The South Georgia Classic has been a tremendous success this week, and if you haven’t been yet, I encourage you to go today to view the final round of the tournament.

The Golf Channel has given the community outstanding coverage and are some of the nicest, funniest folks who obviously love their jobs. All of the employees associated with Kinderlou have produced an incredible tournament, kept the greens and fairways beautifully manicured, and the entire week has been one of the best promotions for this entire region that we’ve ever had.

Hotels, restaurants and particularly the downtown area merchants should all be very happy with the turnout they’ve seen.

A special thanks is owed to the Langdales, First State Bank and all the sponsors, and congratulations to South Georgia Medical Center, which will benefit greatly from the event.

The week culminated in an exciting personal event as I graduated Saturday from VSU with my masters degree in public administration, following nearly two years of an incredible amount of time and work. After getting divorced, I decided to hit the books, not the bars, as some seem to do, and it’s been an amazing time. I met some wonderful people, have been exposed to new ideas and knowledge that has helped me grow more in my position, and shown my 15-year-old daughter the importance of hard work and education. She gets it, thankfully, and her only request is that I wait until she graduates before I go back for my Ph.D.! We’ll see.

Thanks VSU, it was a great experience!

Business Roundup

The new hotels are getting closer to being finished, from the new Wingate by Exit 16 to the new Hilton on Gornto to the new Holiday Inn Express on St. Augustine, and hopefully soon, the new Drury Inn by Exit 18 will finally break ground.

Continental Mortgage has moved its offices into Valdosta at the corner of Ann and Slater Streets.

The Smok’n Pig restaurant is going well, with an anticipated summer opening, on Old Highway 41 North near Camelot Crossing, where the Hughston Clinic’s new office is.

And yes, I goofed last week and put the new Verizon store beside the wrong high school. It’s beside the entrance to LHS on Norman Drive. Thanks to the sharp eyed readers who called me on it!

I keep hearing about the new Japanese restaurant getting ready to open on N. Ashley St. and how nice, huge, etc. the place is. The lounge area is supposedly as big as a football field. I understand they will be opening this month sometime, so stay tuned.

No updates yet on North Oak Square or the James Road development, but hopefully I’ll have news on both next week.

That’s it for this week, short column, sorry, but I promise to make up for it next Sunday. If there’s anything I missed, please let me know!