Steve Hammond and Daniel Northington, 2014 Men’s City Champ
Daniel Northington won the 2013 and 2014 Men’s City Championships and is trying to capture the 2015 title.
Ben Crenshaw is the only player to win three consecutive Austin Men’s City Championships. He did so on 1967, 68 and 69 as a teenager. He went on to have a Golf Hall of Fame Career, winning 19 PGA Tour events, including two Masters titles.
Northington cut short his college golf career to concentrate on obtaining his degree. Golf is an amateur pastime for Northington and odds are against a third consecutive title.
But just as the golfing world was fascinated by Jordan Spieth’s recent run at history in his attempt to win three consecutive major titles, Austin golfers that are aware of what is going on in local golf are curious to see if Northington can make it three in a row and make a little local golfing history. On the world stage of golf, this does not rank very high but in Austin golfing circles, it would be notable to say the least.
2014 Champ Brian Noonan with Beth Cleckler
In his way is a field of 140 players who are trying to win the title. The field includes three time city champion Brian Noonan, who has also won the Firecracker Open, The Harvey Penick Invitational and the 2014 Spring Championship. Two time Men’s City and two time Firecracker Open champion Michael Cooper is in the field.
Several recent winners of the Men’s City such as Matt Warneke and Kody King are entered and have been playing well.
Brenden Redfern
The field also has a number of collegiate players who will figure in the mixture including Brenden Redfern, past winner of the Firecracker Open and recent graduate of The University of Arizona, where he played collegiate golf. He finished second in the Central Texas Amateur last week so he is in good form.
Steve Paterson, who won the Central Texas Amateur, and is the current point leader in the Austin Amateur Golf points race will be a factor in the event along with Robert Evans, who won the Spring Championship and the Chester Cup earlier this year.
Steve Paterson
Play begins Thursday morning at Lions Municipal and Roy Kizer. The field consists of about 140 players who will play each of these courses before a 36 hole cut to the low 72 players. The final rounds will be played at Grey Rock and Morris Williams Golf Course.
The question is, can Northington match Crenshaw’s three in a row. We will see.
Good luck to all the contestants and follow the scoring on the GolfAustin.Org website or the free GolfAustin.Ort app for I-Phones and Android devices, available at your app store.
