Brad Sill had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do from the
middle of the fairway on No. 18 at the Carolina Country Club as the
Cyder Cup hung in the balance.

He’d already been there once this season.

Sill, who won the Spartanburg County Amateur earlier in the year, had
a similar approach into the par-5 18th during that tournament. This
time, though, the team victory was within reach and the point at stake
in Sill’s match was crucial. He’d already rallied to tie Dani Ezelle
three times, once with by winning back-to-back holes at Nos. 6 and 7,
once more by winning No. 13 after Ezelle won the 10th, and again with
a win at 17 to force a tie going to the last.

“I was never up all day,” Sill said.

No pressure.

“That last tee shot, I hit a little cut, so it sets up perfect for
me,” Sill said. “I hit a good drive up there. In the County I hit
pretty much the same shot. I hit it in the rough a little bit and I
had a little bit of a flyer, so I played a little less club.”

The club was perfect. Sill’s second settled about three feet right of the hole.

“I thought it was going home for a two,” he said with a grin.

Ezelle was in the left greenside trap and hit a good bunker shot to
about 20 feet. He promptly made a sweeping putt for birdie, forcing
Sill’s hand.

“That thing broke a ton,” Sill said. “He hit a really good putt.”

So did Sill, knocking his three-footer in the middle of the hole for
Spartanburg’s 16th point, officially retaining the Cup. Word quickly
came via cellphone that behind him, Brad Thorne had birdied No. 17 to
beat Spencer Cole 2&1 to win it outright, with Spartanburg taking an
official 17.5-14.5 victory.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Sill said. “We’re all just a bunch of friends out
here playing with each other. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

Spartanburg’s win tied the all-time series at 10-10-1. The 21st year
of the tournament also raised a record amount of money for First Tee
of Upstate South Carolina.

“This was a record-setting year, and both groups of guys did a great
job,” Spartanburg captain Todd Whitehead said. “We’ve very, very
appreciative of Carolina Country Club for getting the golf course
ready for us. And it’s good to have one that comes down to the end,
with everybody out there watching and cheering. That’s what it’s all
about.”

“It’s 10-10-1, and it doesn’t get any more equal than that,”
Greenville captain Terry Willis said. “The guys really played well,
and if you look around, there are about 90 percent of them still here
at the end. They stayed to watch the finish. That’s great to see.”

The top of Sunday’s tee sheet belonged to Greenville. Andy Mitchell
won five holes on the front nine and closed out a 6&5 victory over
Landon Hames with a birdie at 13. Bryan Kelly, in the first match of
the day, birdied the par-3 15th to end his match with Jonathan Thomas
5&3. James Scott won the 16th hole and held on down the stretch,
firing a back-nine 33 to beat Thomas Fraser 1-up. And Cole Patterson
gave Greenville a clean sweep in the first two foursomes, closing out
Dustin Adair 2&1.

Meanwhile, Spartanburg was dominating a couple of matches down the
sheet in the early going. Daniel Staley won the first six holes of his
match with Matthew Mead, taking firm control and winning 6&5. Max Fain
turned in a similar performance, winning six holes on the front and
two more on the back to beat Greg Moore 6&4. With six of Sunday’s 16
singles matches decided before 2:30, the match was tied at 11-all.

Brian Kennedy gave Spartanburg the lead back, as his 3&2 victory over
Jose Alvarez brought the defending champions to within four points of
retaining the Cup with nine matches still to be decided. Shortly
after, Whitehead defeated Willis 2&1 in the captains’ match, winning
three of the final five holes played and giving Spartanburg a 13-11
lead.

Ronnie Pruitt grabbed a crucial half-point in his match with Bobby
Hines, rallying to win the 17th hole and hanging on at 18 for force
the all-square fine after dropping the 14th and 15th. Greenville
answered with two strong wins to pull within 13.5-13 as Colby Patton
beat Josh Gallman 3&1 and Dillard Pruitt defeated Jonathan Ryan 4&3.

Reed Bentley’s 4&3 win over Steven Bright and Hunter Parks’ draw with
Jared Crane, which included a clutch par on 18, gave Spartanburg 15
points, one point away from retaining the cup and setting the stage
for Sill’s eagle to retain the Cup and Thorne’s birdie and point to
clinch the outright win. Jesse Kinnunen and Andrew Hall halved the
last point for the final margin.

A wild, see-saw Saturday set up Sunday’s final round drama. The teams
finished Saturday’s first two rounds with Spartanburg holding a 9-7
lead, but the way they got there was a roller coaster.

Spartanburg absolutely dominated the morning Best Ball matches. They
won the first five matches on the card on their way to a 6-2 lead
after the session. There were plenty of big wins as well, as only one
match went to the 18th and one more reached 17.

Kennedy and Pruitt, Sill and Gallman, and Thorne and Hall all won
their matches 4&3, while Whitehead and Fain and Bentley and Parks took
3&2 wins and Stanley and Fraser won 2&1 for Spartanburg.

Greenville’s points in the morning came on Mead and Crane’s 1-up win
and Ezell and Patton’s 4&2 match.

The afternoon matches could scarcely have been more different.
Greenville got right back in the contest in the Modified Alternate
Shot format, taking a 5-3 advantage in the session. This time, some of
the wins were even bigger. Willis and Moore and Mitchell and Cole both
won their matchups 5&3, with Kelly and Kinnunen winning 4&3 and the
teams of Mead and Crane and Ezell and Patton each winning 2&1.

Spartanburg had a pair of 4&3 victories from Whitehead and Fain and
Sill and Gallman, and won the only match that went the distance, with
Adair and Hames taking 1-up win.

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