Southeastern Challenge Match

Southeastern Challenge Trophy Headed Back to Florida

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. – After six years, the Southeastern Challenge trophy will make its way back to the Sunshine State, as Team Florida captured the victory. Florida rallied on the final day to defeat Georgia and Alabama, raising the cup with a 27.5-point victory on Sunday at Willow Point Country Club.

Florida captured the win for the first time in six years, after winning in 2015 also at Willow Point CC. With this win, Florida takes the lead in the overall team victories with nine wins, while Georgia holds eight and Alabama has one.

Four-Ball Matches

The championship began on Saturday morning with nine four-ball matches. Florida and Georgia came out strong with both teams earning four points, while Alabama pick up one. Joey Latowski and Richard Donegan took a commanding 5-and-4 win over their Alabama competitors, to earn the first point of the day for Florida.

Joe Alifieri and Daniel Debra won back-to-back hole to take down their Alabama opponents, 3 and 2. Paul Royak and Mike Finster also added a win for the Florida in the morning, winning 3 and 2, while Marc Dull and Chip Brooke earned a 2-and-1 win for Florida.

Foursomes Matches

Play continued on Saturday afternoon with foursome matches. Jordan Batchelor and Devon Hopkins proved to be a strong duo, earning a win against both Alabama and Georgia. Donegan and Latowski also continued their solid play, picking up a win against Alabama and a tie with Georgia.

Royak and Finster captured the 2-and-1 win against Georgia to add another point for Florida. Dull and Brooke also added another point for Florida, finishing in a tie against their Alabama and Georgia opponents.

After grabbing 5.5 points in the afternoon, Florida headed into Sunday’s final round with 9.5 points, trailing Georgia by one.

Three-Ball Matches

The 12 three-ball matches on Sunday gave Florida the win, with the team earning 18 points on the final day to secure the victory. Batchelor came out strong on Sunday, getting two points on the board for Florida with an 8-and-6 win against Georgia’s Vance Embry and a 5-and-3 win against Alabama’s Woodie Eubanks.

Latowski finished the week undefeated, taking down Georgia’s Taylor Smith, 6 and 5, and Alabama’s Daniel Burns, 3 and 2. Donegan also earned two wins on Sunday to finish the week 4-0-1, defeating Georgia’s Matt Hayes and Alabama’s Hunter Hawkins.

Brooke and Dull both picked up two wins on the final day. Brooke won the 17th hole to take the lead and defeat Alabama’s Brinson Holder, 1 up. Dull won six of the first nine holes in his match against Alabama’s Will Morrison to earn 4-and-3 win.

Florida captured the victory with 27.5 points, while Georgia finished with 20 and Alabama with 15.5. Team Florida’s total of 27 points was the most scored by a winning Southeastern Challenge team since Georgia earned 32.5 points ion 2006.

Results

Southeastern Challenge Match is a tri-state biennial competition between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The men’s Southeast Challenge Match debuted at Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, in 1989 as an event intended to promote goodwill and competition between the best amateur players, playing as a team, from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

Teams

Each team from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama consists of:

• Two players 55 years of age and older as of the first day of the match.
• Two players 50 years of age and older as of the first day of the match.
• Seven players 25 years of age and older as of the first day of the match.
• One player 21 years of age and older as of the first day of the match.

Team Selection

Each state may select its team by whichever method they choose. The FSGA team is determined as follows:

• (1) Senior player with the highest point totals from the Senior Two Year Points List as of September 20th
• (1) Senior player selected by the FSGA Championship Committee
• (5) Mid-Amateur players with the highest point totals from the Two Year Points List as of September 20th
• (2) Players 50 and older selected by the FSGA Championship Committee
• (2) Mid-Amateur players selected by the FSGA Championship Committee
• (1) Amateur player 21 and older selected by the FSGA Championship Committee

The FSGA Championship Committee will begin to make its team selections as early as Monday, September 13th following the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championships for players who have locked up their position, leaving spaces for anyone qualifying for the 2021 US Mid-Amateur Championship an opportunity to have those points count towards making the team.

Championship Format

Day 1

• Afternoon Practice Rounds
• Team Dinner

Day 2

• Morning Four-Ball Matches
• Afternoon Foursome Three-Ball Matches

Day 3

• Morning Three-Ball Matches

Championship Field Size

36 players; 12 players from each state.

Scoring

Each match is played as an 18 hole stipulated round.

• One point for a win
• One-half point for a match ending all square
• No points for a loss

Event History