SAVANNAH, Ga. --- Augusta's Jeff Knox admitted it's been a "love-hate" situation since his son Lee first beat him at age 14 in the game.
There were no mixed feelings Sunday at The Landings Club's Deer Creek Course, where 20-year-old Lee Knox closed with 3-under-par 69 for a one-stroke victory over a field that included his father at the Georgia Amateur Championship.
"This is much better than me winning," said Jeff Knox, 47, a two-time Georgia Mid-Amateur Champion and three-time runner-up in this event.
"It makes me proud to be his dad," said Jeff Knox, who tied for 11th place after a final-round 77. "He's a good kid."
He's also the first Augustan to win this title since Randy Strozier Jr. did it 41 years ago.
It was a 1-2 finish for Augustans as Chase Parker shot a competitive course record 65 in the final round.
"That's pretty cool. Maybe next time I'll get it on the trophy," said Parker, 19, a rising sophomore on the Kentucky golf team.
The Knox family came out in force for the 89th annual event. Lee's mother, Catherine, is from Savannah, and her parents, Karen and Jim Davis, reside here.
They all attended, as did Jeff's father, Boone Knox, who rode in his cart as Jeff and Lee played in the same pairing for a unique father-son finish.
"To win this tournament is unbelievable," said Lee Knox, a rising redshirt sophomore at the University of Alabama who finished at 5-under 283. "I can't believe I won this before my dad did."
The son sounded overwhelmed but kept his composure through the trophy presentation, just as he had all day through stifling heat, light rain and a 1-hour, 19-minute lightning delay when he was just two shots from completing his final round.
"It just made me think more," said Lee Knox, who made par on the final hole. "It made me more nervous. All I had was a little wedge shot to the (18th) green."
At the time, Knox had a one-stroke lead on Parker, who had completed his bogey-free round.
Lee Knox started the final 18 holes at 2-under, two strokes behind third-round leader Doug Hanzel. The reigning club champion at The Landings and the area's top amateur, Hanzel, 53, had 73 and finished third.
Knox came to the windy par-3 17th hole with a two-shot lead over Parker. But his tee shot blew into a hazard left of the green.
Knox had an unplayable lie, took a drop and made "a really good up and down," he said, for bogey.
"It turned out to be a really important one."
Parker and Knox were on the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman golf team last spring. They are friends and longtime competitors at Augusta Country Club and on the junior circuit.
Parker won a GHSA state individual title while at Westside; Knox captured a GISA state crown while coached by his father at Augusta Prep.
Sunday marked the fifth time an Augustan has won the Georgia Amateur Championship.
1921: Montgomery Harrison
1937: Frank Mulherin Jr.
1965: Frank Mulherin Jr.
1969: Randy Strozier Jr.
2010: Lee Knox
-- From staff reports
Three of the nine area golfers to make the cut finished in the top 11, headed by Knox. The others were runner-up Chase Parker (65 on Sunday) and Jeff Knox (77 to tie for 11th).
Of the area players, Matthew Motes closed with 72 to tie for 26th, Tripp Kuhlke had 73 to tie for 31st, Tom Hardy shot 78 to tie for 44th, Brian Carter had 79 to tie for 49th, Josh Gregory shot 75 to tie for 56th and Jimbo Garren Jr. had 85 and finished 73rd.
-- From staff reports
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