ALVA, Fla. – The 2020-21 Winter Series continued with the second event at River Hall Country Club. River Hall and weather conditions challenged players in the 36-hole event.
Chester VandenBerg and Joe Shaktman took home back-to-back wins in the Mid-Amateur and Senior Division. Gregg Shires captured the victory in the Super-Senior Division.
Mid-Amateur
VandenBerg posted a 1-over 145 to capture the two-shot victory in the Mid-Amateur Division. Continuing his stellar play from the first Winter Series event two weeks prior, VandenBerg shot an opening-round 74. However, the low round of the day would be set by Gavin Gillette with a 2-under 70 including five birdies. Miles McConnell would sit in second place with a first-round 73.
The final round saw the three players battle throughout the opening nine. VandenBerg made his charge with a front-nine 35 while the rest of the leaderboard fell back. VandenBerg and Gillette would come to the final hole tied for the lead. On the par-4 18th, VandenBerg found himself in a position to win the tournament with a look at birdie, while Gillette was struggling to make par. VandenBerg would go on to hole his birdie putt to capture his second-straight Winter Series title.
McConnell found himself in a tie-for-second place after a birdie to Gavin Gillette’s bogey on the final hole of the championship. McConnell and Gillette both finished at 3-over 147.
Senior
Shaktman would again go wire-to-wire in the Senior Division, finishing the tournament at 3-under 141. Picking up where he left off, Shaktman would post a bogey-free first round 69 to take a 2-shot lead over Michael Arasin on Monday.
In round two, Shaktman would see his lead fade as Arasin went out in 1-under 35 to grab a share of the lead at the turn. Shaktman held steady and carded a bogey-free 35 on the back nine to pull away from Arasin and capture the championship at 1-under 141.
Rokki Rogan would match Shaktman’s back nine 35 on day two to shoot an even-par round of 72 to pull into a tie for second for Arasin. Both Rogan and Arasin would finish the tournament at 1-over par 145.
Super-Senior
Coming off a stellar performance two-weeks prior in the SW Amateur Series, Gregg Shires would be the only player in the field to shoot two rounds under par to capture the Super-Senior Division at 4-under 140.
Shires started the tournament off with an opening-round 2-under par 70 that didn’t see him drop a shot. Thomas Austin would find himself looking up at Shires after his even-par 72 that saw him make four birdies to kick off the event.
A two-shot lead was one that Shires wouldn’t give up on Tuesday. After back-to-back bogeys to close out his front nine, Shires would card four birdies on the back nine including three in a row to card another 2-under 70 that would make him the second wire-to-wire champion in the Super-Senior Division in this year’s Winter Series.
Doug LaCrosse would pull himself into a second-place finish after a second round 71 to go along with his win at Indian Springs. Kim Schwenke and Thomas Austin would card a 4-over par 148 to finish the event tied for third.
Results
