Black | 77 | 73 | 150 |
Nick Ledbetter | 78 | 72 | 150 |
Chance Harris | 77 | 75 | 152 |
Dustin Travis | 77 | 76 | 153 |
Landon Winfrey | 78 | 76 | 154 |
Stephen Keen | 78 | 76 | 154 |
Cain Hollingsworth | 77 | 78 | 155 |
Coleman Messer | 77 | 78 | 155 |
Bradley Elliott | 78 | 77 | 155 |
Vann Hall | 77 | 79 | 156 |
Tim Wilcox | 77 | 81 | 158 |
Bob Eaton | 78 | 80 | 158 |
Dre Davenport | 77 | 85 | 162 |
Caden Wood | 78 | 84 | 162 |
Lamar Carter | 78 | 85 | 163 |
Kobe Messer | 78 | 87 | 165 |
THIRD FLIGHT | |||
Josh Reynolds | 79 | 69 | 148 |
Jason Rich | 80 | 71 | 151 |
Luke Armstrong | 79 | 75 | 154 |
Mark McCaig | 80 | 75 | 155 |
Chad Key | 79 | 76 | 155 |
Skylar Dennis | 79 | 80 | 159 |
David Coffey | 79 | 82 | 161 |
Jimbo Phillips | 80 | 85 | 165 |
Billy McCroskey | 80 | WD | |
FOURTH FLIGHT | |||
Cody Boyd | 81 | 74 | 155 |
Michael Rich | 81 | 76 | 157 |
Wesley Jenkins | 81 | 77 | 158 |
Blake Drummond | 81 | 79 | 160 |
Timmy Woodard | 82 | 78 | 160 |
Robin Wood | 82 | 83 | 165 |
Jamarcus Stokes | 82 | 83 | 165 |
Nathan Williams | 81 | 85 | 166 |
Randy Archer | 81 | 86 | 167 |
Ryder Hudgins | 81 | 87 | 168 |
Wyatt Cotney | 82 | 88 | 170 |
James Lett | 81 | 92 | 173 |
Kyle Glover | 81 | 95 | 176 |
Clayton Chandler | 82 | WD | |
FIFTH FLIGHT | |||
Scotty McFry | 83 | 75 | 158 |
Caleb Morrow | 83 | 77 | 160 |
Caleb Bowen | 83 | 79 | 162 |
Wade Richardson | 83 | 82 | 165 |
Craig Duncan | 84 | 81 | 165 |
Matt Greer | 84 | 81 | 165 |
Shane Lee | 84 | 82 | 166 |
Cypress Hathorne | 84 | 84 | 168 |
Ray Stover Jr. | 84 | 85 | 169 |
Mark Gaines | 84 | 86 | 170 |
Sean Kline | 83 | 88 | 171 |
Cole McNeal | 83 | WD | 83 |
SIXTH FLIGHT | |||
Bradley Young | 85 | 82 | 167 |
Nash Messer | 86 | 82 | 168 |
Bart Smith | 86 | 82 | 168 |
Danny Whittaker | 86 | 83 | 169 |
Scott Watson | 87 | 85 | 172 |
Braxton Burnham | 86 | 88 | 174 |
Hunter Fordham | 85 | 90 | 175 |
Andrew Miller | 87 | 88 | 175 |
Aaron Gregerson | 86 | 94 | 180 |
Drake Bearden | 87 | 96 | 183 |
Ricky Carden | 86 | 103 | 189 |
SEVENTH FLIGHT | |||
Matt Rogers | 88 | 80 | 168 |
Bailey Masters | 88 | 80 | 168 |
Jason Payne | 91 | 78 | 169 |
Tyrel Tucker | 91 | 78 | 169 |
Allen Hamlin | 91 | 78 | 169 |
Nate Pearce | 89 | 81 | 170 |
Jeff Roszell | 89 | 85 | 174 |
Greg Rainey | 88 | 88 | 176 |
Ted Gregerson | 91 | 87 | 178 |
Chance Haywood | 88 | 93 | 181 |
Joey Folker | 89 | 94 | 183 |
Larry Champion | 91 | 92 | 183 |
Jesse Miles | 91 | 99 | 190 |
EIGHTH FLIGHT | |||
Houston Black | 96 | 80 | 176 |
David Medders Jr. | 92 | 88 | 180 |
Kolby Slick | 95 | 86 | 181 |
Heath Waldrop | 93 | 89 | 182 |
Chase Thomas | 92 | 91 | 183 |
Daniel Mitchell | 96 | 87 | 183 |
Daniel Ricks | 92 | 93 | 185 |
Scott Jimerson | 96 | 92 | 188 |
Chris Hollingsworth | 96 | 98 | 194 |
Adam Benefiel | 96 | 107 | 203 |
NINTH FLIGHT | |||
Logan Turner | 98 | 84 | 182 |
Zoey Etter | 100 | 98 | 198 |
Bill Gowan | 104 | 94 | 198 |
Keith Hutcheson | 102 | 96 | 198 |
Palmer Pearce | 113 | 102 | 215 |
Jason Swope | 108 | 117 | 225 |
Shaughn Rankin | 114 | 114 | 228 |
Hayden Mann | 100 | NS | |
Andrew Kennemer | 101 | NS | |
SENIOR A FLIGHT | |||
Mike Lett | 75 | 71 | 146 |
David Messer | 76 | 73 | 149 |
Jerry Kemp | 77 | 76 | 153 |
Bob Feicht | 76 | 79 | 155 |
Gary Austin | 79 | 78 | 157 |
Andy Jenkins | 77 | 81 | 158 |
Kevin Wells | 74 | 85 | 159 |
Keith Haywood | 77 | 82 | 159 |
David Sanders | 80 | 79 | 159 |
Charley Estes | 79 | 84 | 163 |
Jimmy Ingram | 79 | 88 | 167 |
SENIOR B FLIGHT | |||
Ron Wheeler | 81 | 78 | 159 |
Rich Etter | 84 | 77 | 161 |
Wilton Page | 81 | 83 | 164 |
Allan Mangham | 82 | 83 | 165 |
Tim Steward | 82 | 85 | 167 |
Ron Fleming | 81 | 88 | 169 |
Dennis Austin | 88 | 82 | 170 |
Richard Patty | 91 | 83 | 174 |
Steve Perry | 89 | 90 | 179 |
Mike Thompson | 89 | 91 | 180 |
Lee Clark | 92 | 96 | 188 |
Lamar Ward | 96 | WD |