Naples, Fla. – William Gariepy Jr., Roberto Schuback, Don Covey, and Robert Strong raised the trophies at the Men's Net Championship on Sunday at TPC Treviso Bay. The course not only looked fantastic, but also proved to be a true test for all players in the field.
Under 50 Division
We saw some familiar faces up at the top after Round 1, as former Champion, Kris Vassallo, and the current points leader in the Under 50 Division, William Gariepy stood at the top. Both players fired the only under par rounds in their division on Saturday, coming in with a net score of 71 (-1). Josh Benson only sat three shots behind going into Sunday, as he rounded out the Top-3.
Soon into the second round it quickly became a two pony race, as Vassallo & Gariepy both pulled away from the pack. After going back and forth most of the back nine, the division came down to the the difficult 18th hole. Leading by two entering the final hole, Vassallo unfortunately saw the Championship slip away, as he procedded to make a double bogey. Seeing his window of opportunity, Gariepy made a par (net biride), to complete the three shot swing and come out on top.
50-59 Division
After Saturday's round Roberto Schuback, who has been playing great golf of late, came in with the low round of the day across the entire field with a great score of 69 (-3). Schuback recorded four birdies on the day, making it tough for the rest of the 50-59 Division to keep up. James Yoder sat three back after shooting an even par round of 72, while mulitple others sat at +1 for the tournament, hoping to make a move on Sunday.
Coming out of the gate, both Hieu Pham & Jeff Emmeluth were firing on all cylinders, and tried to put some extra pressure on Schuback. Pham started off -5 through his first 7 holes, before giving some of it back on the difficult strech of holes from 10-13, while Emmeluth started -3 through his first 3 holes. At the end of the day, Schuback's Round 1 lead proved to be too much to overcome, and he cruised to victory coming down the stretch.
60-69 Division
With eight players within three shots of the lead after Saturday's round, the 60-69 division was truly up for grabs heading into Sunday's round. At the top stood Ivan Marin, who despite carding a 10 on Hole 12, was able to battle back, and card an even par round of 72. Tim Hoelle, who also saw some trouble on Holes 10 & 12 where he carded two eights, was also able to grind out an impressive score of 73 (+1), and reemain just one back of Marin leading up to the final round.
Due to the jam packed leaderboard following the first round, the leaderboard saw a lot of shuffling as Sunday's round progessed. Don Covey & Ron Reiley, both made a push and leap frogged the bundle of players, and both had the Championship in-site with just 4 holes remaining. In the end, Covey did just enough to come away with a two shot victory over Reiley to capture his first Men's Net title.
70 & Over Division
Following Round 1, Rommel Lozada saw himself with a comfortable four shot lead as he tried to capture his first Men's Net Championship. Robert Strong & Gus Quiros, both lingered in the background ready to pounce on Sunday, after coming in rounds of 76 (+4).
Sleeping on the lead, Lozada saw the four shot margin evaporate, and quickly let everyone else back into the field. Quiros & Strong both played steady golf, and looked to improve on their scores from Saturday, while John Seidler who had an outside chance of competing for the title to start the day, all of sudden was right in the mix after being even par through 13 holes. Coming down the stretch, it all came down to who could make the least amount of mistakes, and hold off the rest of the field as they wrapped up on the most difficult stretch of holes. Strong was able to keep the ball in play, take care of business, and win the 70 & Over division by two shots over Mark Williams.
