2020 Red, White, & Blue Classic
Posted: 8/12/2020 12:42:08 PM
~~~ Tournament Recap ~~~
A
new local, single-day record saw 72 players take to Hubbard GC on the
grounds of Hill Air Force Base for the 2020 Red, White, & Blue
classic this past Saturday, August 8th. This is the 7th straight year
the Golfweek Amateur Tour – Salt Lake has been invited to the military
installation for a single day tournament. The Tour recognized it’s 13
players who have given much service with their careers in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
On
the golf course, Daniel Meaders (72) returned to the winner’s circle
with a two shot victory over Dexter Edwards (74) and a five shot victory
over John Oliver (77) to claim CHAMP Flight Champion honors.
Michael
Hollan (69) had the round of the day in shooting 3-under and winning
A-Flight by three strokes over Tanner Sansom (72). Hollan burst out of
the gates with an eagle and a birdie on his first two holes and lead
wire to wire en-route to his personal best competitive score. Jeff
Clifford (74) finished in 3rd place, and slightly extended his lead in
the season-long points race with about a month to go in the season. Matt
Stevenson (75), fresh off his promotion last month to A-Flight,
finished in 4th place and rounded out the money line.
It
would take a playoff to determine a B-Flight champion as both Aaron
Bascomb (81) and tour rookie, Michael Brown (81) both finished in a tie
with Brown sinking a four-foot putt on 18 to force the playoff. Both
players headed back to the Par-4, 10th tee with about 20 minutes of
daylight to work with. A wayward approach by Brown would allow Bascomb
to 3-putt from about 50 feet to secure his second win of the season
(Western States Icebreaker – Las Vegas). Four players tied for 3rd place
and inside the money line at +11 (83); Shannon Lester, Tony Lamph, Jake
Baxter, and Lynn Royal. In a scorecard tiebreaker, Lester claimed 3rd
place prize money with a 39 on the back 9, followed by Lamph’s 41. In
the much more complicated tiebreaker for 5th place, Lynn Royal would
best Jake Baxter with a par on the #1 handicapped hole (7th hole) to
Baxter’s bogey, after both players tied on the back 9 (44), last 6 (28),
and last 3 (14). Bascomb’s win and 450 points vaults him over James
Dean into the lead in the season-long points race that will almost
assuredly go down to the wire at the Salt Lake Finals in late September.
It
took 5 years and 2 months, but Brian Bowden is a champion once again on
the Golfweek Amateur Tour after firing a C-Flight best 83 (+11). Brian
joined the tour in 2014 and won at Soldier Hollow in 2015, before
playing to several close finishes in both C and B flight over the years.
A closing 3-foot birdie on 18 sealed the one-shot victory over
runner-up Mark Torbett, who came up just shy of winning back to back
events. David North (86) finished in third place to close the gap even
more in his quest for a season-long points championship. Troy Hill (85)
rounded out the money line in 4th place.
Jonathan
Burningham (87) is staking his claim to the D-Flight Rookie of the Year
honors with another victory, firing a +15 to win by three strokes over
Matt Walden (90). Ricky Roberts (93) finished in 3rd place and Michael
Collins (96) finished in fourth place. Burningham closes the gap to
within a hundred points or so of Collins’ season long lead as the
schedule winds down with just four points events left on the Salt Lake
schedule.
Every
flight but CHAMP claimed an Overall Closest to the Pin with Matt Walden
(Hole 3 – 8’4”), Michael Hollan (Hole 6 – 3’10”), KayCee King (Hole 13 –
8’5”), and Jake Baxter (Hole 17 – 3’11”) sticking their approaches
tight from the American flag tee markers on the Par 3’s. Super Skins
winners were Michael Hollan x 3, Brian Harris, Peter Fong, and Jeff
Clifford.
In
the “Pitch for the Flag” competition, all players wearing themed Red,
White, and Blue were afforded a 35-yard pitch shot to a marked hole on
the practice green. Peter Fong would lay claim to the closest pitch, at
10 inches, winning himself a cool Ping Glide Forged Wedge emblazoned
with the USA Flag design, fromWorldWide Golf Shops (Uinta). Brian Robbs
(15 inches) and Luke Barritt (37 inches) would take second and third
place and will be given a new polyester USA flag from SLC-based,
Colonial Flag.
Congratulations
to all of our Flight Champions and various winners on the day. Another
special recognition to all of our members who have served in our Armed
Forces. THANK YOU for your service and for bringing your character and
friendship to this organization and a THANK YOU to ALL who participated
in helping us set a new attendance record!