At age 52, Greenwood State Farm agent Robert Pannell has still got it.
Pannell snapped the four-year winning streak of Alan Ellis last weekend by winning the Greenwood Country Club golf championship by six shots over Austin Wilkey.
Pannell opened the two-day tournament with a 6-under-par 66 and then finished with a round of 1-over-par 73. Pannell struggled on the front nine in the second round with a 5-over-par 41 but came back strong with a 4-under 32 on the back nine.
This is Pannell’s fifth time to claim the club’s golf championship, the first since 2001. He also won it in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
“Well, at 52 you start to wonder if you will ever win another one. But I played well in the Greenwood Invitational and the Grenada Invitational so I had some confidence coming in,” Pannell said. “A friend of mine, Louis Lee who won the U.S. Senior Amateur, told me to just go play and get out of my own way. He was right, and I had a blast.”
Wilkey finished second at 1-over after a final-round 71, finishing well ahead of pre-tournament favorite Ellis, who had won seven of the last eight GCC titles before Pannell’s victory.
Cliff Camp won the first flight at 151, while Jonathan Mills took the second flight at 154.
Chris McQueen captured the third flight at 163, and Eddie Barnes took top honors in the fourth and final flight.
