Wanted to give a big thanks to the whole crew at Far Oaks, really grateful when we get to play a golf course of that quality with workers who are as nice and caring as you all are. We thank you for that.

Rounds worth mentioning:  We had some really good performances that are worth mentioning although they didn’t get the win.  Tom Estopare had things working well this weekend, especially the 74 he carded in the final round to force a playoff.  You were dealing out there. Also wanted to shout out Joel VanHazinga for his 77 he shot in the first round, fresh off from a serious collar bone injury, I’d say your back and looking good.  In the B flight, we had Zach Brda and Scott Harper who both shot 77 in one of their rounds.  Way to go low gentlemen.  In the C flight we had Norm Toon who showed up and showed out and took it to a playoff before just coming up short.  Norm shot a 78 in the final round. Nice playing, Norm.  In the D flight, we had Colin Dooley come out and shoot an 85 in his final round to almost make an incredible comeback. This round was highlighted with a 37 on the front nine, where Colin drained a long eagle to put him back in contention.

Far Oaks Major Championship Winners

Champ Flight – Chris Pestka

Chris must have walked the course the night before like Beggar Vance because he came out like a machine, playing the first nine holes at -2, making nothing worse than a par on the front to come in at the turn at -2.  Onto the back nine of his first round Pestka added five more pars and two more birdies to finish his round firing a 71, -1. This was one heck of a great start to a wonderful weekend.

Onto the second round, the wind picked up and that made it more difficult for the players to go after it.  After struggling a little bit on the front side, Chris was able to make a couple pars to take a 43, +7 to the back nine.  After back-to-back bogeys to start the second nine of the final round, he started to find his stride.  Chris got back to playing his brand of golf and made six pars on the final 7 holes to shoot, 39, +3 for a total of 82, +10.   That makes it win number 8 on a very impressive season by our champ flight points leader.  Great round, Chris.

A Flight Winner – Phil Sherer

Phil’s game was on kill to start this tournament, coming out with a birdie on hole one to set the tone for what was a very special day.  After the birdie start, he parred the next three holes.  Then he walked to the tee box on hole 5 where he started a streak of three straight birdies and to finish the front nine off with a clean card, he parred holes 8 and 9 to come in at the turn with a 32, -4. Onto the back Phil did show that he is human, making back-to-back doubles on 11 and 12. After that, Sherer parred four of the next six holes to finish his back nine at 42, +6 for a total of 74, +2 to give him a 3 stroke lead over Joel VanHazinga.

Onto the Second round Phil was still stroking it.  He played really solid golf the second day and that was thanks to the five pars and the birdie on the front nine to make the turn with a 38, +2.  On the back, Phil added another birdie along with three pars, but it was the slip up on the 18^th hole where Sherer carded a double bogey which let Tom Estopare, who was in second place, tie the final score up to force a playoff.  It was just meant to be Phil’s weekend though as he overcame Tom Estopare on the first playoff hole to take the Major Championship at Far Oaks GC. The is Phil’s fourth Victory this year on Golfweek Am Tour and his first win in the A flight since he was called up.  Great win, Phil.

B Flight Winner – Albert Delamarter

When its two-day major time, this man, Albert comes out to play.  This tournament was no different.  Albert who has been on top of the B Flight all year was trying to lock down the points lead as well as lift the St. Louis Claret Jug to the heavens. Albert came out guns blazing by making 6 pars and adding a sweet birdie on the tough fourth hole.  Albert finished his front nine at 37, +2.  On the back nine there were some bogeys on the card for Albert but he made two pars and added two more clutch birdies too. His back nine score was 39, +3 for a total of 76, +4 to take a one stroke lead over Scott Harper, heading into the final round. 

Starting round two he was still hot from yesterday, going out and parring 8 of the first 9 holes to shoot a 37, +1 on the front nine of the final round.  Going to the backside of the final round Albert cupped 5 pars and some bogeys in there but ultimately, he was able to hold off Zach Brda who made a run at Albert but came up two strokes short.  Albert finished with a 44, +8 for a total of 81, +9 to win his second two-day major of the season. His first coming at the PGA course, TPC Deere Run.  What a heck of a way to end your great season AD.

C Flight Winner – Jeff Schmidt

Jeff Schmidt came out for his Third tournament of the year, hoping to get win number two on the season. Although Jeff hasn’t played a lot of golf on tour this season his game was tuned up and ready.  Starting off the major with a birdie on hole 1, he then added another birdie on hole 4.  Plus, Jeff made three pars for a total of 39, +3 on the front.  Heading to the backside, Jeff did hop on the bogey train for a couple of holes but did drain two solid pars, plus he made a great birdie on 18 to carry the momentum into the final round. Schmidt shot 44, +8 on the back for a total of 83, +11.  That put Jeff back by one stroke to Norm Toon and Alan Oberholzter who both shot impressive 82, +10.

In the second round it really came down to the wire, but Jeff Schmidt was back to playing really good golf.  He started his front side on the final round with four pars and added three more birdies with two of them coming on 8 and 9 to put Jeff in at the turn with a 35, -1….Sheeeeeshhh.  Onto the back nine, coming down the stretch, Jeff continued to play some solid golf, adding three more pars and draining a birdie on the 18^th hole to finish with a 42, +6 and a total of 77, +5.  It was a good thing Jeff birdied 18 because Norm Toon battled back to force a playoff.  Jeff and Norm headed to the playoff hole where it was Jeff Schmidt who came out with the victory.  That makes 2 wins this season and Jeff has only played three tournaments.  That’s a decent win percentage.  Great job getting it done, Jeff.

D Flight Winner – Greg Cobourn

Greg came out and was ready to show these young bulls how to get it done.  In the first round Greg carded two pars and had some solid bogey play to make the turn at 47, +11.  At this point, Cobourn was 7 strokes off the lead, which was held by Charlie Bieser, who was in with a 40, +4 at the turn.  Onto the back Greg put together some really good golf shots, if he wasn’t making a par, it was a bogey most of the time. Greg finished the back with a 43, +7.  So, when the first round was all said and done it was Greg Cobourn and Roddy Finley locked in first place tied with a 90, +18

In the final round of the two-day major this was a tight race down the stretch. Cobourn started off his final round with three straight pars to put the pressure on the rest of the field.  That put Greg in with a 45, +9 at the turn.  Onto the back, Greg got a little loose and had some double and triple trouble that let some of the other golfers catch up to him.  Down the stretch though he showed them you can’t count an old dog out.  Cobourn made a solid par on the par 3, 13^th.  After that it was the incredibly clutch birdies on 15 and 18 that solidified the win for Greg Cobourn, coming in with a 46, +10 for a total of 91, +19.  That was enough for Greg to hold on and win the two-day major.  Great Job, Greg, that was some awesome golf down the stretch.