Las Vegas, NV-July 16, 2012 – Oh, can we say hallelujah for 3 somes! Our first 10 groups finished in 3:47, can you give a shout!!! Thank you Tour Players. The last 4 groups finished in 4 hours and that only because the one group finished 25 minutes behind the group in front of them.

It was basically no contest in the Championship flight with Greg Hudson making the turn at nice even par 36. Closest to him was Robert Lively & Paul Bartlett at 41. Greg continued to play well and finished with a 39 for a three over 75. Nice round Greg, welcome back and congratulations.

It was a contest between two in the Palmer flight, Michael Goffinet making the turn at 35 with one birdie, and Clifford Conover turning at 39. Michael & Clifford battled back and forth on the back, but Clifford was unable to make any head way. Michael finished with a 75 and a nice victory. Congratulations Michael on your 3rd victory on the AmTour! You now have a spot reserved for you in Sawgrass!

Chris Skowronek set the pace in the Hogan flight with a 39 followed by the recently promoted Dan Johnston at 40 with Mel Jeffers, Chris Barden & Jeff Wetz at 42. Right behind was Keir de Anda, Charlene Delacruz and Darren Tolleson at 43. There was a large fallout on the back which included: Keir, Charlene, Chris & Jeff. Dan started right out the back on the bogie train finishing with a 42 for an 82. Darren making a charge at #11 with a birdie, made a couple of bogies sealing his fate putting him in a tie with Dan at 82. Chris fired up out the backside going birdie, birdie on 10 & 11 only to fall off the road to victory into the great abyss ending up tied with Dan & Chris at 82. Mel hit his stride on the back taking only 2 bogies yielding him a nice 38 for an 80 and the victory, his 3rd. Congratulations Mel and good luck at Sawgrass!

In the Senior Hogan flight John Oliphant (visiting from Temecula, CA) set the pace with 39 followed by Michael Bridges & Scott Walker both at 41. Michael found the bogie train on the back sending him packing. John was attacked by the double bogie monster giving him a painful 45 for an 84. Mean while Scott was playing steady coming into #18 three over. The next 8 shots were a blurr. When he woke up, he found himself back on the first tee in a playoff with John. The playoff went to the 2nd hole were Scott took the victory. Congrats Scott, one more and you are in at Sawgrass. Psst, Scott says he hates #18.

In the Sarazen flight L C Cobbs set the pace with 42 followed by Rod Brewster, Jr at a distant 47. Then came the great flipflop with L C scrambling to make 48 and barefoot Rod delighted with 42 giving him the victory by 1 shot. Congrats Rod on your first victory of the season.

Leader in the clubhouse Peter Quinn, in the Jones flight, was sitting pretty with a nice 84, anxiously awaiting Matthew Gomez who held his fate in his hands. Matthew came in with an 83 leaving Peter to be a brides maid once again. However, Peter take solace in that Matthew is soon being promoted to the Sarazen flight. Congratulations to both Matthew & Peter on your fine play, it was a great shootout!

Bill Drayer leading wire to wire continued his dominating play in the Snead flight claiming his 6th victory. Congratulations Bill, we expect you to represent in Sawgrass.

Top Finishers and Payouts

For full field results please visit http://thegolfchannel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/thegolfchannel12/event/thegolfchannel12378/contest/10/leaderboard.htm

 

 

 

Championship at Canyon Gate 7/16/2012

  It was a great day for golf in Las Vegas.  The temperature was beautiful (although the humidity was high), and there was no wind. It is a nice golf course, and I really enjoyed driving around, taking pictures, and watching the golf. A major thunder storm came through the area the night before dropping quarter (that’s the coin) size hail stones and a bunch of rain.  This left the course a little soggy.  Quite a few players told me they were hitting some “fat” shots because of it.  Don Risner said he was throwing up handfuls of mud on every shot for the first couple holes.  The greens were soft though, letting the players “shoot darts” into the greens.  I saw Chris Skowronek throw one in at # 9.  It hit the green and backed up about 3 feet.  Chris was definitely taking advantage of the conditions.  He ended his skins drought of the last few months by picking up 3 flight skins and 3 giant skins, although Mel Jeffers won the flight.   Only 2 players broke 80:  Greg Hudson (Championship Flight) and Michael Goffinet (Palmer Flight), both shooting nice rounds of 75 and winning their prospective flights. The pace of play was fantastic!  The first group of Scott Walker, Gary Bilonta, and Michael Bridges made the turn about 30 minutes ahead of schedule with all the following groups keeping pace with them.  When a golf course allows us to put the players out in threesomes, good things happen.  We saw the same results at Paiute last month.  Unfortunately, most of the courses insist on foursomes, which slow up play.  They don’t get the concept that when our groups play faster, the course actually gets more tee times after us.  All in all, it was a great event.  Everything ran very smooth.  I love it when a plan comes together.

Mike