Stan Sill shot a final round 5-under par 67 to win his third Spartanburg County Senior Amateur championship. (GolfClub Photo)

There is no argument as to who has been the best golfer in Spartanburg County Amateur competitions.

It’s Stan Sill.

The lefty added a third County Senior Amateur title to his collection of six regular County titles when he blitzed the field in the 2020 championship at Three Pines Country Club.

Sill opened the tournament with a 4-under par 68 to hold a one shot lead over Ronald Pruitt.

Sill now has won nine county titles. Three Senior championships and six Amateur championships. (GolfClub Photo)

“You get some good breaks and bad breaks when you play and today most of mine were good,” he said. “The difference was just a few feet in a fairway or a little short of trouble,” Sill said.

Tim Pope, Brian Kennedy and Michael Hanke where the next closest competitors as all three finished the first round at even par.

In the second round it almost looked like Sill was spotting the field a shot when he started his round with a bogey, but he bounced back with a birdie to retake the lead.

He eagled the par 5 eighth hole to add to his lead.  Sill collected four birdies on the back nine and only one bogey on the 16th hole as his lead grew.

“You’re probably not supposed to say this, but it was a little easier for me today (second round). I didn’t feel like I was grinding, it probably was because I didn’t make any dumb mistakes,” he offered.

Sill’s second round 5-under par 67 gave him a two-day total of 9-under par 135.

Former Champion Brian Kennedy shot an even par 72 to finish second in the Senior Championship. (GolfClub Photo)

It also earned him his third senior title by a whopping nine shots.

Only Kennedy, a former Senior County champion himself, was able to shoot even par to move up to second place.

The other golfers who were near the lead after the first round were not able to challenge Sill.

Pruitt posted a 4-over 76 and Hanke finished with a 1-over par 73. Both golfers tied for third place at 145.

Claiming his ninth win in a County Amateur event is satisfying but nothing will replace his first win in a County championship.

“Back when I won the county for the first time the field was loaded. The Biershenk boys, Barry Black, Butch Genoble, Bobby Newman and a bunch more were in their prime. I had to beat a lot of good players to win,” he said.

While Sill has taken home more wins in Spartanburg County Amateur events than anyone, he has been even more dominant in the South Carolina Golf Association’s Left-handers championships.

Stan Sill received the championship trophy after winning the Spartanburg Senior for the third time. With his six County Amateur championships Sill may be running  out of trophy space. (GolfClub Photo)

Sill has won 15, yes 15 SCGA Left-handers titles.

He won his first title in 1982 and among his 15 wins was a streak of eight between 1996 and 2003.

Sill’s last victory in the tournament was in 2017.

In the 48 year history of the event, Sill has won a third of the championships.

Some of his wins have come in tight competition while others have been by big margins, like this year’s senior.

“I’ve enjoyed winning them all. I’m not giving any of them back,” concluded the 2020 Spartanburg County Senior Amateur champion.

Flight winners included: First Flight – Bill Gee, Second Flight – David Swoap, Third Flight – TJ Setro, Fourth Flight – Jim Mikutowicz, Fifth Flight – Brian Dully,

Gene Wetmore won the Spartanburg County Super-Senior champion ship in a two-hole playoff. (GolfClub Photo)

The Super-Senior championship was much different than the Senior.

Mike Harpe opened the tournament with a 1-under par 71 to hold a two-shot lead over the field.

Harpe struggled in the second round and defending champion Roger Page and Gene Wetmore took advantage.

Wetmore made the  biggest move in the final round shooting a 2-under par 70. It was the best round posted by a Super-Senior.

Page shot a 73 to finish in a tie with Wetmore at 147.

It took two extra holes before Wetmore was able to sink a birdie putt to claim his first County Super-Senior championship.

Charles Brady and Bobby Cox finished in a tie for third with Barry Black in fifth and first round leader Harpe dropping back to sixth place.

Super-Senior Flight Winners included: First Flight – Ray Bohnen, Second Flight – Jesse Taylor

The 2020 Spartanburg County Amateur championships were presented by First Tee Upstate.

The Spartanburg Amateur, Senior and Junior were sponsored by Budweiser of Spartanburg, Delaney’s Irish Pub and RJ Rockers.

Proceeds from the three tournaments go to the First Tee to support the organizations work by reinforcing values like integrity, respect and perseverance through the game of golf.

Complete scores are available at https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/6190728204362238520