Dothan’s Cornelius wins award

Dothan’s Kyle Cornelius had some attitude adjustments to make following his first nine-hole round of 46 in the 10-under division of the 60th Annual Press Thornton Future Masters at the Dothan Country Club.

By Tuesday afternoon, a revamped attitude had Cornelius holding a trophy and smiling from ear-to-ear.

Cornelius shot a second round, nine-hole 38 to make the most improvement from Round 1 to Round 2. In doing so, he was awarded the Bill Maddox Award, which is given annually to the golfer in the 10-under group showing the most improvement.

“I got a 10 on a hole (par 4 No. 6) yesterday (Monday) and I got upset,” Cornelius said. “I didn’t take my time after that. I got real mad.”

After the round, Cornelius had some soul-searching to do.

He came out on Tuesday with a good attitude and stayed focused throughout the round to shoot the 3-over par score.

After making birdie on his first hole, Cornelius followed with back-to-back bogeys. But instead of losing his cool, he kept cool and collected.

“I buried my shot in the sand trap on the next hole, but got up and made par,” Cornelius said. “The first round I was a little nervous. I felt more confident today.”

The Bill Maddox Award is given in the memory of a former Dothan Country Club member who was a volunteer scorer in the 10-under age division for years.
Maddox died in 2006.

His son, Chris, is now a scorer in the age division and presented the trophy to Cornelius.

“Our entire family is so honored and touched that one of the most prestigious junior golf tournaments in the entire country would have an award named in my
dad’s memory,” Chris Maddox said.

“Dad loved this particular age group. He was completely blown away with how well they played.’