NAPLES, Fla. - The Men’s Net Championship has come to completion at The Quarry. Jake Johnson and Gene Gillis, Rob Bloom and Michael Mendoza, Tasso Sterghos and T Nowzamani, and Drew Gillan and David Norka all emerged as champions of their respective divisions. The tournament was competed across 36 holes and two different formats. The first round brought 18 holes of a Scramble format, and the second round brought another 18 holes yet in a Four-Ball format.
Under 50 Division
The teams of Eggersson/Steele, and Johnson/Gillis both came out firing rounds of 10-under-par despite having to give a handicap stroke back to the field. These two teams shared the lead after the first round Scramble by two strokes over Lessel/Lomaka, Murati/Walters, and Opyt/Opyt. Murati/Walters and Opyt/Opyt made the event a family affair as the father-in-law/son-in-law duo and the duo of brothers were each in reach of the lead after 18 holes.
Monday's round showed to play a little tougher for most, however, there were a few teams that did there best to make a move up the leaderboard. The teams of Mealey / Soldano and Doherty / Vukovich, both put together impressive rounds of 66 (-6). However, Johnson and Gillis pulled away in the by shooting an 64 (-8), to pull away and clinch the victory by a marging of four strokes.
The team of Eggertsson / Steele put together a steady round of 68 (-4) to secure a second place finish, while Mealey / Soldano rounded out the Top 3.
50-59 Division
The team of Ginn / Hermiller sat alone at the top of the leaderboard following the first round scramble by fiing a score of seven-under-par, 65. Even though they held a solo lead, there was no time to put their feet up for the night, as it was truly anyone’s game as the last place team was only four shots back from the leaders.
Based on the Monday's scores, one team under the assignment, and looked to be playing a different course than the rest of the their division. In a dramatic turn of events, the team of Bloom/Mendoza came all the way from behind and fired a remarkable 11-under-par, 61. With nine hole scores of 28 & 33, the duo ended up lapping the field and captured a four shot victory after being tied for last going into the day.
The teams of Ginn / Hermiller & Anderson / Peeples both put together respectable rounds of 69 (-3) to finish in second and third place.
60-69 Division
Straus/Meter posted the low round of theday firing an 11-under-par, 61. This division came out hot as it posted some impressive scores with more than half of the field at (-6) or better heading into the final round.
At the end of the two days, this division ended up being the tightest from top to bottom. The low rounds continued into Monday, and the leaderboard continued to shuffle all day. Only sitting two shots behind after Sunday, the team of Nowzamani/Sterghos crept up the leaderboard by posting a final round score four-under-par, 68. It wasn't flashy, but was enough to narrowly capture the win by only one stroke over the teams of Dedow/Stanick and Williams/Hauser who finished in a tie for second place.
70 & Over
Following the first round, there were four teams within one shot of the leaders. Quiros/Barto held the solo lead by one stroke after shooting an eight-under-par, 64 in the Scramble format. Yet, close behind were Paradiso/Helleman, Gillan/Norka, and Quick/Zabytko who all shot a seven-under-par, 65.
Starting the day on the front nine, the team of Gillan / Norka did all they could to get on top. The duo turned with a score of 31 (-5), to work their way up the leaderboard, and hoped for continued success on the back. Bouncing back and forth with a few bogeys and few birdies though, they let the field back into it, as they closed out with a back nine of even-par. The team of Barto / Quiros, made a push coming down the stretch, but Gillan / Norka were able to hang on and win the play-off which was the low final round score.
Finishing three back and in third place was the team of Paradiso / Helleman.
