Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/406138
"(Winning or leading) is never comfortable for me, but I do focus well. I'm somewhat of a nervous player and I felt pressure like I'd never before (at Pine Tree) as it meant so much." McCorkle won $4200 for winning Dixie PGA Professional Championship and, along with Mike Parrish of Boaz CC and Ned Martin of Repar Golf in Decatur, was one of three players over 50 to qualify. Matt Ganshaw of Twin Bridges in Gadsden and Eric Williamson of Shoal Creek also advanced, with Williamson being exempt after his top 20 finish in last year's National Club Pro, which got him into the field for this year's PGA Championship. "When it was announced that the winner of the Dixie PGA Professional Championship would qualify for the Barbasol Championship, that be- came a big goal of mine. It will be my first ever PGA Tour event and I'm so excited it will be in my home state." He also talked about the support he receives from Old Overton in allowing him to compete in these events. "It is a very supportive membership and it is such an honor to represent Old Overton." And earlier this year, he also won the Ala- bama Chapter Championship. He has won close to $13,000 in Dixie Section events this year. Zach Portemont of Greystone Golf & CC won the Dixie Section Assistants Championship ear- lier this year and thus also qualified for the na- tional Assistants, while Lawrence Auer of Azalea City in Mobile and Martin also qualified for the Seniors, finishing behind McCorkle in the Dixie Section Senior Championship. The only Dixie Section POY award McCorkle missed out on was the Senior, which went to J.J. Dunn of Stonebrook Golf Club in Pace, Fla. Ironically, I wrote the following in November last year… "Todd McCorkle achieved a feat this year (2013) within the Dixie Section of the PGA that will be very hard to emulate. "He qualified for three national champion- ships: the assistants, club professional and senior championship. This is pretty unique as there not that many assistant professionals who are his age -- 50 -- that can play the game to a TODD MCCORKLE HAS ANOTHER BANNER YEAR high enough level to be competitive to qualify for these national championships." What little did I know! McCorkle, who has been the assistant golf professional at Old Overton Club for almost three years, came to be a club professional later in life as he was the women's golf coach at the Universities of Arizona and Georgia. He played college golf for the University of North Carolina - Charlotte and played on the then Nike (now Web.com) Tour in the early 90's. However, he's not even the best golfer in his family, as his wife, the former Jenna Daniels, is a former NCAA individual and team champion, winning both titles at the University of Arizona. She played on the LPGA Tour, but now makes her living in medical sales and was the reason they moved to the Birmingham area. He was looking for a job and Old Overton Club was where he landed. "Jenna plays the blue tees (at Old Overton) and beats me about 80 percent of the time." Click here for the results from the Dixie PGA Professional Championship at Pine Tree. Click here for live scoring from the PGA Assistants National Championship. Please take note of the Thompson TEES Off icon. Every place you see this icon, click on it to subscribe. An annual subscription is only $30 a year -- less than 60 cents an issue -- fi lled with exclusive, local content delivered to your in-box every Thursday. (L-R) National Club Professional Championship quali ers Mike Parrish, Ned Martin, Todd McCorkle and Matt Ganshaw.