Gearing up for The Brice!

Course 1 (Clubhouse)	Course 2 (Parking lot)
1. 6 rr 1 foot before hill	1. 5 left lip
2. 3 rr at paint chip just past halfway to hill	2. 5 just miss left side of left cheese
3. 7 left edge of white spot just inside right brick	3. 5 just past pole on RR
4. 3 aim at tip of right triangle	4. 4 just past crack RR
5. 1 aim at crack 2/3 the way down on the right, back door	5. 7 at the back right corner
6. 4.5 aim 2 inches into the right brick	6. 2 aim at mid gap of hole and right brick
7. 4 aim at just past top of second hill	7. 3 at carpet line inside left cheese
8. 6 over divot in front of the 1^st brick. LR	8. 5 RR even with cheese
9. 2 left lip	9. 7 square with carpet
10. 3 RR on top of hill	10. 1 at paint chip on RR
11. 6 at paint chip on RR	11. 6 aim at right edge of right pipe
12. 1 rr 2 feet before angle rail	12. 2 at the hole
13. 1 aim at middle of right brick	13. 3 slight push
14. 5 just left of divot 2 feet out	14. 1 over divot 4 feet out
15. 7+ 6 inches before buckle	15. 7 aim at tip of left triangle
16. 6 just right of pipe on right	16. 5 over black mark. LR FD
17. 7 aim at the hole	17. 3 at the crack RR
18. 6 square with tee mat	18. 5 just past dent on RR

Sahmel Cruise Wire to Wire, While APA Locals Battle for the La. St. Ch.

	SWPT										L S C
	2019										10-11Aug

1	Wade Sahmel	26	25	25	22	23	25	27	27	200	$240.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	28	25	23	29	26	25	26	25	207	$140.00
3	Brice Bergesen	26	28	26	31	27	25	27	23	213	$80.00
4	Joe Lea	28	30	24	28	26	23	27	31	217	$60.00	1
5	Don Parker	26	30	24	26	30	29	31	25	221	$40.00
6	Jeffrey Smith	29	28	28	29	25	30	28	28	225
7	Lee Messinger	30	25	31	29	26	33	28	25	227
8	Tom Adair	32	28	26	32	31	32	28	30	239
9	Danny Tatum	32	35	32	37	27	27	34	27	251		1
10	Rudy Cuellar	31	29	33	34	33	31	30	31	252

20 players came to Lake Charles to compete in the 2019 Louisiana State Championship. The SWPT Championship will be held on this course in just 4 weeks so this was a good test to see where players stand. Many, such as Jeffrey Smith, Joe Lea, Lee Messinger, Geoff Mosk, Chris Conradi, James Kile, Jack Ramsey, Danny Tatum, Tom Adair, and Tommy Phillips, came in a day early to get plenty of practice. Some others that have played the course several times like Charles Cox, Charles Tarbell, Brice Bergesen, Mickey DeLucca, and Don Parker, came in early Saturday morning to make sure the shots they had played before were still working. Then there is Wade Sahmel, who was out late the night before and overslept in Houston. He picked up his brother Adam Sahmel and left Houston after 9am, arriving at the course with just a few minutes to spare before tee time. He was able to make it as far as hole 11 hitting a practice shot on each hole. Then he went out and shot a 26 his first round to be tied with Bergesen and Parker. In round 2 Sahmel again tied for the low round of 25 with Mosk. This gave Sahmel a 2 stroke lead over Mosk and 3 over Bergesen. In round 3 practice finally started to pay off for Mosk as he was 14 under heading into hole 18 and had taken the lead from Sahmel. Then Mosk bogeyed 18 hitting the cheese on the right to fall back into a tie with Sahmel. Bergesen and Lea were just 4 more strokes back and well within striking distance of Sahmel. It was a very hot day and many of the players started to fade a bit. Mosk made 2 bogeys in round 4 on his way to a 29. Bergesen made his last 2 holes to get to 31. Don Parker made a move with a 26 to get him to 3^rd place, but the story of the round was Sahmel who shot a 22 to give him a 7 stroke lead after day 1 over Mosk.

In the APA most expected a battle between Terry Simpson and Charles Cox. Sharkey has won this event multiple times and Terry won the AL just two years ago on this course, Terry and Cox did not disappoint but not before course owner Greg Simpson, the defending APA Louisiana State Champion, took the first round lead with a 26 with Tommy Phillips and Cox just 1 stroke back at 27. Terry played strong all day and followed his first round 29 with rounds of 26, 25, and 27 to be in at 107 after day one. Cox was just a stroke back at 108, as those two separated themselves from the field after day one.

