Golf Excitement in Macon?

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor/Columnist


Perhaps it was the return of Macon-native Russell Henley in search for a second consecutive Brickyard Collegiate title. Or perhaps it was the nationally ranked field that teed off at the Brickyard at Riverside that brought the crowds to the fairways. Heck, the fact that the Mercer men’s golf team was hosting the event for the 4th year in a row probably brought out the weekend hackers.

Needless to say, walking the course on Sunday afternoon was special.

Following Russell Henley (Georgia), Brooks Koepka (Florida State), and James White (Georgia Tech) gave the tournament the feel of a small PGA event. The course was immaculate, the crowds were respectfully inebriated with the action, and hosts could not have done a better job putting on the event.

In fact, I was surprised more people weren’t there.

Henley won the championship, again, this time by four strokes over runner-up Carter Newman. Perhaps the golf world’s best young talent showed the crowds another reason why he’s destined to be a PGA-tour mainstay someday. Almost every shot was on line and he had almost complete command over the ball during the tournament.

But the tournament wasn’t just about Henley, or the University of Georgia winning the team championship, or the other notable golfers making the trip to the tournament, but instead this weekend was also about Macon’s (and Mercer’s) ability to host a world-class tournament.

The tournament drew news reports from the New York Daily News to the Macon Telegraph and many papers in between. Golf websites covered it with in-depth reports, including a dedicated front page story on GolfWeek.com. It was a big deal in the golf world, a big time collegiate tournament that seemingly went off without a hitch.

I was surprised by what I saw. As a relatively new and inexperienced golf fan, watching the crowds travel up the course with the pairings was something special. Watching the way that the older fans would discuss each and every shot while the youngsters hung on every word of the players was something of legendary status.

Mercer finished 13th. Augusta State, the defending national champions, finished 2nd. Georgia won and the other major schools doted the top-10 of the 15 team field. More importantly though, the city of Macon won on this one…by many strokes.

For a mid-major city in the south without football or ties to any professional or semi-professional sports franchises (no, the Macon Pinetoppers don’t count), the tournament is a coup. The way in which the tournament was advertised, their website (www.brickyardcollegiate.org), and the way in which it was hosted was nothing short of top-notch. And for as many spectators that did attend, I’d venture to say that attendance will spike by at least 50% in the years to come.


It’s a promising sign in a struggling economy when a city and school of Macon and Mercer’s small stature can pull something like this off. It may not get the television coverage that the A-Sun Basketball Championship does in March, but it very well could put Macon on the map for many years to come.

Hats off to Coach Andrew Tredway, his team, the Brickyard at Riverside management, and Mercer for putting this on. Well done.

Mercer Finishes 13th in Brickyard, Another Successful Tournament in Macon

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor/Columnist


The Bears finished 13th in this year’s edition of the Brickyard Collegiate, beating out Gonzaga and Boston College in the 15-team field. Although they didn’t grab the headlines at the Brickyard by Riverside Golf Club here in Macon, the tournament once again grabbed national attention by bringing the biggest names in the college golf world to middle Georgia.

Georgia squeaked out a tournament victory over the reigning Division I National Champions, Augusta State, by one stroke. In a fitting fashion, Macon native Russell Henley, a senior for the Bulldogs, won the individual championship for the 2nd year in a row, posting a three-day total of 206 (-10) beating out runner up Carter Newman of Augusta State by four strokes.

For Mercer, Stefan Labuschagne had the best individual finish, tying for 35th overall at 222 (+6) with respectable rounds of 75, 72, 75. Josh Cone followed with a tie for 39th place finish after a low round of 70 on Sunday, outpacing his teammates Matt Kocolowski (T-45th, +9), John Gregory Joseph (T-58th, +12), Mookie DeMoss (T-75th, +18), Thomas Holmes (T-75th, +18), and Alex Street (82nd, +27).

"I believe my team is really close to breaking through,” said head coach Andrew Tredway. “The past several years the road to the national championship has come through Macon and the Brickyard collegiate. I would say we are closer than ever to having that ability. On paper beating finishing 13th isn't that great, but looking at stroke differential is huge. We're not 100 shots back of the leaders,” he added.

Perhaps the small victories that came during the tournament were beating major schools Gonzaga and Boston College, known for their college basketball teams and strong academics.

“It really comes down to little things: chipping, putting, decision making,” said Tredway. “We are good ballstrikers and we can hang with anyone in that department.”

Ranked #120 in the nation by Golfstat.com, the team still aims to move up in the rankings in hopes of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, the road to the NCAAs will come through winning the Atlantic Sun Championship next April at Chateau Elan in Duluth, Georgia. Looking to wrap up their fall season on a strong note, the men’s team will travel to tee it up at the Memphis Intercollegiate at the Colonial Country club in Memphis, Tennessee.

Cone leads Mercer with 5th Place Finish at Kiawah

J. Andrew Lockwood
BearZone Columnist

Josh Cone can flat out play some golf. The junior showed his potential at the season-opening tournament for the Mercer men’s golf team in Charleston, South Carolina, finishing four strokes back from the eventual winner, John Duke Hudson (College of Charleston). After shooting a 76 during the first round, Cone looked sharp in the final two rounds, shooting 71s to end with a three-day total of 218. Cone’s finish helped propel Mercer to a tie for 7th place in the 12 team tournament.

"Josh Cone had an outstanding tournament,” said head coach Andrew Tredway. “I think he realized this week that he can play with anyone in the country and he certainly should feel that way with that performance against a top field. The thing he has to do now is continue to work hard and put in the time to consistently be able to play the way he is capable of playing," he added.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the opening tournament for Tredway was the way his team responded to adversity. After notching a 10th place finish as a team following the 1st round, the Bears fought to lower their score by five strokes each day to move up into an eventual tie for 7th with Davidson. North Carolina State (+9) won the team title, besting Mercer by 24 strokes.

"We're pretty excited about the team we have and for the possibilities for this year. This was a deep, quality tournament and to go out and finish 7th, beat some good teams and stay close to Vanderbilt says a lot about the makeup of our guys," said Tredway.

Matt Kocolowski improved each day of the tournament too, moving up 13 places to finish in a tie for 20th place (+10), while teammates Stefan Labuschagne (T-33rd, +13), Thomas Holmes (T-38th, +14), Mookie DeMoss (T-48th, +17), and John Gregory Joseph (T-52nd, +18) would round out Mercer’s six man roster.

"I'm really proud of the way this team hung in there this week,” Tredway added. “ Several of them got off to rough starts and really gutted it out to help the team. Kocolowski did that early in the tournament and ended up finishing top 20. That ‘never die’ attitude is what we've been missing, and now we have it."

With four new golfers on the scorecard for the tournament, the Bears are quickly reshaping their identity on the links. Following the two day tournament at the Kiawah Island Ocean Course, the Mercer men will travel to the Hermitage Country Club in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia for the Virginia Commonwealth University Shootout. The VCU Shootout will be the final tune-up for the Bears before they host the nationally recognized Brickyard Collegiate in Macon on October 8-10th.