Pot ‘O’ Gold numbers down, but two-time champions still around

Published 8:14 pm Thursday, March 8, 2018

MOULTRIE – The last time a pro won three straight Pot ‘O’ Gold pro-am titles was in 1993-1995 when Snellville’s Stephen Keppler earned the trifecta.

The last time a Pot ‘O’ Gold team won the championship three years in a row was in 1989-1991. Bob Duval, who brought foursomes from Jacksonville/Ponte Vedra, Florida, earned that distinction.

Aaron Elrod will take aim at those records in the 63rd annual Pot ‘O’ Gold that begins its annual three-day run today at Sunset Country Club.

Elrod, Sunset’s assistant golf professional, has his eye on another Pot ‘O’ Gold record as well.

This year’s tournament will open with 42 teams, down from 52 a year ago, but with what is expected to be another competitive field. The host club has entered four teams.

Elrod’s two-time defending champion No. 1 Gold team will again include amateurs Kevin Blanton, Andy Blanton and Lee Wright.

On his No. 2 Gold team are Craig Stevens, John Lee Redding and Hayden Willis.

Sunset pro Bob Windom, who led the Sunset team to the 2013 tournament championship and was the low amateur with a 202 shot in 1982, also will captain two teams.

His Sunset No. 1 Black team includes Tanner Brown, Jonathan Bridges and Jared Bridges. His No. 2 Black team has Eli Stripling, Chad Eunice and Andrew Eunice.

Elrod’s No. 1 team will be the favorite, especially after setting the tournament’s three-day record with a 180 last year.

It is expected to be chilly early each of the three days of one of the Southeast’s longest running pro-ams. And the forecast calls for rain on Sunday morning.

But Elrod is confident, regardless of the weather.

“We’re tough to beat,” Elrod says of his Sunset Gold team, all of which are former Colquitt County High players who cut their teeth on Sunset’s fairways and greens. “I think I’ve got the best guys in the field. If we just play our game, we’ll be hard to beat.”

The Blanton brothers have enjoyed plenty of success at Sunset as prep golfers and in both the Pot ‘O’ Gold and the Ramsey Pidcock Invitational, played there each July.

Kevin was the Pot ‘O’ Gold’s low amateur when he shot an 8-under 208 in 2013. He was fourth last year with a 7-under 209.

Andy, who has played on three Pot ‘O’ Gold champion teams, was 1-under last year and 2-under in 2016.

“We all know what they are capable of,” Elrod says. “And they know how to push each other’s buttons.

“That makes it easier for me and Lee.”

Wright, Colquitt County High’s new boys golf coach, was the tournament’s second-low amateur last year, shooting an 11-under par 205 and playing a big role in the team’s record-setting performance.

“I think he’s playing with a little chip on his shoulder this year,” Elrod says.

Elrod might not have a chip on his shoulder, but he says he has plenty to play for, including the much-anticipated birth of his and wife’s first child, expected in May.

In addition to helping shepherd his foursome to a championship three-peat, Elrod would like to win another low-pro title. And he has been working since last year’s Pot o’ Gold to achieve those milestones.

While he won the low-pro money in 2017 with a 6-under 210, it wasn’t nearly as impressive as the 10-under 206 he shot the year before.

“Last year, I just didn’t make the birdies I wanted,” the southpaw 2007 Colquitt County High graduate said. “It was a grind for me.”

Part of the reason for what he considered a mediocre performance was that he had not played enough in the preceding months.

But after last year’s Pot ‘O’ Gold, he joined the Georgia PGA club pro tour’s assistant professionals division and finished seventh in the final standings. He also played in several other tournaments, including the Atlanta Open.

And while he hasn’t been able to get in many full rounds in recent months, he thinks playing more last year has helped his game.

“I feel like I should be a lot sharper,” he said. “I feel a lot more confident after playing a full year.”

That confidence has allowed him to set another goal. He’d like to get the tournament’s low pro record. That record was set in 2007 when Fred Holton of Phenix City, Ala., shot a 199.

And Holton, leading the foursome from the Indian Pines Golf Course of Auburn, Ala., will be in the field when the tournament tees off at 8 this morning. Holton also was the low pro in 2009 and the low senior pro in 2012 and 2016.

Other professionals in the field who have won Pot ‘O’ Gold team championships are Jarred Reneau (2009), Steve Cutler (2012) and Brian Dixon (2014).

Three former low senior pros – Craig Stevens (2015 and 2017), Bob Burk (2011 and 2014) and Richard Korytoski (2010) – also are back to compete.