Day 2. It’s always nice to tee off early on Sunday, especially during the summer when it’s hot. The 10am tee time gave the players to get in a few rounds before it got too hot outside. It was still pretty unbearable during the final round but such is to be expected on the SWPT from May to October. Wade Sahmel came out as hot as the weather was the day before with a 1^st round 23 to extend his lead to 10 strokes with 3 rounds to go. The next closest players were Joe Lea and Don Parker who were 15 back of the leader. Wade kept his foot on the pedal as he made his first 10 holes of round 6 and only made one deuce the entire round. The deuce was on 17 where he hit the lip on the right side of the hole while playing a back door shot. The lip out threw his ball to the left where he had a 6 inch deuce putt. He would not have been shooting for an 18 on the next hole had he made it because he also had 3 bogeys, living up to his bogeyman name he gained while making 5 bogeys at the WAGM in Sweden in June. It was the only 25 with 3 bogeys anyone could remember. Thanks to the bogeys Mosk stayed just 10 back while Joe Lea closed to within 13. The battle was really now for second place as Wade coasted in with 2 27’s his last 2 rounds. Mosk closed with a 26 and 25 and did at one point get within 5 strokes of the lead before finishing in second place, 7 strokes behind Sahmel at 207. Bergesen, Sahmel, and Mosk all tied for the low score for day 2 at 102. Bergesen’s excellent play, while it broke his streak of 5 second place finishes, did move him up to 3^rd place. All pro players that did not have 4 spots earned a spot for the tour championship that will be played on this course in 4 weeks.

In the APA we expected a shootout between Terry and Cox but both players had disappointing first rounds at 31 and 33. Greg seized the opportunity and shot a 28 which moved him to within 5 strokes of the lead. Terry played better after that with rounds of 27, 27, and 28. Cox always plays well at Lake Charles but had a second below average round for him with a 31 in round 6. This had him 7 strokes down with just 2 rounds to play and only 1 stroke ahead of Greg for 3^rd. Cox showed what a great player he is by shaking off the 2 sub-par rounds and shooting a 25 for round 7 to get it back to a 5 stroke lead. He then followed that up with the APA low score of the round, a 26, But it was to little to late as Terry held on for a 3 stroke win and the APA Louisiana State Champion title. All players that played and did not have 4 spots earned a spot for the tour championship.

In 2 weeks we will play “The Brice” at Webster. This is the second year of the event that honors Hall of Famer, defending Senior National Champion, Runner up at last year’s Nationals, and longtime SWPT player, Brice Bergesen. We hope to see all of the SWPT players out there to celebrate Brice, and to beat him!

	SWPT										L S C
	2019										10-11Aug

1	Terry Simpson	29	26	25	27	31	27	27	28	220	$52.00	1
2	Charles Cox	27	26	30	25	33	31	25	26	223	$26.00	1
3	Greg Simpson	26	30	28	31	28	32	30	27	232	$26.00	1
4	Chris Conradi	34	28	26	28	29	29	30	31	235	$26.00
5	Charles Tarbell	30	29	30	27	32	32	30	27	237	$26.00	1
6	James Kile	31	35	28	30	27	29	26	32	238		1
7	Ken Stanfill	32	31	30	31	32	30	32	28	246
8	Tommy Phillips	27	31	30	28	35	37	29	31	248		1
9	Mickey DeLucca	34	36	32	32	34	33	34	32	267
10	Jack Ramsey	47	36	38	39	30	37	36	32	295		1

After a Fun Night at Pizza King, Smith Completes the Sweep in Longview

On Sunday the players were happy to get the tournament started at 10 am to beat the heat. Speaking of heat, Jeffrey Smith started off hot just as he did on Saturday. His 27 first round and 26 second round had him out to a 4 stroke lead at the half way point and he would not look back. He closed with two 31s, which was good enough for a 7 stroke win over Brice Bergesen who finished second for what feels like the 25th time this year. Brice has seemingly become Mr. Runner-up since his second place finish at nationals last year. His consistent good play is what we have all come to expect from the Hall of Famer.

In the APA, Player of the Year points leader Mike Huckaby jumped out to an early lead with a first round 28. Close on his heels was Chris Conradi with a 29. The two remained just one stroke apart after two rounds, but this time Conradi had the one stroke lead. James Kile made a run the last round with a 29, but Conradi was able to hold of both Kile and Huckaby to claim the victory with a score of 91.

