Talbert back on top at Houston Co. Amateur

After 15 years, Skip Talbert proved that it’s quite possible for Tom Watson to beat Bubba Watson on the golf course today.

The 59-year-old Talbert, in a three-man playoff with recent high school graduates Tyler Woodyard and Nick Kishigan, prevailed on the second hole Sunday to win the 2013 Houston County Amateur Championship at The Landings for the third time. He was a back-to-back county amateur winner in 1997 and 1998.

Kishigan, from Warner Robins High School, was the first-round leader with a 73 on Saturday. That was the best 18-hole score of any tournament participant. Talbert was two shots behind at 75, and Woodyard – formerly of Veterans High who signed to play at Gordon State College one year ago – was tied with a former Warhawk teammate, Griffin Joyner, for third place at 76.

The leaders struggled, however, during Sunday’s second and final round. The best score of the day was carded by Jimmy Townsend, who followed up an 81 in the first round with a 74.

Woodyard, Talbert and Kishigan all played in the final group. With a 78 from Woodyard, a 79 by Talbert and an 81 from Kishigan, the trio shared a score of 154 as the top for 36 holes. Townsend was fourth at 155, Randy Lovelace fifth at 157 (79-78) and Joyner sixth at 160 (84 on Sunday).

The leaders went back to the No. 1 hole for the playoff, and all three completed it in four shots. They tried again on No. 2, and there the approach shots made all the difference. Talbert was the only one to reach the green in regulation.

Rain fell from the sky as the golfers made their ride to the green, but it stopped as Kishigan took his chip shot. Woodyard found a sand trap, over-hit the green two times before completing the hole with a score of 6.

Kishigan missed his par putt, tapping in later for 5. All Talbert had to do was two-putt to win at 4.

“That was a battle for everybody,” he said as the players shook hands.

Kishigan was looking to become the second from his family to win the Houston Amateur. His brother Ben was the champion in 2009.

Talbert’s winning scores from 1997 and 1998 were 143 and 146 respectively. This was the first time in six years that Talbert had played in the tournament overall, not just the gross division. He at first considered the senior division, but he wanted to give the top prize one more go.

“There were two or three times when I thought I had really blown it,” said Talbert. “But that’s part of having experience. Keep grinding, and you never know how it’s going to turn out.

“I hit it a little bit further (in ’97 and ’98). But there’s not a whole lot (of difference). It’s just going out there and being steady.”

While time may not bring much difference, the divisions do. The gross division plays from the course’s back, or furthest, tees, and Talbert said most in the over 55 group don’t want to try it from back there again.

“It’s a whole different game out there,” he said. “It suits me pretty good because I am fairly steady and don’t get in a lot of trouble.”

All of two weeks of Talbert’s life has been spent in Houston County going back to 1954. He played junior college golf on a team that placed second in the country.

“From then on I got married, got a job, raised a family and off and on got on streaks where I played pretty good,” said Talbert. “In the last six years I haven’t played that much. I decided six months ago I wanted to make one final push. There are some senior tournaments I want to play statewide. I wanted to test my abilities (at the Houston Am) and get tournament tough.”

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