After winning four matches each, Cameron Knight, of Dade City, faced Brent Dorman, of Ocala, in the final match of the Championship flight. Dorman, a two-time Country Club of Ocala Club Champion, birdied the first hole to take a quick lead. The 2003-2004 Florida Junior Tour (FJT) Player-of-the-Year Knight said, “I just wanted to play my game. I knew everyone was rooting for Dorman and the pressure was on him.” Knight went on to make back-to-back birdies on holes three and four to go 1 up. With Knight making bogey on the seventh hole, Dorman birdied eight to jump to 1 up and continue to be in front through nine. On the back, Dorman bogeyed 10 and 12 as Knight birdied 13 to go 2 up heading to the 17th hole. Dorman made a tremendous recovery on 17 for par while Knight made bogey to extend the match to 18. After both players hit their approach shots just seven feet from the hole, Knight, putting first, missed his birdie putt and Dorman missing his birdie opportunity gave Knight his first State Championship. “This win gives me a lot of confidence that I hope to carry over to my first season at Florida State University,” said Knight. “I played solid and was out there to do the best I could.” Knight upset top seed and defending Champion Kelly Gosse in the semifinals en route to playing Dorman in the finals. On the FJT, Knight won two events and finished in the top five seven other times.
In the first flight, 16th seed Doug Snoap, of Apopka, won the flight defeating Marais Lombard, of Pompano Beach, 1 up in the finals. Andy Green, of Valrico, claimed the second flight beating John Hewlin, of Bradenton, 1 up in the final match of the flight. The top seed in the third flight, Ken Godwin, of Ocala, made his way to the finals against Nicholas Pincket, of Davie, to win 1 up. Two Ocala men, Bill Wright and David Arnold, battled it out for 19 holes with Arnold winning on the first extra hole to take the fourth flight.
The Country Club of Ocala hosted the Amateur Match Play Championship on August 10-13. The Country Club of Ocala is a tremendous supporter of amateur golf and the Florida State Golf Association. The Match Play Championship takes a field of 96 players to make up five flights. All players were guaranteed an 18-hole seeding round and at least one round of match play. After the seeding round, the field was broken into a Championship flight of 32 players and four additional flights of 16 players. A winner was decided in each of the five flights. All non-exempt competitors played an 18-hole stroke play seeding round on Thursday, August 10 to determine their flights. Players earned exempt status by one of three categories, 2005 Mid-Amateur Champion, 2006 State Amateur Champion or 2005 Match Play Semifinalists. All five flights began the match play competition on Friday, August 11 with the Championship flight also playing in the afternoon. All flights played two matches on Saturday, August 12 with the finals on the morning of Sunday, August 13.
To view tee-times, pairings, and complete results, please see www.fsga.org.
Organized in 1913, the Florida State Golf Association is a not-for-profit organization that governs amateur golf in the state of Florida. In addition to conducting 22 championships for amateur golfers in the state, the FSGA is responsible for more than 40 qualifying tournaments for USGA National Championships and the Florida Junior Tour. The FSGA also maintains the USGA Handicap System, performs course ratings throughout Florida and assists in junior programs and scholarships.