Longview is always a favorite stop on the SWPT as the course plays tough but fair and there is always a stop at Pizza King!

Jeffrey Smith and Gary Plain Closeout Tight W's in Longview

The Southwest putting tour made its annual stop to one of the best playing courses on the tour in Longview, Texas. The course was in great shape and the players looked forward to a competitive weekend. It was also playing very well and some thought the winning score could be in the low 80’s. The course had other thoughts. Only three pros were able to break 30 in the first round with Jeffrey Smith leading the way with a 28. Brice Bergesen and Don Parker were just one stroke back at 29. The front nine was playing much easier than the back nine. Only one pro was able to shoot a score below 15 on the backside all day and it was Geoff Mosk in round two on his way to a 27. It brought him into a three-way tie for first with Bergesen and Smith at 58 heading into the final round. Smith was the last of the three contenders to tee off the last round and he torched the front nine and was seven under after 10 holes. Bergesen and Mosk were almost done with their rounds and Smith knew he could play even the rest of the way and still win. Longview is a course that can make you pay if you hit a bad put, so Smith played it safe the rest of the way and deuced in to win by a stroke. Bergesen held on to second, a place he seems to finish in almost every recent tournament. The spots went to Rudy Cuellar and Matt Bellner.

In the APA Mike Huckaby said that he thought it would take a score of 95 to win. After round one his prediction was looking good as James Kile and Mickey Delucca were tied at 31 with several other players close behind. A few more 31s were fired in round two and now Gary Plain was tied James Kile after two at 63. They had a four stroke lead over their next closest competitors. Huckaby’s prediction proved true as both Kile and Plain finished at 95 and were headed to a playoff. In the playoff, Plain was able to outlast Kile and win by a single stroke to claim his third victory of the year. The Spots went to Lewin, Stanfill, Medina, and Kile.

Lee Messinger and Chris Conradi Sweep Arlington Weekend

PPA Pro Lee Messinger APA Chri Conradi

	SWPT						Arling			SWPT						Arling
	2019						14July			2019						14July

1	Lee Messinger	28	29	29	31	117	$100.00		1	Chris Conradi	30	29	33	30	122	$26.00
2	Brice Bergesen	28	30	32	28	118	$60.00		2	Mike Huckaby	32	28	36	28	124	$13.00
3	Geoff Mosk	31	29	29	31	120	$35.00		3	Jerry Medina	33	29	31	35	128	$13.00	1
4	Don Parker	28	28	33	32	121	$20.00		4	Trevor Lewin	30	30	37	34	131	$13.00	1
5	Mason Spradlin	32	31	34	32	129			5	Steven Yancey	32	35	32	33	132	$13.00
5	Danny Tatum	34	28	32	35	129		1	6	Jay Salyer	30	33	35	40	138		1
7	Tom Adair	34	31	32	34	131			7	Ken Stanfill	37	35	32	35	139
8	Rudy Cuellar	32	33	32	35	132		1	8	Mickey DeLucca	38	37	33	34	142
									9	Aaron Armstrong	40	39	38	35	152

Players were out early to the wonderfully landscaped Arlington Putt Putt course on Sunday morning. Some of which had attended the Astros vs Rangers baseball game the night before that the Astros won in 11 innings. Lee Messinger looked to win his second tournament of the year and he got off to another good start by shooting a 28. He was tied for first with Brice Bergesen and Don Parker. Messinger continued his good play with a 29 in round two, but for the first time all weekend, he found himself behind. Parker had a one stroke lead after two rounds. In the third round, Messinger had his third consecutive round in the 20’s with a 29. As some other players faltered a bit, Messinger had a three stroke lead heading into the final round over Bergesen and Parker. Messinger was never seriously challenged the last round. The battle for second place got interesting though with Bergesen, Parker, and Mosk all tied with nine holes to go. Mosk was able to build up a two stroke lead with seven holes to go, but then Bergesen made 6 of the last 7, with his only miss being a bogey on hole 14. It wasn’t the first time a hot finish by Bergesen allowed him to pass Mosk! It also got him to within one stroke of Messinger, who was able to play a layup shot on 18 to secure the victory.

