McBrayer, Smith team to capture Michelob title|[7/10/06]

Published 12:00 am Monday, July 10, 2006

The teacher and the student teamed up to school the competition.

Drew McBrayer, the former golf coach at St. Aloysius, and his star player Chase Smith shot a 63 in the second round of the Michelob Light 2-man Scramble at Clear Creek Golf Course on Sunday, and used a strong effort on the back nine to take a three-stroke victory in the tournament. McBrayer and Smith birdied eight of the last 11 holes – including five straight at one point – to hold off a pair of challenges from the teams of Todd Jenkins and Tony Bishop and Lance Elkins and Will Johnson.

The latter two teams both shot 64 on Sunday and finished tied for second with a two-day total of 126. Javier Torres and Joey Hasty were another shot back in fourth place.

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&#8220If the hole was 1/64th of an inch closer (McBrayer and Smith) would have beaten us by 10 strokes. They looked like PGA professionals out there,” Bishop said.

On the front nine, McBrayer and Smith looked more like just another couple of weekend duffers. They made just one birdie in the first six holes of the scramble – in which each player hits a shot, and the team uses the best one for its score.

The slump allowed Jenkins and Bishop to get within one shot at the turn, as well as Elkins and Johnson to make up some ground. McBrayer and Smith made birdie on No. 8, though, the first of five in a row that kept them in the lead.

Then, on the par-4 12th hole, Smith hit his team’s second shot to within a foot of the cup. Jenkins and Bishop parred the hole, and McBrayer and Smith slowly began to pull away.

They parred the next two holes, then birdied three in a row to gain another stroke and take a three-shot lead onto the 18th tee. Both teams parred the hole, giving McBrayer and Smith the comfortable victory.

Keying their charge on the back nine was Smith’s solid wedge play. He hit three shots from the fairway to within six feet of the cup. Two of them led to tap-in birdies, while the third resulted in a par on No. 16 when both he and McBrayer missed a short putt.

&#8220I was hitting my wedge real good. (McBrayer) would outdrive me on every hole, and I’d hit the wedge in close,” Smith said. &#8220We knocked them so close it got the ball rolling. We didn’t have any close putts on the front nine.”

The effort gave Smith his second straight Michelob Light title – he won the tournament with Bill Hassell last year – as well as a sentimental goodbye with McBrayer. The coach left St. Al to take an assistant basketball coaching job at New Hope last month.

He said it was enjoyable to ride around the course with Smith one last time.

&#8220It was a blast. I had a great time,” McBrayer said. &#8220Getting to play golf and hang out away from the coach-player situation is always fun.”

Other flight winners included Dan and Robert Luke, who shot a 62 on Sunday and won the first flight with a 128; Dan Murray and Sean Oakley, with a 132 in the second flight; Ed Fletcher and Jay Ott, with a 138 in the third flight; Gordon Weir and Tim Lincoln, with a 138 in the fourth flight; and Clay Abraham and Lampton Thomas, who shot 143 in the fifth flight.

Clement wins VCC Club Championship.

Greg Clement shot a 70 on Sunday to go with his 71 on Saturday to cruise to the Vicksburg Country Club championship with an 11-stroke victory over Jake Dornbusch and Ben Brooks, who tied for second with a three-day 226.

Clement finished third on Friday’s opening day after he shot a 74, but with his two sterling rounds over the weekend, he easily defeated the field.

Bill Grey shot a three-day 227 to take third place.