The Tennessee Golf Association

By Chris Dortch

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—Like most athletically inclined kids, Brett Patterson dabbled in all sports until the day it dawned on him which one he would choose to pursue. He was all of 11 years old.

The choice was golf, and with a maturity beyond his years, Patterson embraced the game and seemed to instinctively know what needed to be done to advance through the various levels. There were signposts along the way that told him he was heading in the right direction: A win at the Tennessee Section Junior PGA. A second-place finish in the 2009 Class AAA Tennessee State High School Championship. And just two weeks ago, a victory in the Spirit of America Golf Classic that earned him an exemption into a Hooters Tour tournament.

On Friday, Patterson received further affirmation he made the right choice. Defeating defending champion Todd Burgan and stroke play medalist Jonathan Fly by the identical, scant margins of 1-up, Patterson won the Tennessee Match Play Championship at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club.

“This feels great,” the poker-faced Patterson said. “It’s just the result of a lot of hard work coming together at the right time. To beat a great player like Jonathan Fly, who’s one of the better players in college golf … that just gives me confidence heading into college golf.”

Patterson will play for Middle Tennessee State, and coach Whit Turnbow, who briefly interrupted a Florida vacation to talk about his newest recruit, couldn’t be happier. Turnbow knows he’s getting a player capable of quickly finding a place in the starting lineup and staying there for four years, and if he wasn’t quite sure of that before this week, well, he is now.

Patterson quietly turned in a pair of 3-under-par 68s in stroke-play qualifying, then faced what was probably the toughest path to the championship. His first-round opponent was Steve Johnson of Lookout Mountain, one of Tennessee’s best mid-amateurs. Next came Tennessee Golf Hall of Famer Danny Green, a veteran of years of intense, high-level competition. Friday brought the double whammy of Burgan, a contender in every TGA event he plays, and Fly, a birdie machine who plays for the University of Memphis.

“Brett is very mature for his age,” Turnbow said. “And I’m not just talking about on the golf course, but off it. He understands that the way to get his game to the next level is not all about banging balls. He takes care of himself. He works out. Some kids don’t figure that out until college. Some don’t get it until after college. Some never get it. But Brett is mature beyond his years, he’s got a very well-rounded game, and he never gets rattled.”

Patterson had plenty of chances to get rattled in a close match with Fly that wasn’t decided until Fly missed a par-putt at the par-3 18^th. Patterson took a lead at the 6^th hole with a par, and never relinquished it even as Fly applied pressure. Patterson went ahead 2-up with a birdie at No. 13, but Fly came right back with a birdie at No. 14 and appeared ready to make a run.

Patterson tamped down some of Fly’s momentum with a birdie at the par-5 16th, but Fly came right back with another birdie at the 325-yard, par-4 17^th after hitting his tee shot within 20 yards of the green.

That sent the match to the tricky 18^th, playing at 222 yards. Fly’s tee shot landed in the left bunker, and Patterson’s ball took a big hop on the back of the green and rolled about 15 feet down the hill. Patterson pitched to about three feet, and Fly blasted to about four, and when he missed his par putt, the tournament was over.

“I didn’t putt well enough to win today,” Fly said. “But Brett was hard to beat. He had my strategy going today; he just didn’t make mistakes.”

The Senior Match Play final between Kingsport’s Tony Green and Tom Baird, a member of the host course, wasn’t as crisply played as the Patterson-Fly match, but it had its moments. Green led 1-up until a bogey at the par-5 16^th, but quickly regained his lead after draining a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17^th.

At 18, Green, who had been pulling the ball, aimed right of the green, but this time his shot went where it was aimed. The ball ended up on the 9^th green, a position from which, with a blind shot, he pitched to 40 feet below the hole.

Baird, meanwhile, missed the green long, but his ball landed on a drain, allowing him a free drop.

“I thought I’d gotten a bad break being down there,” said Baird, who had already decided to putt from off the green. “But when I saw where I could drop, I felt a lot better about it.”

Baird’s nearest relief was left of the drain, which gave him a flatter putt. He coaxed his 40-footer to within four feet of the hole. After Green barely missed his long par putt, Baird calmly drained his four-footer, sending the match to extra holes.

At No. 1, Baird’s drive was well behind Green’s, but Baird hit his approach to 15 feet below the hole. Green’s second shot settled 10 feet away. Baird knocked his putt into the heart of the cup, and when Green missed, Baird, who’s still in his first year of senior golf, won his first championship. “I think this senior stuff agrees with me,” Baird said.

The win came as no surprise to the Chattanooga G&CC members who know Baird and play against him in low balls and the club championship.

“They were teasing him the night before, calling him the Bully,” Green said, “because he beats everybody. Some of them asked me if I could get him. Not today.”