LAKELAND, Fla. – The FSGA Winter Series traveled back to the The Club at Eaglebrooke for a beautiful few days of golf. At the end of the two days, three emerged victorious, to capture their first Winter Series titles of 2023.
Mid-Amateur
We saw some great scores on Monday, making it anyones game heading into Tuesday morning. James Preston, member of Eaglebrooke, put together a great opening round of 69 (-3) despite having a slight hiccup on the Hole 17. Rounding out the top three after Day 1 were Brian Bassett & Mark Allen who both shot 70 (-2), making them the only other players to post an under par round in the Mid-Amateur division on Monday.
On Tuesday, Bassett was quickly able to make up the one shot difference, and never looked back. After four birdies on the front nine, Bassett saw himself three shots ahead into thegoing into the final nine holes. Bassett continued his stellar play on the back nine, leading to a final round 68 (-4), and finishing the event at six under par. Although seven shots behind, Ryan Prokay continued his dominant Winter Series play, and finished in a tied for second with Round 1 leader James Preston.
Senior
One player stood at the top of the leaderboard after Round 1, as 2022 Senior Player of the Year, Miles McConnell, found himself with a three shot lead heading into Tuesday. McConnell had four birdies on the card, and put together nines of 33-36, to come in with a great round of 69 (-3). Tied for second at even par, were a pack of players eager to cut into McConnell's lead and give him a run for his money.
Right out of the gate, Frank Brady gained two shots on McConnell as they started on the difficult Hole 4. Brady came back with another birdie on Hole 5, and quickly that three shot cushion McConnell established on Monday had vanished. It became a two horse race the rest of the day, as the two players battled back and forth for a large majority of the morning. Standing on the 1st tee, McConnell had re-established a four shot lead, after Brady stumbled with bogeys on both 17 & 18. No lead was safe though, after McConnell doubled the 1st Hole, and Brady followed up by making birdie on the the 2nd Hole. After both finishing out with pars on the 3rd Hole, McConnell snuck out a one shot wire-to-wire victory and finished two under par for the two days.
Super-Senior
After Round 1, we saw a jam packed leadboard up at the top, with Kevin Macy leading the way. Macy was the only player to fire an under par round in the Super-Senior division on Monday, but still saw eight players within two shots of the lead going into Tuesday.
Round 2 was a different story, as we saw multiple scores in red figures, and a close finish coming down the stretch. Macy stumbled out of the gate with bogeys on his first two holes, bringing everyone back into the event. Some would be shaken with that start, but Macy buckled down, and proceeded to put down nothing but pars and three birdies for his remaining 16 holes. Despite Walter Himelsbaugh shooting 71 (-1), and Cliff Harris coming in with an impressive 69 (-3) to climb the leaderboard, Kevin Macy was able to hold them off to also capture a wire-to-wire victory. Macy finished the event at two under par, and was the definition of consistency, as he matched his Round 1 score of 71(-1), with a just as impressive score of 71 (-1) in Round 2.
