Professional golfers from across the South flocked to Andalusia this week to take part in the Emerald Coast Golf Tour Pro/Am Tournament at the Andalusia Country Club. Former University of Alabama golfer Tom Lovelady took home the $6,000 prize money for finishing in first place with a score of 198 over three days.

“I just turned pro last week and this was just my second pro event,” Lovelady said. “This was a really fun tournament. It was laid back and everyone was easy to get along with. The course here is great. It’s a fun course for any long hitters, and the greens got better each day.”

The Emerald Coast Golf Tour plays all over the Southeast.

“We play in the Florida panhandle, all across Alabama and some in Mississippi,” Tour Director Geno Celano said. “Our next event will be in Brewton and then after that we will be in Dothan.”

While they are professional golfers, most haven’t played in any PGA events just yet.

“These are guys that are trying to make it on the PGA Tour and the Web.com tour,” Celano said. “The guy that came into today leading, he actually played on the Web.com Tour last week. We have had a lot of guys that have played on our tour and them moved on to the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour. Guys like Boo (Weekly) and Bubba (Watson) got started on our tour. We have had a lot guys move on.”

Celano said that the golfers use the Emerald Coast Golf Tour to fine tune their game against strong competition.

“A lot of these guys are just trying to sharpen their game and get to the next level,” Celona said.

This is the third year that the tournament has made a stop in Andalusia.

“This has been the best field we have had in the three years we have come here,” Celano said. “It’s been a great week. We’ve had a lot of good support in Andalusia. The Pro/Am went really well on Wednesday. The people have really supported, and as long as they continue to support it, we will be back. We are thankful because there are a lot of good people here in Andalusia”

Celano said that the players have really enjoyed playing at ACC this week.

“I think everyone has loved the course and loved the greens this week,” Celano said. “They are in great shape. There are some tricky pins today that are making it tough, but overall I think they have really enjoyed it. It’s a wonderful course that is in great shape.”

With the tournament wrapping up on Friday, Celano said that it has been a successful week.

“It’s been a good week and we appreciate the hospitality that they have given us,” Celano said.

One of the players in the tournament, Jay McCluen of Forsyth, GA., has played in five PGA events in recent years.

“I’ve qualified and played in five PGA Tour events,” McCluen said. “My best finish in PGA events has been T-16 and that was down in Mexico.”

McCluen said that he enjoyed his time playing in Andalusia.

“It’s a very nice course,” McCluen said. “I drove up Wednesday, so I didn’t get a practice round. That first day I made some mistakes, but I got it going and didn’t hit a bogey on the last two days. I liked all the dog leg holes. The greens were great, but they were tough. You had to be in the right spot, or it made it even harder.”

McCluen finished the tournament in fourth place with a score of 207.

Here are the top seven finishers for the professional tournament. First place, Tom Lovelady- 198, tied seconds place, Josh Broadway and Wilson McDonald- 200, fourth place, Jay McCluen- 201, fifth place, Jacob Harper- 203, sixth place, Chase Seiffert- 205 and seventh place, Chase Williams- 207.

Andalusia’s own Jordan Maynor just missed the money with a score of 209.

In Wednesday’s Pro/AM,  Martin Clifton, Mark Chambers and Andrew Kersey teamed up with Tom Lovelady to take the top spot with a score of 52.7

Jay Jackson, Nolan Jackson, Holt Parker and Wilson McDonald (pro) shot 54.7 for a second place finish.

Third place went to Sam Starr, Will Starr, Steve Norman and Jimmy Brandt (pro) with a score of 56.