The Columbus Golfweek Tour hosted its first event of the 2013 season today at Jefferson CC. It has been a few years since we’ve been to Jefferson and are very happy to have it back on the schedule. The course was in excellent shape and the staff is second to none. With our largest ever single shotgun tournament at 122 players the Columbus Tour members braved the cold and windy conditions to start the season.
A familiar face was at the top of the leader board once again today. After winning back to back overall flight championships in Champ flight, Rich Campbell started off 2013 on the right foot. With the poor conditions and Jefferson’s demanding course characteristics Rich was able to shoot a great round of 79. In the same group and on Rich’s tail all day was runner up with a score of 80, Jeff Maier. Jeff may have fell short on the regular tour but his score was good enough to win Senior Champ flight along with a flight skin and super skin. New player Michael Snyder shot 81 to finished 3rd.
The A flight had one of its largest fields to date and scoring was at a premium. Second year member Emmet Park shot the only round below eighty with a solid 78. One birdie and a whole lot of pars helped Emmet win the season opener and help solidify his position near the top of A flight. The next two spots went to players new to the tour this year. Andy Carr shot and impressive 80 carding two birdies . Equally as impressive was newcomer John Mathias. His 81, also with two birdies gave him a jumpstart for 2013.
Every year our largest flight is B flight. This year looks as though it won’t be any different. Quite possibly the hardest flight to win on a consistent basis, B flight will be a really exciting flight to watch. Once the cards were turned in we had two players tied for the lead. Andrew Pittenger and Josh Beitel both with rounds of 84 had to settle on a scorecard playoff. Andrew’s 5 beat out Josh’s 6 on the number one handicap to give him his first win. Justin Dearth’s 86 gave him third place alone. Can’t wait to see how this season shapes up!
Our story of the day belonged to our C flight winner. Paul Bloch in his second year on the Golfweek Tour is looking like it’s going to be a good one. Paul had a career round, shooting 77 to take home the top spot in C flight by a landslide. Paul ended up with two birdies on the day, but it was his ability to get up and down from almost anywhere that was the difference. John Kline with a great round of 83 was good enough for second place alone and the top spot in the Senior B flight. John was the overall money winner of any flight earning $419 including side games. Congratulations John! Finishing tied for third shooting a pair of 89’s, John Barnes and Anthony Berrien would have to revisit the scorecard to check out their scores on the hardest hole. Anthony’s 6 beat out John’s 7 to give him third place.
One of our largest turnouts in D flight ever proved to be a good storyline. Two tour veterans, Scott Allen and Zavier Neeley both walked off 18 with scores of 95. D flight scores have been getting more competitive each year and 2013 looks like it may be the year where we have some breakout stars! Once again we had to go back to the scorecard to determine the winner. Zavier beating out Scott by one stroke gave him his third victory on the Columbus Tour and a head start to becoming one of the top players in D flight for 2013. Just a few strokes back, Mike Roten finishes third with a 97.
I want to thank all of our members that participated in the first event. We all had a great time and are very excited to start another successful season in Columbus. I look forward to seeing all of you at Heritage Golf Club on April 27th.