Kimbell Wins Inaugural South Georgia Classic
Former Hooters Tour Member Gains First Nationwide Victory
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Valdosta, GA (April 15, 2007)…With a playoff victory seven months ago John Kimbell won the Langdale Ford Championship, the final Hooters Tour event at Kinderlou Forest golf club. On Sunday, the former Hooters Tour member captured the inaugural South Georgia Classic at Kinderlou Forest to garner his first ever Nationwide Tour title.
"I always knew I could do this, but I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen," said Kimbell, who admits baseball is perhaps his best sport and spent five years working for a parcel delivery company before taking golf up seriously at the age of 23. "I couldn't be happier. It's unbelievable to win at this level."
The Lafayette, Georgia native fired rounds of 68-70-71-69 for a four day total of ten-under par 278, and a one stroke victory over Australian Matthew Jones. Kimbell’s 69 was the only score under seventy in tough conditions in the final round.
"The conditions were so tough," said Kimbell, a 38-year-old. "I hit the ball solid all week. The wind doesn't seem to affect the ball as much when you're hitting it well."
"I love this place," said Kimbell. "I know this golf course, and that is definitely an advantage around here. Last year, for some reason, I knew I was going to win here (in the Hooters Tour event). I didn't have the exact same feeling at the beginning of this week but I knew I was going to play well. By the weekend I just had a feeling in my gut ... especially the way I was hitting the ball."
The victory, worth $108,000, moves Kimbell from No. 52 to No. 2 on the money list with $126,139 and is further proof that Kimbell is a force to be reckoned with on Tour. It represents his third top-20 finish of the season, and comes on the heels of a then career-best T13 finish two weeks ago at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship.
"I'm a long hitter, so obviously I like long courses," said Kimbell, who secures Nationwide Tour membership through the 2008 season. "I play good on a lot of different-styled golf courses, but I definitely like longer and harder courses. This is definitely one of those. I finished 13th two weeks ago and that was also a long, hard golf course."
Kimbell’s success on the Hooters Tour was primarily from 2003-2006, where he won three times, making 37 of 60 cuts and earning more than $176,000.
The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and boasts alumni like 2007 Masters Winner Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis, 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk, British Open and PGA champion John Daly, two-time US Open winner Lee Janzen, British Open champion Tom Lehman, as well as PGA champion David Toms, Tour Championship winner Chad Campbell and back to back Reno Tahoe Open winner Vaughn Taylor to name just a few. All told, the NGA/Hooters Tour alumni have an incredible nine Majors to their credit. The NGA Hooters Tour has helped more than 100 golf professionals acquire their PGA, Nationwide and Champion’s Tour card. In fact, 50% of the players that earned their 2007 PGA Tour cards, and 47% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA Hooters Tour.
For more information about the NGA Hooters Tour, please check out our website at www.hooterstour.com or contact the Tour office toll free at 800-992-8748.