Lecanto, Fla. - Players traveled all over the state to The Quarry Course at Black Diamond Ranch to conquer one of the most visually pleasing stretch of holes in the state. In the end, it
was Shankar Natarajan (Mid-Amateur), Chad Ibbotson (Senior) and David Tassell (Super-Senior) who brought home the victory in the second Winter Series event of the year.
Mid-Amateur
It was Thad Hudgens who came firing out of the gates with an opening round 73 to take the lead in a tight leaderboard. Hudgens played a very simple, yet solid round of golf that consisted of one birdie and two bogeys. Right on his heels were Shankar Natarajan and Matthew Laverghetta right on his heels one shot back.
Beginning round two, Hudgens started hot right out of the gate with a birdie at the first while Natarajan bogeyed the second. However, that three shot lead would begin to dwindle as Natarajan never made another bogey, paired with two birdies coming in. With his final round 71 being the only under par round in the Mid-Amateur Division, Shankar Natarajan went on to win by three shots over Thad Hudgens.
Senior
In his first Winter Series of the 2024-2025 season after winning last year's points list, Chad Ibbotson picked up right where he left off grabbing a victory. Ibbotson's opening round of even par gave him a comfortable lead of five shots heading into round two over Jeff Kaufman and Michael Nealy.
After a very up-and-down round that consisted of five birdies, a bogey and two double bogeys, Ibbotson was able to stay away from the double bogeys in round two en route to a four shot victory over Frank Brady, who had the round of the day with an even par 72 in the Senior Division.
Super-Senior
The Super-Senior Division was much tighter of a division than the rest, consisting of a nailbiting finish. Mike Murphy fired the only under par score in round one with a 71. Earl Lanoue sat one back while David Tassell was two back.
After Tassell bogeyed two of his first three, an eagle on the par 5 14th got him back to level. A few more bogeys however left him two back with three to play. With birdies on his 15th and 16th holes, Tassell knew he had a shot. Coming down to his final hole tied for the lead, Tassell did not want to go to extra holes. A birdie on his last hole secured the one shot victory over Al LeFevre, who fired a final round 72.
