PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - 86 golfers ages 65-and-over made the trek to PGA National Resort & Spa to compete in the Super-Senior Amateur Match Play Championship on the Match Course. The Match Course, specifically designed for match play, provided a unique challenge to the players, demanding precise approach shots into complex greens. Players were also forced to deal with the elements as heavy rains resulted in multiple suspensions of play across the four-day Championship. Ultimately, Pete Williams, Mark Weston, and Pete McDade won the Championship, 70-74, and 75 & Over Divisons, respectively.
Championship Division
Pete Williams, of Juno Beach, put together a strong performance during the Stroke-Play Seeding Round, posting a score of 4-over par, 71, which was just three shots behind the medalist. This set him up as the 6th-seed and gave him a first-round matchup with 11th-seeded Bill Moore. After Williams held a three-hole lead coming off of the 10th hole, Moore would tie the match on the 14th hole. The match would remain tied until the final hole, the par-3 18th, where the Juno Beach native made par to clinch the first-round victory.
In the second round, Williams was able to complete his largest victory of the tournament, a 5 & 4 win over 14th-seeded Byron Whitman, during which he never trailed. Then, on Wednesday, the 11-time FSGA Champion matched up with 15th-seeded Robbie Dew, who had pulled off two impressive upsets to get to the Semifinals. Williams and Dew had a back-and-forth match during which neither golfer was able to amass a lead greater than one hole. Once again, Williams would head to the 18th tee tied with his opponent, and just as he did in the first round, the champion recorded a par to move on to the Finals.
On Thursday, Williams faced off against 12th-seeded Blake Marshall who, in the Semifinals, upset defending champion and 1st-seeded David Anthony by a score of 3 & 2. The Juno Beach native once again took control of the match early on, building a two-hole lead through the first two holes. Williams would never trail throughout the entire match, ultimately completing his victory on the 15th hole by a score of 4 & 3. In his first year competing as a Super-Senior Amateur, the three-time Senior Amateur Player of the Year picked up his first victory in a Super-Senior Amateur event.
70-74 Division
Mark Weston, of Windermere, completed the Stroke-Play Seeding Round with a score of 11-over par, 78, which was seven shots behind the Division' medalist. This was good enough to earn Weston the final spot in the 8-person Championship flight, setting up a first-round matchup with top-seeded Bruce Moskovciak. Despite the differnce in their performances on Monday during the Seeding Round, Weston would complete a dominant 5 & 4 victory to reach the Semifinals.
The Windermere native would face-off against 5th-seeded Mike Davis. After play was suspended during the Semifinals on Wednesday, Weston would advance to the Finals thanks to a concession from his opponent. On Thursday, Weston would be matched up with 3rd-seeded Robert Karcher, who got to the Finals after a hard-fought, Semifinals victory by a score of 2 up. Weston and Karcher's battle was back-and-forth throughout the entire match and would ultimately come down to the par-3 18th hole where Weston held a one-hole lead standing on the tee. Weston reached the green in regulation and, after missing a putt for par, Karcher would concede, providing Weston with his first-ever FSGA Championship.
75 & Over Division
Pete McDade came into this year's Championship as the two-time defending champion in the 75 & Over Division. The Apollo Beach native completed the Seeding Round in second place with a score of 3-over par, 70. Despite being three shots back of the medalist, McDade would enter the match play portion as the 1st-seed thanks to his status as defending champion.
After his first-round opponent withdrew from the tournament, McDade would face off against 5th-seeded Jerry Young in the Semifinals. McDade and Young had a tightly-contested match that came down to the final few holes. Ultimately, the eventual champion would punch his ticket to the Finals with a 2 & 1 victory. 3rd-seeded Pete Andrews would look to dethrone the defending champion in the Finals, but McDade's strong play proved to be too much. Standing in the fairway on the 15th hole, McDade would hole out his approach from approximately 140 yards to seal the match by a score of 4 & 3, securing his third-consecutive Super Senior Match Play Championship.
