Stevie Cannady’s first national senior victory had a redemptive element. For much of the back nine at the Golfweek Super Senior, Legends and Super Legends National Championship, it looked like Cannady would easily bag the Super Senior title.
Then came the double bogey at No. 17, and his three-shot lead shrunk to one.
“After making double bogey I got a little nervous,” Cannady admitted.
Cannady had been trying to play to the front of the green at the Golf Club of Georgia’s par-3 17th but pull-hooked his tee shot into the pond there. When he stepped up the 18th tee, he refound his confidence. Playing with his three closest pursuers, Cannady put his approach inside 20 feet, the closest to the hole in the group, and left himself an easy one-and-a-half footer for par.
Scores: Golfweek Super Senior, Legends and Super Legends National Championship
“I’ve had seconds and I’ve had thirds and I’ve never won, so this is the first,” Cannady said of finally scoring a title. Shortly after the victory, as he drove from Alpharetta back home to Pooler, Georgia, near Savannah, he looked forward to sharing the news with his local golf buddies.
Cannady had consistent rounds of 73-72-70 for a 1-under 54-hole total. That left him one ahead of Todd Brown and two ahead of Chris Hall on a tight leaderboard.
Cannady turned 65 in early January, making 2024 his first year in the super senior division. Given that change of division, he decided to ramp up his schedule a little. It had been a few years since he had played much on the senior circuit as work – Cannady owns a logistics company that specializes in trucking, warehousing and some commercial real estate – prevented him for teeing it up very many weeks.
Before arriving at the Golf Club of Georgia, his best finish of 2024 had been a top 5 at the Lowcountry Senior Invitational in May.
It was the one that got away.
“I was one off the lead there and made a double bogey on 16, which cost me that tournament,” he said. “Didn’t know it at the time but the guy that won it actually double-bogeyed 17 and then bogeyed 18. If I had just parred the 16th hole, I would have won outright.”
Originally, Cannady was scheduled to play in a U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier early week, but decided not to play that round so that he could get a look at the Golf Club of Georgia, a course he hadn’t seen in 30 years.
“I definitely needed the practice round to refamiliarize myself,” he said. “It’s a fabulous…
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