Jonathan Hockaday Wins 49th Brick Capital Classic in Playoff

Jonathan Hockaday of Sanford fired a final nine 32 to finish off a 3-under par 68 and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the 1^st playoff hole to capture the 49^th Annual Brick Capital Classic at Sanford Golf Club.   Hockaday ended up in a 3-way tie for the championship at 2-under par for the weekend with Walter Brinker and Matt Moot of Buies Creek but ended the playoff in a hurry with the putt at the 1^st hole.  Brinker and Hockaday had 72s on Saturday, but moved their way up the leaderboard and both made birdies from 3 feet at the 18^th to finish at 140.  Moot, in the group behind, would eagle the 16^th and then get up and down for a birdie at the last to make it a 3-way tie.  

Seven different players held the lead at one time during the final round.  With nine holes remaining on Sunday, Hockaday and Moot were both at +2 and tied in 8^th position, while Brinker was at even par and tied for 5^th.   But as the ones in the lead struggled on the back nine and fell out of contention, Brinker (34), Hockaday (32) and Moot (32) all made moves.   Hockaday tied for the lead with Aaron Bayles at -1 after a 25-foot birdie at the 15^th and briefly led at -1 when Bayles made bogey moments later at the same hole.   Brinker moved into a tie for the lead at -1 with a birdie on 16, only to be joined by Moot moments later when he rolled in an eagle putt to move to -1.   All 3 players would par 17 and birdie the 18^th to finish the weekend at 140 (-2).

Brinker drove in the right rough in the playoff and his 2^nd shot came up just short of the green.  Brinker’s putt from the fringe would roll just past the left side of the hole.   Moot drove in the left rough and left his 2^nd shot in the bunker just short of the green.  His bunker shot would miss and settled about 6 feet past the hole.   Hockaday drove in the right side of the fairway and wedged to within 15 feet just behind the hole with his putt ending it there.

Overnight leaders Steve Hamby and Kenny Stewart struggled on the final nine holes and would finish 8^th and 5^th respectfully with rounds of 78 and 76.  Aaron Bayles shot 70 on Saturday and would take the lead at -2 for the tournament with nine holes to play, but bogeys at 14 & 15 were costly.

Kevin McDougald won the Senior Division with rounds of 73-73 and congratulations to Mike Buchanan for a Hole-in-One on the 14^th during Sunday’s round.

BRICK NOTES

• Sanford Golf Club showed itself well this weekend in the 49^th BCC.   Greens and fairways were superb and the rough the thickest it has been in many years.  A combination of the rough and some difficult pin placements made it tough to score and only 3 players finished under par for the weekend.   Hats off to David Von Canon and his staff as well as Superintendent Keith Thomas – job well done!
• It was amazing once again to see the distances that some of the Brick participants hit the golf ball these days.   Some of the highlights were Steve Hamby driving to the fringe of the green on the first hole and Jordan Pomeranz driving across the creek on #17 to less than 100 from the green.
• Jonathan Hockaday struggled with the putter on Saturday and played his 1^st 27 holes of the tournament without a birdie.  But he scrambled well enough to make 25 pars and only 2 bogeys during that stretch and kept him close enough until the putts began to fall.  He made his 1^st birdie with a long putt at the 10^th and followed it with a short birdie at the 13th.  Another long putt for birdie would follow at 15.   The back nine 32 was enough but the scrambling on the 1^st 27 holes when he didn’t have his best was critical. 
• Matt Moot nearly won his first try at a Brick title and was fun the watch from tee to green.  The Assistant Golf Coach at Campbell hurt his cause with 3 straight bogeys at 6,7,8 but played 5-under his last 10 holes.
• Walter Brinker had possibly the steadiest round on Sunday.   His birdie at the first preceded 14 consecutive pars before a birdie-par-birdie finish to shoot 68.   Brinker has a handful of top 5s in the event.
• Hockaday, who also had a handful of top 5s and two runner-up finishes, was emotional after getting his 1st Brick title. The pressure among the area’s best players to win a Brick title is significant as it has become an event that is a real measuring stick for local players. “I circle this on the calendar every year, it’s nice to finally get it done. It’s a great feeling.”

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

Jonathan Hockaday    72-68-140*

Walter Brinker    72-68-140

Matt Moot    71-69-140

Aaron Bayles    70-73-143

Kenny Stewart    68-76-144

David Wicker    71-74-145

Jordan Pomeranz    71-74-145

Steven Hamby    68-78-146

Nate Presnal    73-74-147

Chris Brown    71-77-148

Jackson Smith    73-75-148

Ryan Patterson    72-76-148

Brad McDougald    73-80-153

Ryker Wicker     73-83-156

*Won on the 1^st playoff hole

Other Flight Winners

1^st FLIGHT

Tony Fish    71-74-145

2^nd FLIGHT

Bo Crooks    78-75-153

3^rd FLIGHT

Rylan Patterson    81-77-158

4^th FLIGHT

Christopher Woodell    83-73-156

5^th FLIGHT

Ben Grossfuss    86-80-166

6^th FLIGHT

Shane Lanier    89-82-171

Mike Charney    89-82-171

7^th FLIGHT

Joe Delvecchio    96-88-184

Chase Brown    95-89-184

SENIORS

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

Kevin McDougald    73-73-146

1^st FLIGHT

Dave Foushee    81-80-161

2^nd FLIGHT

Bob Cyr    86-81-167

3^rd FLIGHT

Odell Brady 92-88-180

Preston Gaster    91-89- 180