Backspin Volume 3, Issue 11 | Page 43

MS sends top Amateurs to Team Championship Birmingham – The Mississippi Golf Association proudly sent three of the best amateurs to Birmingham at the end of September to compete in the USGA Men’s State Team Championship. The championship was held at the Country Club of Birmingham Sept. 28-30. Representing Mississippi was Clay Homan, Ben Snow and Josh Lampley. Clay Homan, of Starkville, Mississippi, has been an active member with the Mississippi Golf Association for many years. He is a five-time State Amateur Champion, with his first win in 1994 and his most recent win in 2016. Homan has also been the MGA Player of the Year, in 2011 and 2012. He is the head coach for the Men’s Golf team at Mississippi State University. Ben Snow, of Hattiesburg was back-to-back Mississippi MidAmateur Champion in 2013 and 2014. He has participated in many Mississippi Golf Association tournaments throughout the state. In 2009, he was the winner of the MGA Player of the Year Award. Snow practices law in Hattiesburg. Josh Lampley, of Gulfport is the 2015 MGA Player of the Year and is the front runner for the 2016 title. He is a very active player with the Mississippi Golf Association, having won several tournaments throughout the state, including this year’s Greenwood Invitational and the 2015 Mid-Amateur Championship. Lampley resides on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he is a golf representative for Cutter & Buck, Bushnell and Sun Mountain. Mississippi had a great finish at the championship. This being the first state team championship where a cut was made, Mississippi was proud to have made the top half of the field. The cut was to the low 21 teams and ties following 36 holes of play. Mississippi finished tied with Louisiana at 21st place. The Country Club of Birmingham proved to be a challenge and was quoted as one of the most difficult courses these top amateurs had played, a true test for the amateur field of over 50 teams representing the 50 states and Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The MGA congratulated the team for representing Mississippi well. 43