Monday, September 12 was a gorgeous day for golf in the Commonwealth, with temperatures in the 70s and low humidity.  It is the type of day you join up with a friend and play as many as holes as daylight will allow! That is just what Kentucky PGA Professionals did, grabbing their favorite "scratch" amateur partner to play 36 holes in the Titleist | FootJoy Team Championship at Gay Brewer, Jr. Golf Course at Picadome in Lexington.  The 36-hole competition included 18-holes of one best gross ball of the two-person team and 18-holes of Chapman-style Alternate Shot.  In the latter format, each player tees off and then hits their partner's tee ball.  They choose the best of those two balls to alternate playing in from there. The opening round of best ball lined up the competition for a tight race to the finish.  

The field was lead by High Performance PGA Teaching Professional, Grover Justice and partner Will Branham, who combined for a ten-under-par round of 62.  They took the edge over Host Head PGA Professional Aaron McDowell and 2016 Kentucky Senior Amateur Champion Steve Humphrey.  An additional shot behind that duo were two fine gentlemen representing Northern Kentucky in Bruce Oldendick and Brett Metzger. Three teams were tied at seven-under-par: Logan Watts and Brad Ruch of Louisville Country Club, Jeremy Martin of Greenbrier Golf and Country Club and Todd Martin and Andrew Lardner of Seneca Golf Course and the man going for his fourth Kentucky Mid-Amateur title in a row next week, David Jasper.  

The list of names and accomplishments certainly didn't end there and we were enthusiastic to see what fireworks were in store for the afternoon round. Speaking of early morning fireworks, Mike Fields, who oversees the Lexington public courses (including Gay Brewer, Jr. Golf Course) had a great start to his round, playing with Tournament Sponsor and KPGA Business Partner, John Perdue of Titleist.  They began their round on the first hole and when they reached the seventh hole, Fields hit the perfect shot for a hole-in-one! Congratulations to him on his great shot on such a fun occasion! In the afternoon, it was time for the duo from Northern Kentucky to shine as temperatures heated up.  Oldendick and Metzger fired an alternate-shot sizzling hot round of 63.  That placed them with a two-round total of seventeen-under-par. With that impressive score, they were able to sneak past Justice and Branham for the one-shot victory.  The High Performance team finished two shots clear of Lardner and Jasper  and McDowell and Humphrey.  

Finishing an additional shot back were Defending Champions: Owl Creek Head PGA Professional Dan Utley and Nick Johnston. A special thank you to our hosts Aaron McDowell and Mike Fields and to our awesome KPGA Business Partners, John Perdue and Aaron Bak, all four go all out to make this day a fun one for all!