May 3, 2011
GREENSBORO, Ga. — Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson and former Yellow Jacket basketball standout Jon Barry combined to shoot an 11-under-par 61 Wednesday to win the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament at Reynolds Plantation.
Georgia Tech held off a field of 11 other university teams of head coaches and celebrity alumni to take the $120,000 first-place prize in scholarship winnings. The combined scholarship purse amounted to $415,000.
After finishing second in last year’s event, Team Georgia Tech led throughout the tournament and capped the round when Johnson holed a 17-foot downhill putt on 18 to finish at -11.
“Jon can hit that ball out there so far that you’re close to a lot of greens and it gives you a chance to hit some shots,” Johnson said following the round.
“Coach Johnson was absolutely awesome on the greens today. He was looking like Ben Crenshaw,” Barry added. “We really appreciate the Chick-fil-A Bowl for having us out here today.”
“We had a spectacular day on the golf course today and this incredible group of coaches and celebrities represented their universities in a first-class way,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “But the privilege was all ours in being able to give so much back to these great schools and great competitors.”
The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge featured pairings that included a university head coach and a celebrity or former athlete from the same school competing in a scramble format against other university teams from the ACC and SEC.
The final standings and scholarship winnings were as follows:
Team — Score –Winnings
Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson / Jon Barry) — (-11) — $120,000
Tennessee (Derek Dooley / Stanley Morgan)– (-8) — $60,000
Ole Miss (Houston Nutt / Wesley Walls) — (-7) — $40,000
South Carolina (Steve Spurrier / Sterling Sharpe)– (-7) — $40,000
Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer / Dell Curry) — (-7) — $40,000
Clemson (Dabo Swinney / Steve Fuller) — (-6) — $25,000
Wake Forest (Jim Grobe / Riley Skinner) — (-5) — $20,000
Miami (Al Golden / Gino Terretta) — (-4) — $15,000
Alabama (Nick Saban / Chris Mohr) — (-3) — $10,000
Maryland (Randy Edsall /Stan Gelbaugh) — (-3) — $10,000
Miss. State (Dan Mullen / Fred McCrary) — (-3) — $10,000
NC State (Tom O=92Brien / Torry Holt) — (+1) — $10,000
Tuesday, Johnson also won the event’s closest-to-the-pin contest by hitting an 88-yard wedge shot to within three feet of the cup to earn Georgia Tech an additional $5,000 in scholarship money. Georgia Tech earned a total of $125,000 on the day. Miami’s Al Golden and Alabama’s Chris Mohr each won and additional $5,000 for their schools in the event’s long drive competition with drives of 271 and 306 yards respectively in the coach and celebrity divisions.
In addition to the $415,000 scholarship purse, an additional $135,000 was donated to Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Homes, a long-term foster care program. The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is a significant contributor to the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s overall annual charitable and scholarship donations.
In total, $632,000 was donated in charity and scholarship including the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s decision to add an additional $70,000 to help aid the storm victims in Alabama. Over the last five years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge has awarded $2.5 million in charitable and scholarship contributions.
The tournament was taped by ESPN for broadcast in the fall. It will air on Aug. 6 at noon and Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. on ESPN-2.
Past winners:
2010 Florida State (Fisher/Buckley /-7)
2009 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12, playoff winners)
2008 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12)
2007 Virginia Tech (Beamer/Dell Curry / -10)
For more information on the event, visit www.Chick-fil-ABowlChallenge.com.
