Greensboro, NC
(April 18, 2015) - Every Golfweek Amateur Golf Tour member knew
that bad weather has plagued the early season schedule this year. However,
Saturday promised to put an end to that situation as sunshine peeked through
the clouds and temperatures rose into the 70s. Despite the favorable
conditions, heavy rains that fell earlier in the week caused the Grandover
Resort East Course fairways to remain very wet and soggy. This resulted
in the courser playing longer and more difficult than normal, but that didn't
stop a select few players from posting strong scores. In fact, a number
of players shot their best scores of the year.
Jake Britt of Wake
Forest managed to break the stranglehold that Fayetteville's Larry Hardee has
enjoyed in the Championship Flight the last few weeks. His 1-under 71
edged Hardee by 2 strokes for the win. It was Britt's first event of 2015
and serves notice that he'll be a factor to be reckoned with the remainder of
the year.
The A Flight went one
extra hole as Kernersville's Sean Pardue and Raleigh's Rob Reynolds finished
their regulation play with identical 77s. Right out the gate in the
playoff, Pardue blasted a drive on the 380 yard, par 4 hole while Reynolds
sprayed his tee shot onto the trees. Reynolds was forced to "punch
-out', while Pardue flipped a wedge onto the green. Reynolds was not able
to get up & down for his par from the fairway, leaving Pardue a simple
2-putt for the win.
Arguably the most
remarkable effort of the day was turned in by Raleigh's Richard McMinis.
The B Flight Ponts Standings leader, McMinis has played every event
"on-Tour' this season, his lowest score being an 83 prior to today.
McMinis "lit-up" the course with a 75 and a 4-shot win over
Stokedale's J. Combs. "Like every member on Tour, we'll check to see
if Richard's Tour handicap will warrant a 'promotion' to a higher flight",
stated Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck. "As of now it just looks like
he had one of those dream rounds where everything worked out right".
Not to be outdone, the C
and D Flights had impressive winning scores posted as well. Jeff Shanberg
of Browns Summitt edged Concord's Scott Cain by a single shot - 88 to 89 for
the C Flight crown, while Durham's Tony Eaves was D Flight top-dog with an 89 -
3 clear of Virginia Beach's Chris Richards.
Golfweek members will
next try The Challenge in Graham on the 25th. There are openings
available for that event.
THE GOLFWEEK AMATEUR
GOLF TOUR
GRANDOVER RESORT (EAST
COURSE) EVENT
TOP FIVE SCORES BY
FLIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (6600
yds)
Jake Britt, Wake
Forest 71
Larry Hardee,
Fayetteville 73
Tod Dauler,
Greensboro 76
Neal Faulkner,
Gibsonville 76
Kyle Moffett,
Snowcamp 76
A FLIGHT
(6600 yds)
Sean Pardue,
Kernersville 77
Rob Reynolds,
Raleigh 77
Adam Fischer,
Greensboro 80
Matt McSwain,
Sophia 80
Terry Newsome,
Winston-Salem 80
Robin Neverve,
Laurinberg 80
B FLIGHT
(6600 yds)
Richard McMinis,
Raleigh 75
J Combs,
Stokesdale 79
Joe Rollison,
Christianburg, VA 80
Robert Harty,
Charlotte 81
James Woodard,
Wendell 81
C FLIGHT
(6600 yds)
Jeff Shanberg, Browns
Summit 88
Scott Cain,
Concord 89
Landon Wilkes,
Apex 92
Jeff Smith,
Raleigh 94
Shane Davis,
Lewisville 94
Andy Bousman,
Kernersville 94
D FLIGHT
(6600 yds)
Tony Eaves, Durham
89
Chris Richards, Va.
Beach 92
Greg Dotson, Richlands,
Va 98
Chris Justis,
Burlington 99
Keith Thomas,
Greensboro 101