Pittsboro, NC  (May 12, 2011)  -  Two weeks in a row "birthday boys" have hit pay dirt on the Senior Amateur Golf Tour.  Last week it was Cary's Johnny Adams winning his 1st Tour victory on his birthday at Bermuda Run West in the Championship Flight.  Today Mark McKenna of Fuquay-Varina duplicated that feat in A Flight competition at The Golf Club at Chapel Ridge.  McKenna toured the 6,503 yard, par 72 course in 75 strokes, leaving him 2 shots clear of Laurinburg's James McMillan and Cecil Lockley of Hillsborough.

McKenna started as a member of the Carolina Blonde Tour years ago and has "graduated" to Senior status the last few years.  Today’s victory represented his best finish and score "on-Tour" during that time span.  Playing partner Sam Patterson noted "Not only did he play well, but Mark is just a great guy to play with".

Ronnie Grubbs of Clemmons took full advantage of the fact that the B and C Flights played from 300 yards shorter than the Championship and A Flights as his 71 equaled the lowest score in the entire event and "blitzed" the field in the B Flight by 6 strokes.  "I must have made 200 feet of putts today" said Grubbs as he accepted his $180.00 MasterCard for winning.  A pair of Greensboro golfers, Dan Whalen and Vic Robertson took 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Another Greensboro member, Len Bullock, also benefited from the shorter tees with an 81 to grab the top spot in the C Flight.  Bullock enjoyed a stretch of 3 birdies in a 5-hole span on the front side to help propel him to his lowest score of the season.  Advance's Ron Alligood was 2 back with an 83, while Raleigh's Darrell Hagwood, making his 2011 Tour debut, finished 3rd with an 84.

The Championship Flight provided a rather ignominious ending as Cary's James Dill, and 2-time National Champion Alan Dirk of Sanford, two of the top players on Tour, headed out for a sudden-death playoff after both posted regulation 71s.  What happened next is not what you'd expect from 2 guys who just shot under par on their original 18 holes.

Dirk's 1st tee shot of the playoff on the 421 yard, par 4, 9th hole lodged behind a tree which forced him to take an unplayable lie.  He was not able to recover from where he had to drop, allowing Dill to take the win with a bogey.  "As good as these guys are, you could have made some serious money betting that the playoff would be won on the 1st hole with a score less than par", said Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck.

The next Senior Tour event is the 2011 season's 2nd "Major Championship" next Thursday at Sapona Country Club in Lexington.  Any amateur golfer interested in playing in that event, or any other on schedule for this year, can contact Hallenbeck at 336-495-6556, or email him at behgolf@aol.com.

THE SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF TOUR

THE GOLF CLUB AT CHAPEL RIDGE EVENT

TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT

CHAMPIONSHIP  (6,503 yards)

James Dill, Cary  71

Alan Dirk, Sanford  71

Chuck Taubersmith, Pinehurst  72

Mike Smith, Lewisville  74

Steve Linton, Cary  76

A  FLIGHT  (6,503 yards)

Mark McKenna, Fuquay-Varina  75

James McMillan, Laurinburg  77

Cecil Lockley, Hillsborough  77

John East, Rockingham  78

Turner Church, Gibsonville  78

Gene Greenawalt, Carthage  78

Brent Massey, Zebulon  78

B  FLIGHT  (6, 205 yards)

Ronnie Grubbs, Clemmons  71

Dan Whalen, Greensboro  77

Vic Robertson, Greensboro  78

Tal Brown, Bermuda Run  80

Edward Burton, Durham  81

Gary Core, Greensboro  81

Tom Handy, Fuquay-Varina  81

C  FLIGHT  (6,205 yards)

Len Bullock, Greensboro  81

Ron Alligood, Advance  83

Darrell Hagwood, Raleigh  84

Brian Costine, Durham  85

Phillip Beane, Durham  86