The day started out promising with the first warm sunshine this year. The radar showed a severe storm was headed towards Odyssey Country Club with little chance of missing us. By the time the last group reached the 4th hole; play halted due to high winds, rain and thunderstorms. With over an hour delay, the field headed out to complete their round only to play in very wet conditions with standing water throughout the course and on the greens. Hole number six had a three group pile up waiting for a staff member to arrive with a roller to clear the water which surrounded the cup in a 15 foot circle making it impossible to continue play.
As the groups began to pile into the scoring area, another system headed our way and dumped some more rain and tornado like winds with lightening. The groups continued on in the conditions believing the lightening was not near enough but it was the winds that caused the most concern. All the groups made it in with a few players calling it quits because along with their round, the conditions only made their tournament even more frustrating.
Championship Flight: Jon Escondo and Rob Merritt were locked up in a two man battle both posting a 38 after nine holes. Both players traded blows through fourteen holes with Rob Merritt holding a one stroke lead as the pair were headed down the stretch of the last four holes which were no bargain; especially with the conditions as they were. Jon closed out the final four holes shooting even par to post a 79 and win by three strokes.
Palmer Flight: Kirk Blakney joined the tour not too long ago and has sent a message that he is the guy to beat on the South Tour winning for the second time in only his first three events on tour. When he made the turn, he had a one stroke lead over veteran John Mauck who posted a 39 on the front and two strokes over veteran Jon Hasman. During the rain delay, Garrett Patten bumped his head hard on a concrete stairway with concerns of his ability to continue his round. Garrett posted a 44 on the front and a 39 to take over 2nd place losing to Kirk by two strokes.
Hogan Flight: Mark Titone is fresh off of his win the day before in a Chicago North Tour event at Glen Flora CC and posted a better number on a tougher track shooting 81 to win by 4 strokes. Matt Love turned in a front nine forty tied with Mark but wasn’t able to get back on track shooting a 47 to fall to 6th. Rick Wilson stayed steady but wasn’t able to put together a run to give Mark a battle.
Sarazen Flight: Kevin Holland won by 6 strokes but as the Hogan group made the turn, Kevin Holland, Richard Ross and Jason Nardi were all tied at 43. Kevin stepped up his game a closed out the others posting a 39 on the back shooting an 82 to win the Sarazen Flight.
Jones Flight: Bryan Tyman cruised to victory posting an impressive 39 on the front and 44 on the back for a round of 83 and an 11 stroke win over the field of four. John Gerba, Nomie Namie and Jason Ray all posted a 94 for a three way tie for second place.
Snead Flight: Martin Yoemans had a one stroke lead after nine but surrendered the lead to Mike Kelly and John Pacheco who both shot 95 to make a repeat appearance in a sudden death playoff. Mike Kelly beat John the day before at Glen Flora when John missed a crucial putt to extend the playoff only to miss giving Mike the win. Due to dangerous weather conditions and very high winds, the playoff was delayed for over an hour. Mike and John headed to the 9th hole with Tour Director John Downey to battle again for the win.
It appeared Mike Kelly was positioned to win his second tournament in as many days when John Pacheco hit his drive into the right hazard. By the time all shots were made leaving both players putting for a 7, it was Mike Kelly who missed a 2 ½ footer to half the hole and extend the playoff. It would have been easy for John to concede with mike only 40 yards off the green, but a third shot mishit and the fourth not reaching the green was the open John needed.
TOP FINISHERS & PAYOUTS:
CHAMPIONSHIP
79 – Jon Escondo ($40 & Trophy)
PALMER
81 – Kirk Blakney ($110 & Trophy)
83 – Garrett Patten ($50)
85 – John Mauck ($20)
HOGAN
81 - Mark Titone ($110 & Trophy)
85* Rick Wilson ($50) won in scorecard playoff over Mike Lee
SARAZEN
82 – Kevin Holland ($110 & Trophy)
88 – Richard Ross ($50)
89 – Jason Nardi ($20)
JONES
83 – Bryan Tyman ($80 & Trophy)
SNEAD
95* John Pacheco ($125 & Trophy) won in playoff over Mike Kelly
95* Mike Kelly ($65)
97 – Ben Bevill ($30) won tie for third place money in scorecard playoff over Martin Yoemans
50/50 Raffle Drawing ($216 Total; $108 to the Winner)
Ben Bevill ($108)
SKINS:
Championship/Palmer Flight:
$27 – Jon Escondo, Rob Merritt, Garrett Patten
Hogan/Sarazen Flight:
$64 – Jeff Bassett
$32 – DeRell Durr, Rick Wilson, Mark Titone
Jones/Snead Flight:
$28 – John Gerba
$15 – Bryan Tyman, Mike Mudjer, Mike Kelly, Marty Bevill,
Brian Booker, Martin Yoemans, Ben Bevill
Closest to the Pin:
$88 - #2 – Mike Kelly; #7 Dan White; #15 Bryan Tyman; #17 Rob Merritt
No comments:
Post a Comment