News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot

News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot
News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot

Course Insight

With the Smoky Mountains as a backdrop, architect Willard Byrd laid out Fox Den on natural terrain featuring rolling hills, beautiful wooded areas and several ponds. Bill Bergin did a redesign in 2004, resurfacing all the greens, redoing the bunkers and adding some new ones. The greens are large, averaging 7,500 square feet, protected by many of the course’s 52 bunkers. The signature hole is the 18th, a 597-yard par 5 where it usually takes three shots to reach a green that is guarded on the front and right by water.

“I don’t like to think about numbers, but 20 [under] was a hard number to ignore. That’s a milestone in itself. That was in my mind.”
- Patton Kizzire

How Patton Kizzire Won 2015

Patton Kizzire was six strokes behind after opening with 68-68, but a pair of 64s on the weekend enabled him to pull away to a four-stroke victory. Kizzire trailed by two entering the final round, but got off to a good start with a birdie on the first hole, which was playing particularly tough into the wind. He added birdies on 3, 5, 7, 10, 11 and 15 while not making a bogey for his 7-under 64 giving him a 20-under 264 total. With Matt Fast and Steve Allan, 1-2 entering the final round, slipping to a 71 and 70, respectively, to tie for fourth with three other players, Si Woo Kim (66) and Brad Fritsch (67) ended up tied for second. • Kizzire ranked T1 in Driving Accuracy, missing only eight fairways all week. He made only three bogeys in the tournament, just one in the last 54 holes.