Jack Hall made his only bogey of the day right after making the turn at Cartersville (Georgia) Country Club. He did more than erase it with five subsequent birdies in his final eight holes.
As Hall, of Savannah, Georgia, torched the back nine, he not only climbed 29 spots on the individual leaderboard at the International Senior Invitational, he pulled his three-man team right up along with him.
Hall helped move the Atlanta team seven spots higher in the team competition and into a tie for third. Entering the final round of the tournament, Hall & Co., trail the leading Kentucky team by only four shots with a team representing North Georgia squarely between them.
Scores: International Senior Invitational
The International Senior Invitational, in its second year at Cartersville Country Club, features 30 three-man teams competing in a three-count-two format. A team and an individual champion will be crowned after 54 holes.
Hall, who posted the lowest score of any competitor on Friday, has had quite the year and is competing in Cartersville just a few weeks after finishing in the top 3 at the Canadian Senior Amateur and reaching the second round of match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur. He’s had a handful of other top finishes so far this season, including a T7 at the Trans-Miss Senior and a third-place finish at the Jones Cup Senior.
Billy Mitchell, who has made several recent runs into match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur, is captaining the Atlanta team and contributed a 3-under 69 on Friday. Hall and Mitchell’s combination was tough to match in the play-three-count-two format.
Consider that the Atlanta team outscored North Georgia by four shots in the second round after North Georgia counted rounds of 69 and 70 from Bob Royak and Doug Hanzel, respectively. Both men are past U.S. Senior Amateur champions.
All are chasing the team from Kentucky, which reached 10 under par on Friday as Tony Wise continues to light up Cartersville Country Club. Wise, of Georgetown, Kentucky, has posted rounds of 69-68 and is tied for first individually with Kevin VandenBerg of Pulaski, New York. VandenBerg is the top-ranked player in the Golfweek Senior National Rankings.
The International Senior Invitational at Cartersville (Georgia) Country Club. (Photo by Ron Gaines)
Wise did not make a bogey on Friday, and to help matters, teammate Buddy Bryant of Pewee Valley, Kentucky, contributed a round of 68 as well.
The New York team, with help from VandenBerg’s solid play, is tied for third with the Atlanta team.
The international part of the field is well-represented at Cartersville, too. Team Ireland, led by Joe Lyons, the two-time Irish Senior Men’s Amateur Close champion, is fifth in the team standings at 4 under. Lyons, who won the individual trophy at this event last year, has contributed rounds of 70 and 74.