4-under pushes Hipp to a big tourney win

Related Photos

(Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen) North Murray golfer Colby Hipp works on the driving range earlier this year in this file photo. Hipp, who has been enjoying an active summer competition schedule before starting his senior year with the Mountaineers, had a breakthrough win at the Old Fort Junior Classic, shooting a 4-under-par 68 to win by five strokes.

Discussion

July 18, 2012

4-under pushes Hipp to a big tourney win

From Staff Reports sports@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Jul 18, 2012, 10:32 PM EDT

— Despite a junior season on the links in which he helped lead North Murray to the Region 7-2A championship and a fifth-place finish at the Class 2A stata tournament, Colby Hipp wasn’t happy with his game.

But after shooting a 4-under-par 68 on Tuesday in the final round of the two-day Old Fort Junior Classic to win by five strokes over the nearest competitor in the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour event, Hipp is pretty happy with his touch on the course right now.

“I definitley like where it is at,” Hipp said of his game after winning the tournament in Mufreesboro, Tenn. “It is leaps and bounds beyond where it was in the school year. I didn’t meet my expectations during the school year. I am not sure what it was, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t playing my game in the school year. Hopefully, I have it back and can continue playing well on into next school year.”

Hipp opened the tournament with a 73 on the par-72 course on Monday, but his play on Tuesday was excellent. He birdied the par-5 second hole early in his round, and added birdies on two of the course’s four par 3s. His birdie on the par-4 15th put him at 4-under for the day and 3-under for the tournament, and Hipp parred out the remaining three holes. He didn’t have a single stroke over par on any hole.

He finished five strokes ahead of Chattanooga’s Case White, who followed an opening round 74 with an even-par round on Tuesday.

Winning a tournament, Hipp said, was overdue. While he has played well this summer, Hipp said something has been holding him back.

“I have had several good rounds this summer, but it always seemed like in every tournament there was one bad day or even one bad nine that kept me from winning. I knew that I was playing well, and it was just a matter of when. This was one tournament where I didn’t shoot myself out of contention.”

It has been a busy summer for Hipp, who tied for 20th at the Georgia Junior Championship in Albany in June and started the summer off with a ninth-place finish in the Vestavia Junior Classic in Birmingham, Ala., on the SJGT in May. A prime example of Hipp’s hiccups on the course came at the Future Masters in Dothan earlier this summer. He made the cut and finished tied for 41st in the 224-entree tournament, but his opening round of 72 and his closing round of 70 was sandwiched around a 79 that pushed him back into the pack.

“I really think the thing I need to work on the most is not falling asleep on the course,” he said. “Every now and then, I will be coasting along and every thing is going fine, and it seems like I will go to sleep for one hole, and that is when you start making mistakes. That kind of goes along with shooting myself out of the tournament on a few holes. It starts with losing your concentration, and sometimes it is hard to stay focused for four hours in 110 degree.”

Hipp will play in two more SJGT events in the next two weeks, and his victory in Murfreesboro earns him a slot in the champions tournament in December.

Text Only

North Murray High School Mountaineers

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

4-under pushes Hipp to a big tourney win

Site Map

Contact Us