Jackson Teams With Fly To Notch Another TGA Victory

This story was originally published by Paul Payne at the Chattanoogan.com

Three years ago, Tim Jackson decided it was time to exit the stage of competitive golf.

After a record-setting career that included 27 Tennessee Golf Association titles, a pair of U.S. Mid-Amateur crowns, and twice making appearances in the Masters tournament and the Walker Cup, Jackson looked forward to life beyond his golfing exploits.

Since then, Jackson would try to play a casual round each week and could be found practicing on the range when not spending time at his farm in Williston or visiting his son in Birmingham.

But in his mind, his days of chasing trophies were over. That is until a long-time friend from Memphis, Buzz Fly, called him last winter and convinced him to come out of retirement to partner with him at this year’s 14th Tennessee Super Senior Four-Ball Championship which concluded on Friday at Bear Trace at Tims Ford.

The pairing of Jackson and Fly proved once again to be a winning combination, claiming a 1-up victory over Danny Green and Richard Keene. The victory gave Jackson his 28^th TGA title while Fly stands at 12 career victories after picking up his third win this year. The duo had previously combined to win a trio of Tennessee Senior Four-Balls, and being able to hoist a trophy again brought back plenty of warm memories for Jackson.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done this,” said the 67-year-old Jackson, whose last victory came in the 2022 Tennessee Senior Amateur. “I haven’t played a tournament for three years, so winning was big surprise, actually.”

Fly admitted that it didn’t take much arm-twisting to convince Jackson to return to the competitive stage.

“It wasn't that hard to get him to agree to play,” Fly said. “Don't let him tell you differently. He proved that he still enjoys getting out there and scrapping. When those competitive juices get going and you get a little nervous, that's when it gets fun.”

Neither side could gain an advantage greater than 1-up throughout the match as it remained all-square through 13 holes. Fly stroked a 3-wood from the fairway on the par-5 14^th to six inches for a kick-in eagle to take a 1-up lead, only to see Keene respond with a 15-footer for birdie at 15 - his sixth of seven birdies collected on the day – to tie match.

Jackson helped his side regain the edge with a birdie at 16, and the stage was set for a dramatic finish after halving 17 with pars.

Fly hit a wedge to three feet on the par-3 closing hole, only to have Keene deliver a dart to two feet. Green’s attempt then finished a foot from the hole after coming tantalizingly close to an ace. Needing to convert his birdie try from three feet to win the tournament, Fly calmly rolled in the clincher as his side finished with eight birdies and an eagle.

“Winning these Super Senior match play deals may be the hardest tournaments to win because everybody’s hitting wedges into greens,” Jackson said. “I've been playing really good lately, which is kind of weird because I haven't been playing much competition.

“Once I got here, it was kind of like old times seeing everybody that I hadn’t seen in several years. We had some nice dinners at night, visiting with old friends where we're all talking about our ailments.”

Having tasted the nectar of winning again, Jackson is open to the idea of returning on a limited basis going forward.

“This week was so much fun getting back into that mental competitive mode again,” Jackson said. “I enjoyed our match with Danny and Richard because they are both good guys and fierce competitors. It’s got me thinking about coming back and playing some TGA events. I don’t really dwell on how many championships I’ve won. But now that I’m at 28, I might just try to get to 30. That's a good round number.”

Burgan, Crockett Need 23 Holes to Claim Senior Crown

After missing much of 2025 while recovering from a medical procedure, Todd Burgan had some lofty goals entering this year as he returned to a full schedule of competitive tournaments.

The Powell resident had hopes of making strong showings in the three main events on the TGA Senior calendar – the Senior Match Play, the Senior Amateur, and the Senior Four-Ball.

Mission accomplished.

Burgan teamed with Franklin’s Dan Crockett to complete a clean sweep of those events this season, bringing his career win total to 10 after winning a hard-fought title that took 23 holes against the Nashville pairing of Mike Cannata and Charles May to claim the 33^rd Tennessee Senior Four-Ball.

With the trifecta of victories, Burgan joins Tim Jackson in 2019 as the only other Tennessee golfer to capture all three of these championships in the same year.

“In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have thought I would have won three state championships this year,” Burgan said. “To win them all the same year is really hard to believe even now. That's a pretty big honor to have your name up there with Tim Jackson for that type of an accomplishment.”

Crockett rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt on the 23^rd hole conducted on No. 17 for the win, bringing a halt to the epic match where Cannata and May overcame a 3-down deficit at the turn.

“Those guys would not go away today,” Burgan said. “They won 10 and 11, and it was game on at that point.”

The match was squared when Cannata and May birdied 14, and the sides exchanged birdies on the next two holes before closing with pars at 17 and 18.

Both teams squandered birdie opportunities inside of five feet that could have secured the match during the playoff, but the verdict was finally cast when Crockett drained his winner.

“It could have gone either way, obviously,” Burgan said. “They were good players that hung in there despite being down early. I'm sure they feel like they should have won.”

The victory capped a demanding three-match span that saw Burgan and Crockett win in the quarterfinals thanks to a clinching birdie on the 18^th hole from 20-feet by Crockett before winning in 19 holes in their semifinal match after Burgan delivered long birdie putts on 17 and 18 to remain alive.

“This was a draining couple of days emotionally,” Burgan said. “To be able to do it with Dan, a good friend for years, makes it that much more special. He had back surgery in May, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to play or not even a week ago. But he said he was going to give it a go. For him to hang in there like he did with as many holes as we played just shows you how tough he is.”

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com