June 29, 2016

SEVIERVILLE, TN — On the 4th straight cloudless day just a couple miles north of Smokey Mountain National Park was a strong performance. This was no ordinary performance, but a birdie binge when Marty Whalen carded 4 birdies on the final 20 holes to win the Carl Spackler Open.

The 2015 Horses Ass Award Winner won his first Golden Jacket and became the first player from Michigan to win the golf tournament.

Marty, a rookie from 2011, entered his 6th straight tournament averaging 0.8 birdies per round. He completed his Round 1 in Tennessee with just 51 points, but things looked up quickly and often. He followed up his Round 1 with 75 points in Round 2 and 77 points in Round 3.

"I still remember my first Spackler at Mountain Valley," said Whalen of this victory. "I remember being told what it would take to win this event. I was told me that the only way a person with a handicap like mine could win is to birdie at least 2 holes per round. I knew at that moment that there would be absolutely no way that I would be able to win this event."

Whalen continued, "So started out at Sevierville as usual with me golfing my crappy Spackler score with a 26-over 96 that would put me towards the bottom of the pack. I did however accidently score one birdie, which erased a lot of bad golf.

I had also been seeing every line on the putting green and grabbed 12 long putt holes. The hole looked about the size of a garbage can sunk into the green. But I knew this type of putting had only happened to me about three times in my life. That night I got sick as a dog after eating at Quaker Steak and Lube. I felt sick the rest of the tournament and could not drink beer, which really sucked!

The second day I only hit 5 greens in regulation. But I got up and down from everywhere! Getting another 6 putt point holes. Again, the hole looked as big as a garbage can sunk into the green! Then in the final round, I started falling apart thru the first 5 holes. But I did make a triple bogey bomb on number 5 for my first putt points of the day. Then I bombed another circle birdie putt in at 6th hole. I picked up three birdies and 6 more putt point holes the last day. Making a total of 18 putt point holes equaling 36 putt points. I could not believe that the hole again looked size of a garbage can sunk into the green! It was crazy!"

Marty Whalen becomes the 16th Champion. He follows Greg Long, Mike Trojanowski, Tom Fowble, Steve Hoden, Rick Dosky, Shawn Long, Brian Flanagan, Harold Anderson, Chad Long, Jay Myers, Jay Dilks, Andy Hanks, Rob Hench, Gerald Long, and Allan Hench.

Marty Whalen won the 2016 Carl Spackler Open, Golden Jacket, Golden Hat, and Championship Trophy. He also took home a $400 credit to the 2017 Carl Spackler Open. He won the tournament by 14 points over 2012 champion Andy Hanks.