Larry Fleming: Noll believes he can claim 2nd Am title

By Larry Fleming

David Noll Jr., bad back and all, will be seeking his second Georgia Amateur championship this week and he’ll be playing on one of his favorite courses — Country Club of Columbus.

The 2008 Tommy Barnes Award winner as the state’s overall top amateur player, selected by the Georgia State Golf Association, Noll won the Mid-Amateur and Southeastern championships in Columbus in 2007. So, he’s eagerly looking forward to this week’s competition there.

“It’s one of my favorite courses of all-time,” Noll said Saturday in a telephone interview while taking a break from chipping and putting at Dalton Golf and Country Club. “I went to college down there and won some tournaments there. I love the place because it feels like home. I’ve been looking forward to this for about a year and a half ever since I found out we would be playing there. One way or another I’ll be prepared to play come Thursday.”

This year marks the 88th renewal of the Georgia Amateur Championship and will be the fourth time Country Club of Columbus, a course that opened in 1910, has hosted the event.

Last July, University of Georgia golfer Russell Henley set a championship scoring record with four rounds in the 60s to capture the title at Idle Hour Club in Macon. Henley finished at 10-under 270 with rounds of 67, 68, 66 and 69, beating Bulldogs teammate Harris English by one shot. English, the defending champion, shot three straight rounds in the 60s before closing with an even-par 70 on the final day.

Noll, the only other golfer to have four rounds in the 60s, place

third at 8-under 272. He shot 68, 68, 67 and 69 and his top-three finish helped him win the GSGA’s top amateur award in January.

Noll is coming off three straight wins, including his sixth North Georgia Invitational title at Dalton Golf and Country Club. He followed that up with a win in the Chicken Dinner tournament at LaFayette and last week posted a victory in the WindStone member-guest tournament in northern Catoosa County.

“I shot 12 under with my own ball in that tournament,” Noll said.

The next morning Noll awoke and realized his back injury (two herniated discs) had flaired up — he’s been plagued with the problem since a 1997 automobile accident. He did not pick up a club until Friday when he shot 4 under at the country club. After a chipping and putting session on Saturday, he was scheduled to play nine holes.

While battling the back problem for 12 years, Noll said this was the first time he’s been sidelined by the pain.

“I just woke up one morning and there it was,” he said. “I had no indication it was coming, but it’s a real doozy this time.”

So far Noll said he’s not a candidate for back surgery, but does undergo periodic pain management treatments to keep the problem under control.

“Really,” he said, “it’s a mind-over-matter thing.”

Noll finished tied for eighth at 3-under 213, four shots behind winner Jeff Knox of Augusta, in the Mid-Amateur tournament in May at White Columns Country Club in Alpharetta. In 2008, Noll finished second to Knox in the Mid-Amateur. Noll shot 1-over 211 and Knox was a 3-under 207 in the 54-hole event played at Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee. Noll had a tournament-low 6-under 64 in the second round but faded on the final day with a 6-over 76 and was unable to defend his championship.

Knox and Noll will be able to keep an eye on each other during the first two rounds of this week’s amateur tournament. Their three-man groups will be separated by 10 minutes — on the first hole on Thursday and the 10th on Friday. Noll will be playing in a threesome that includes English and Bill Brown, of Dublin. Knox is playing with Henley and Bill Ploeger, of Columbus.

“I fully expect to be competing at a high level this week, some way or another,” Noll said. “Surprisingly, I feel extremely confident coming off three straight wins. I feel good mentally. My heart’s in the right spot. Now, if only my body cooperates.”

If that happens, Noll, who held the DGCC course record at 61 before Michael Clark posted an amazing 14-under 58 in May 2008, has a good chance to add to his statewide victory list that includes the Mid-Amateur and Georgia Team championships in 2007, the 2005 Atlanta Match Play title and the 2003 Georgia Amateur crown he brought home from Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw.

Other local golfers in the tournament are Chase Miller, Hudson Keener, Matt Oxford, Seth Brandon and Terry Mitchell.

• Lanny Bailey, another veteran Dalton player, will play in a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur tournament today at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth.

The 116 players are vying for three spots and two alternate positions. Bailey tees off at 12:30 p.m. in a threesome that includes Clark Wright, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Scott Curiel, of Cumming.