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• The inaugural Georgia State Women’s Amateur Championship was played in Albany in 1930 as the event returns to the Good Life City today.

Derek Barichello

ALBANY — The Georgia State Women’s Amateur Championship is back.

Back home, that is.

When defending champion Laura Coble of Augusta tees off at 8 a.m. today at Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, it will mark the sixth time the tournament has visited Albany since its incarnation in 1930 and will also go down in the history books the first trip back to the Good Life City since it was held at Doublegate Country Club for the 75th anniversary in 2004.

The state’s most prestigious women’s amateur started at the former resort spot of Radium Springs Country Club, just southeast of Albany, but now 78 years later, 81 of the state’s top women amateurs — 11 of them local players — will take part in what has become a summer classic.

“(The tournament's roots in Albany) are something the local golf community takes a lot of pride in,” Georgia Women’s Golf Association board member and Albany resident Nancy Abraham said of the event that will be played at Stonebridge for the first time. “It returned in 1979 for the 50^th anniversary at Radium Springs and the 75th anniversary was played at Doublegate (in 2004). We’re very aware of the history here in Albany.”

And it’s a history that goes back to golf legend Bobby Jones.

In 1930, at a time when women’s tournaments were unheard of — many female golfers were restricted from country club courses — Eleanor M. Keeler, who is the namesake of the championship trophy, founded the GWGA in 1929 at Radium Springs and organized the first event played there a year later.

Known as “Mama” Keeler by the Georgia golf community, her husband, O.B. Keeler, covered many of Jones’ tournaments for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

According to Delores Ann Yancey, a former Albany resident and historian for the GWGA,Mama Keeler was with her husband and watching Jones play when she bumped into the golf pro from Radium Springs at the event.

And from their one conversation, the tournament was born.

“It’s not known who approached who on the idea,” Yancey said. “But it was from there (that) everything got started — and it's fortunate too.”

The rags-to-riches Collier, who started poor in Nashville, Tenn., but made his fortune in New York City selling advertisement for buses, had stayed the night in Radium Springs on his way to Florida to buy land.

He eventually decided to buy the property at Radium Springs, known by the Native Americans at the time as “Skywater,” and started a resort community with a casino and a golf course designed by noted golf architect John Law Kerr.

Collier then invited the Keelers to Radium Springs in October of 1929 and after talks about holding an all-women’s state championship, the tournament was organized.

“Back then, Radium Springs was a vacation spot for a lot of northern Georgians,” Abraham said. “It made sense to have it down there during the summer, but it wouldn’t have happened if (Baron Collier) wasn’t all right with having women play at the course and happy to host it.”

For local golfers, it's just another addition to a rich tradition of golf in Albany.

“It’s something that I don’t know if people are aware of the golf history here in Albany,” said Albany resident Helen Kirbo, who has been elected GWGA lifetime member. “It’s exciting to have ties to it.”

Along with the tournament's homecoming, one of the interesting story lines is how local participation in the event has received a boost.

Outside of seeing if defending champion Coble will try to capture her sixth title — which would tie her for the most ever with fellow Augusta resident Janet Olp — many eyes will be on the 11 local amateurs in the field. Among them will be Herald Player of the Year for girls golf, Americus’ Kathryn Fowler, and Albany’s Kelly Pearce, co-Player of the Year with Fowler in 2007, in the championship flight. Both are playing in their first state amateur championship, just like Albany Amateur open runner-up Debbie DeVane and Albany’s Glenda Eubanks, who is looking forward to the challenge of playing against Georgia’s best.

“It’s going to be a bit overwhelming, you have a lot of good golfers from around the state,” said Eubanks, who has participated in the Georgia Senior Women’s Championship but never this particular event. “This is a great opportunity for golfers in the area to play in a tournament this large.”

Not only that, but Stonebridge — which was named as one of Golf Digest's 10 best new courses when it opened in 1997 — is excited to showcase the women's amateur championship for the first time.

“The course is in very good shape,” Stonebridge golf pro Rob Allen said.

“It’s going to play a little bit tough in the rough. The roughs are a little heavier and there’s going to be a definite penalty for hitting it there. We're just happy they chose to come here.”

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