ROSWELL - Bob Royak of Alpharetta and Gay McMichael of Macon came out victorious on Sunday, April 21, at the Georgia Senior and Super Senior Match Play Championships through wet and cold conditions on the final day of action. Both competitions were conducted April 18-21 at Horseshoe Bend Country Club.
Both Royak (7-under; 66-71) and McMichael (10-under; 66-68) claimed medalist honors in their respective championship after 36 holes of stroke play qualifying entering match play as the top-seed.
Royak defeated Mark Nickerson of Greensboro 3-and-1 in the Round of 16 before taking down Mike Combs of Roswell 3-and-2 to advance to the semifinals Sunday morning. The semifinals pitted Royak, the 2019 champion, against a familiar foe in 2020 champion Billy Mitchell of Dunwoody. Both have faced each other in state-level events and even battled in match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Royak took advantage of front nine mistakes from Mitchell to go 3-up heading to the back nine before eventually closing it out 4-and-3 to face Jack Hall of Savannah, the 2018 champion, in the finals that afternoon.
Hall took the early advantage going 1-up after three holes, but Royak went on to win three of the next five holes to move 2-up. A win by Hall thanks to a birdie on the par-5 9th closed the gap heading to the back nine. After the two tied the par-4 10th, Royak rolled in back-to-back birdies to take control of the match 3-up after 12 holes. Even after a birdie from Hall on the par-5 14th, Royak knocked it close on the par-4 15th get the momentum right back before closing it out 4-and-2 with a conceded birdie on the par-4 16th.
“I went through a bunch of really good players to beat Jack and Billy and the boys," Royak said. "I had a great couple of rounds in medal play. My game was really sharp this week.
“I’ve played pretty well the last couple of events. Maybe had a bad couple of holes in those, but my game is in really good shape. We have the [Georgia Mid-Amateur] coming up in a couple weeks and I’m really looking forward to Glen Arven.”
For McMichael, he entered match play on fire after a 10-under performance in qualifying finishing 10 shots ahead of the field.
In the Round of 16, McMichael won 5-and-3 over Mike Wylie of Roswell before a back-and-forth match against Paige Hood of Atlanta that saw McMichael move on with a 1-up victory.
Despite the rainy conditions, McMichael started out strong winning the first five holes of his semifinals match against Phil Pavoni of Macon and entered the back 3-up thanks to five total birdies on the opening nine. A birdie on the par-4 10th put McMichael 4-up and he eventually closed out the match 5-and-4 to advance for the chance to capture his first GSGA title.
Awaiting McMichael in the finals was 2020 champion Al Small of Savannah. For the first time in match play, McMichael trailed by more than hole after Small took advantage of early mistakes from McMichael going 2-up after three holes. But it didn't last long as McMichael knocked in back-to-back birdies on the par-4 5th and 6th.
The match entered the back nine tied before McMichael won with a birdie on the par-4 10th. Small immediately responded with a win on No. 11 with McMichael regaining the 1-up advantage two holes later. A bogey on the par-4 16th allowed Small to tie the match and neither player could pick up a win on the last two holes to avoid extra holes.
Both players narrowly missed their par putts on the par-4 first, but McMichael had the advantage on the par-3 second as he was able to find the green and Small missed short in the bunker. Small was unable to get up-and-down to save par allowing for McMichael to two-putt for the hard-earned victory.
“Don’t leave it short," McMichael said of his thought process on his winning putt. [The extra holes were] a struggle like it was all day long. I just wasn’t hitting it solid. I was just trying to survive.
“This win means a lot. This is my first GSGA win. Al is a really good guy and probably deserved to win.”
To view the full results from both championships, click the corresponding buttons below. Click here for photo galleries from both championships.
