A familiar name in Guthrie golf returned to the top of the leaderboard this weekend as Shannon Friday helped lead his team to the championship at the 55th Annual Howard Fife Invitational at the Guthrie Golf & Country Club.
The tournament presented plenty of challenges for the field with 23 teams and 115 golfers. Saturday’s opening round was delayed by one hour after nearly five inches of rain fell overnight. Once play began, golfers battled temperatures in the upper 90s along with wind gusts approaching 40 mph.
Despite the difficult conditions, Friday put together two impressive rounds, shooting 5-under par on Saturday and 2-under on Sunday to lead his team to a 7-under total for the two-day tournament. The team finished five shots clear of the field.
Joining Friday on the championship team were Hank Hinkle, Mike Denham, Luke Roach, and Brian Jenkins.
By his senior year in 1992 at Guthrie High School, Friday won the Oklahoma Junior Amateur and was the first 4A individual state champion golfer from Guthrie.
Only one other team finished under par for the tournament. The team of Brody Jarnagin, Elijah Morris, Barney Horrigan, Steven Gellenbeck, and John Miller finished as runners-up.
The tournament was broadcast live on Guthrie News Page for the third straight year.
Saturday’s Broadcast | Sunday’s Broadcast
The Howard Fife Invitational is known for its unique team format. Saturday’s competition counted each team’s lowest best-ball score, while Sunday’s format required teams to count their two lowest balls. Players were assigned handicaps verified by the Guthrie Golf & Country Club and placed into A, B, C, D, and E flights to create balanced competition.
Now in its 55th year, the Howard Fife Invitational remains one of Guthrie’s premier summer sporting traditions, bringing together golfers from across the region to compete on one of Oklahoma’s oldest courses.
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