BOBBY PERKINSON DEFENDS HIS TITLE AND BECOMES FIRST TWO-TIME CHAMPION AT THE 2011 GOLF.COM WORLD AMATEUR HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP
Alcoa, Tenn. Resident Shoots Net 70 to Become the First Back-to-Back Champion
September 2, 2011, Murrells Inlet, S.C. – Bobby Perkinson, a 75 years-of-age retiree of Alcoa, Tenn., shot a net 70 (gross 74) on Friday to win the 2011 GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship at TPC Myrtle Beach. Perkinson becomes the first back-to-back winner of the world’s largest amateur golf tournament and the first two-time winner in the 28-year history of the event. Perkinson scored a net birdie on the final hole to win by one stroke over three players including Steve Greer of Centerville, Ala. and two international players, Matthew Armstrong and Trevor Hillier from Australia.
“To think I would come back to Myrtle Beach and win the World Am again is just unbelievable,” said Perkinson. “I just wanted to come play and have some fun because the odds of winning a handicap event in back-to-back years have to be very high. I have been blessed with good health for someone my age. The course was in great shape and now I have another great memory about this tournament and Myrtle Beach.”
Perkinson, a 3.9 handicap golfer shot better than his age at TPC Myrtle Beach with his gross score of 74 (2-under, net 70). Last year, he shot his age to claim his first title in the event by a similar one-stroke advantage. He won from the Super Senior Men’s division for players 70 years-of-age and above. The championship round consisted of 66 flight winners and 10 ties after four rounds of competition. Perkinson won flight 55 by one stroke to advance to today’s final round.
Ron Arledge and Robert Whaley of Jacksonville, Fla. captured the 2011 International Pairs Championship by shooting a 144 net team score in Friday’s championship round. The title earned them an all-expenses paid trip to Scotland to represent the United States in the 2012 International Pairs World Finals.
“Congratulations to our winner and especially to Bobby (Perkinson). Winning back-to-back is an amazing accomplishment and to do it at a handicap event is almost unthinkable,” said Dave Macpherson, tournament director of the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship. “History was definitely made here in Myrtle Beach today and we look forward to an even better tournament next year. We had great weather all week and overall the tournament was a huge success.”
Scott Weaver of Portsmouth, Va. and Don Weaver of Mulberry, Fla. won the Cory Lemke Parent-Child Championship, a tournament for any combination of parent and child participating in the World Amateur. Before tragically losing his life in a 2006 motorcycle accident, Lemke competed in the World Am with his father, Mark Lemke and won his flight in 2002 at the age of 15.
Hosted by Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship is considered to be the most comparable experience to the U.S. Open for the amateur golfer. Held the week before Labor Day, the event is open to all amateur golfers with a verifiable USGA handicap, or the foreign equivalent. Flighted according to their handicaps, golfers competed in four rounds with all 66 flight winners and 10 ties then advancing to today’s 18-hole world championship playoff at TPC Myrtle Beach.
This year, nearly 3,009 players from 47 states and 24 countries competed on more than 60 Myrtle Beach area golf courses in the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship, the first as a title sponsor for the Sports Illustrated Golf Group. The SI Golf Group is a unit within the Sports Illustrated Group. It is the No. 1 media company in golf with a combined audience of 12.6 million avid golfers and fans. GOLF.com is the digital engine of the group and is the most visited website in the sport.
The GOLF.com World Am featured five competitive divisions composing 66 flights ranging from men and women 49 years-of-age and under to the super seniors 70 years-of-age and older. Players with a handicap as low as three and as high as 34 have won the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship.
The GOLF.com World Am web site offers a daily glimpse at the World Am with updated standings, news releases and photographs from the 28th annual tournament. For more information on the 2011 GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship, visit www.WorldAmGolf.com .
Always scheduled the week before Labor Day, the 29th annual GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship will be held August 27 – August 31, 2012.
2011 GOLF.com WORLD AMATEUR HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS
September 2, 2010
TPC Myrtle Beach/Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Place Golfer Net Score
1 Bobby Perkinson, Alcoa, Tenn. 70
T2 Matthew Armstrong, Australia 71
T2 Trevor Hillier, Australia 71
T2 Steve Greer, Centerville, Ala. 71
T5 Bruce Moskovciak, Jacksonville, Fla 72
T5 Daniel Kirby, Tulsa, Okla. 72
T5 Rusty Estes, Jefferson, N.C. 72
T5 Wayne Zehr, East Berlin, Penn. 72
T9 James Emerson, Nashville, Tenn. 73
T9 James Lewis, Jefferson City, Tenn. 73
T9 Stephen Santos, Aiken, S.C. 73
For the complete listing of the final results, visit www.worldamgolf.com/results .
About the SI Golf Group
GOLF Magazine is at the core of the most powerful media company in the game, the SI Golf Group. The magazine, which delivers a circulation of 1.4 million golf enthusiasts with a readership of 6.1 Million, us golf’s most widely read publication and provides the best instruction, equipment reviews and travel coverage in the category. With the combined resources of GOLF, SI Golf Plus (the No. 1 golf weekly publication) and Golf.com (the highest trafficked golf website). The SI Golf Group delivers a monthly audience of 12.6 million avid golfers and fans.
About Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is a non-profit trade association comprised of 79 championship golf courses, 99 golf package providers and five golf schools in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. Founded in 1967, the organization has been and continues to be the driving force behind the growth of the Myrtle Beach area golf market. The originator of the “Stay and Play Package,” Golf Holiday provides non-biased information about the area accommodations and golf courses to assist golfers in making the most informed decisions when planning for their next vacation. Golf Holiday also hosts seven events and tournaments annually to help grow the game of golf and attract golfers to the Grand Strand. In addition to hosting the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After The Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament each spring, Golf Holiday also manages the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship – the world's largest single-site amateur golf tournament, the Summer Family Golf Tournaments, the Palmetto High School Golf Championships, the Veterans Golf Classic and the FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing. For more information, call Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday at 1-800-845-4653 or visit www.GolfHoliday.com .