Dade City, Fla. – We had a few great days up at Lake Jovita's North Course, and the great conditions lead to some stellar scores across the board. The format for this event was Modified Stableford, as opposed to traditional stroke play, so this is one of the
few formats where the higher total score, the better.
Mid-Amateur Division
The Mid-Amateur was a close one from start to finish, as it seemed like the name at the top was changing just about every hole. After Round 1, Kyle Martin, stood at the top with a one point lead over both Nilo Sanchez & Austin Bagshaw. Martin's opening round was highlighted by 6 birdies (4 points each) which lead to a total of 46 points for the day.
Making the biggest charge in the final round was Thad Hudgens. Hudgens was rolling the rock early with birdies on 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, & 13, to leap 11 spots up the leaderboard, and grab a tie for the lead mid-way through the round. Cortland Schofield also made a bit of push in the middle of round with birdies on 6, 7, 8, & 10 to tie Hudgens at 72 points through 13 holes. Coming down the stretch, our first round leader made sure his wire-to-wire lead wasn't spoiled. Martin made birdies on Holes 13 & 16, to jump back into the lead, and even after a small hiccup on Hole 17, he pared the last to win by one shot. Schofield finished one shot behind with a total of 86 points, and Bassett rounded out the top 3 with a total of 83 points.
Senior Division
Brian Keenan shot out of cannon on Monday, as he was collecting points left and right. Keenan, the Tampa native, carded 6 birdies & one eagle to shoot -6 on the day, and tally up 50 points. Rounding out the top three were the familiar Winter Series Champions, Charles Kirk (43 points) & Chad Ibbotson (41 points). Both had a tall task to catch the scorching hot Keenan on Tuesday.
As anticipated, Keenan didn't take his foot off the gas and made two early birdies on Holes 10 & 11, and rounded out the back nine with two more birdies on Holes 15 & 16. John Barry, made the biggest push of the day, by catapulting up the leaderboard, but unfortunately he was too far behind after Round 1 to put the pressure on leader. Keenan ended up going wire-to-wire, and finished 14 points ahead, and had a two day point total of 94.
Super-Senior Division
The Super-Senior division was a tight race after Monday's round. Cory Walker, took control early with a bogey free opening nine of 34 (-2). Walker stumbled a bit on the early part of the back nine, but balanced things out with late birdies on Holes 15 & 16 to finish with 41 points on the day, and two points clear of anyone else. Earl Lanoue (39 points) & Kevin Macy (38 points) were looking to play spoiler on Tuesday, and complete the comeback victory.
Cory Walker didn't let any pressure get to him as he was steady as can be in the final round. Starting on the 12th hole, he carded two early bogeys on holes 14 & 16, but steadied the ship after making his way to front, and capitalized on both Par 5's by making birdies on Holes 1 & 6. Despite bogeying 8 & making a double on 9, Walker was able to hold onto the lead, and capture the title with 76 points. Rounding out the top three were Kevin Macy & Mike Corbin who finished 3 points behind with a total of 73 points.
