Jake Peacock goes back-to-back at the Georgia Amateur
Jake Peacock (Georgia State Golf Association Photo)
Jake Peacock of Milton captured his second-straight Georgia Amateur Championship title in dramatic fashion, knocking in a long birdie on the 72nd hole to win by one stroke at Augusta Country Club in Augusta, Ga.
Peacock finished 13-under and carded rounds of 68-70-67-70. He began the final round with a three-stroke advantage over Brycen Jones of Thomasville, who carded rounds of 73-68-67-68 and finished one shot back of Peacock and in solo second place at 12-under, and Cooper Tendick of Kennesaw, who carded rounds of 71-67-70-73.
A bogey out of the gate on the par-4 first hole didn't deter Peacock, a rising senior at the University of South Florida, as back-to-back birdies followed on the next two holes and on the par-5 5th to move to 13-under-par and a five-shot advantage.
The script then flipped a bit for Peacock as Jones, a rising sophomore at Georgia Southern University, caught fire over the next eight holes. Jones, who also birdied the fifth, went four-under over the next seven holes to tie Peacock at 12-under-par. Peacock regained the lead with a par on the par-3 14th while Jones made a bogey, but Jones took advantage of the par-5 14th with a stellar short-sided bunker shot that led to a birdie to tie Peacock once again.
Both players hit good second shots into the par-4 16th to secure birdies and move back to 12-under-par. Neither player could knock in their birdie attempts on the drivable par-4 17th, however, setting up an incredible finish on the par-4 18th in front of a strong crowd.
Jones found the fairway with his tee shot while Peacock was in between the fairway and the collar of the rough. Peacock struck it well and put his second shot around 30 feet from the flag, which allowed Jones to put on the pressure, and he did. Jones put his approach flag high on the left to about six or seven feet.
Peacock was not fazed. The reigning American Athletic Conference (AAC) Player of the Year struck his putt and calmly watched as it inched closer and closer to the hole. As it approached, Peacock began moving in anticipation and erupted when it dropped to put him one shot away from capturing his second Robert H. Martin Trophy.
Unfortunately for Jones, his birdie attempt rolled past the hole as he tried to force a playoff.
For Peacock, he became the first player to claim back-to-back titles at the Georgia Amateur since current PGA TOUR player Russell Henley of Macon did so in 2008 and 2009. With his win, Peacock also secured exemptions into the 2024 U.S. Amateur and the 2025 Jones Cup Invitational.
R.B. Clyburn of Cartersville (69-68-75-68) and Hayes Brown of Atlanta (69-70-71-70) tied for third, while 2022 champion William Love of Atlanta (69-72-70-70) and Tendick rounded out the top five in a tie for fifth.
ABOUT THE
Georgia Amateur
A field of 144 of the state's best will compete
over 72 holes of stroke play with the field cut to
the low 70 and ties after 36 holes.
Open to male amateur golfers; non-exempt
players enter
through one of 11 statewide qualifiers
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