Blanton low amateur; Kinderlou wins Pot o’ Gold

Published 9:16 am Monday, March 13, 2023

MOULTRIE — Not only was Andy Blanton playing in soggy, rainy conditions Sunday afternoon in the final round of the 68th Pot o’ Gold Pro-am at Sunset Country Club, he bogeyed the first two holes on his home course.

But he rallied, buoyed by an eagle on his second-to-last hole, to shoot a 3-under 69 for a three-day 11-under-par 205 to claim the event’s low amateur honors for the third time.

The Kinderlou Forest Golf Club No. 1 team led by pro Henry Westmoreland won the championship by turning in a 33-under-par 183 in a Pot o’ Gold that was delayed by rain on Friday and then again on Sunday.

The final group of golfers were scheduled to tee off at 1:30 on Sunday, but, after one hole, rain and lightning sent them to the clubhouse, where they remained until about 3:30 p.m.

Then they had to hustle through more rain to finish before the sun set on Sunset.

The Kinderlou Forest trio of amateurs won for the second straight year, although they were on the Richmond Hill Golf Club foursome led by Paul Claxton last year.

They joined forces with Westmoreland’s team from Valdosta this year and collected hardware in Moultrie again.

Patrick O’Neal, one of the three Kinderlou amateurs sounded as if the group was eager to brave the conditions and seek a second-straight title.

“I knew if we played, we had a chance,” said O’Neal, who was joined again this year on the championship team by fellow amateurs Cole Davis and Josh Burk.

Westmoreland also guided his No. 2 team — which included amateurs Billy Ebert, Mike Lansdell and Bo Carpenter — to a second-place tie with the Highland Country Club team led by pro Chase Eptling.

Jin Chung of the Chateau Elan Golf Club was the low pro with a 205.

Sunset pro Aaron Elrod and his team shot a final-round 62 for a 186, three shots off the pace and good for eighth place.

“I thought we got all we could out of the course today,” said John Fordham, who joined brothers Andy and Kevin Blanton on Elrod’s team.

Andy Blanton certainly did.

After the bogey-bogey start, “I just grinded it real hard,” Andy said. “I tried to stay patient and take it one hole at a time.”

Elrod noted, “Andy was steady. You wonder how he would have done in good weather.”

In addition to his three Pot o’ Gold low amateur titles, Andy has been the event’s low pro twice.

But there was a time Sunday when it appeared the afternoon round would be scrapped.

After the two-hour delay, when there was no more threat of lightning, the decision was made to send the golfers back out with the hope they could finish before dark.

They did, just barely.

Figuring into the decision to try to finish was that six teams were tied atop the leaderboard heading into the final round.

If the event were shortened to just the first two rounds, trying to figure out the tiebreaker would have been difficult, Elrod said.

There were some soggy golfers turning in their teams’ cards after dark, but the 68th Pot o’ Gold was in the books.

Despite the uncooperative weather, Elrod, Sunset’s interim pro, was pleased overall.

“The course played well,” he said. “There were some 59s (on Saturday) and the greens were challenging.”