In the APA, Saturday’s winner Chris Conradi continued playing well and was tied with Trevor Lewin and Jay Salyer at 30. It remained tight after two rounds with Conradi in at 59, just one stroke ahead of Lewin and Mike Huckaby. In round three, it became a two player race with Conradi in at 92 and Jerry Medina just a stroke back at 93. All day Conradi was able to hold off all challengers and the fourth round it would be no different. Conradi finished strong with a 30 which was enough to hold off a furious charge by Huckaby, who had a last round 28 to get within two. It was a great weekend for both Messinger and Conradi as they were able to sweep the weekend’s events on their home courses. The SWPT will visit Longview in two weeks as we draw closer to the tour championship to be held in Lake Charles in just 8 weeks.

Don Parker, Brice Bergesen win PPA Skins

Steven Yancey and Jerry Medina win APA Skins

	SWPT					Arling			SWPT					Arling
	2019					13July			2019					13July

1	Lee Messinger	28	30	32	90	$27.00		1	Chris Conradi	29	33	34	96	$15.00
2	Geoff Mosk	32	30	30	92	$54.00		2	Trevor Lewin	34	31	35	100	$21.00
3	Brice Bergesen	29	30	34	93	$72.00		3	Jay Salyer	34	35	32	101	$3.00
3	Gary Reed	30	31	32	93	$36.00		3	Steven Yancey	32	33	36	101	$33.00
5	Don Parker	30	32	33	95	$99.00		5	James Kile	34	34	35	103	$6.00
6	Mason Spradlin	30	34	32	96	$36.00		5	Jerry Medina	35	35	33	103	$30.00
6	Danny Tatum	31	32	33	96		1	7	Mickey DeLucca	38	33	36	107
8	Tom Adair	32	33	32	97		1
9	Rudy Cuellar	38	37	36	111		1

Coming into the tournaments in Arlington it was noticed that it had been quite some time since Lee Messinger had gone this far into the season without a win. The pro players knew it would be difficult to beat Lee on his home course. This proved to be true as Messinger took a one stroke lead in the first round with a 28. In round two, Messinger continued to have a one stroke lead over Brice Bergesen as they were the only players with scores under 60. In the last round Bergesen got off to a slow start and didn’t get his first ace until the back nine. Groff Mosk made a bit of a run and was able to get up to second place, but Messinger was just too much on his home course and he took home his first win of the year.

The 54-hole tournament was a official SWPT event, but as far as prize money goes it was the qualifier for the Skins Game that followed. The top six players in the PPA and the top six players in the APA played a 18-hole skins game, in two threesomes. The winners in the PPA were Don Parker with 11 skins and Brice Bergesen with 8 skins in the other group. In the APA, Steven Yancey won his group with 11 skins and Jerry Medina won his group with 10 skins. It was a different wrinkle and all enjoyed it, except the 54-hole qualifier winners, Lee Messinger and Chris Conradi, who won far less money in the Skins Game than they would have in the 54-hole qualifier.

In the APA there were seven players, six of which were from the metroplex area; meaning it was anyone’s tournament to win. Chris Conradi came out hot with a first round score of 29 that gave him a three stroke lead. Conradi kept the pressure on the other players and was the only amateur to finish under 100 with a 96. Trevor Lewis shot a 100 which was good for second place, closely followed by Jay Sayler and Steven Yancey.

2019 Mike Baldoza Texas Open Goes to

Jeffrey Smith and Mike Huckaby

PPA winner Jeffrey Smith and APA winner Mike Huckaby

16 players came out to the more than 60 year old Waco Putt Putt to play in the 4th Mike Baldoza Texas Open. The Texas open dates back to the early 90s but was given the Mike Baldoza name in 2016 after the passing of Hall of Famer and top 10 player of all time in the minds of most, after his passing on 12/31/2015.Winning this event is something that every player on tour hopes to accomplish. In the Pro division on Saturday June 8th Brice Bergesen came out hot with a 26. Only Lee Messinger was also able to shot below a 30 with a 29 of his own. The course has very few of what the players call auto holes and getting to or below 30 is not an easy task. In the second round only one player was abler to break 30. 2104 national champion Jeffrey Smith with a 28. He trailed Bergesen by one. Don Parker, who always seems to play well at this course, sat just two strokes back at 60. Smith continued his hot shooting with a 26 of his own in round 3. This opened up his lead to thee over Bergesen and 10 over Parker. The Texas open had quickly become a two horse race and would remain so for the rest of the event. Both Smith and Bergesen continued to pull away from the field with 29s their last round as they prepared for the next day’s battle to determine the winner of the 2019 event.

In the APA James Kile came out to play in his first event of the 2019 season. He had a first round of 32 which was good for second place behind APA points leader Mike Huckaby who shot a 31 of his own. Only four of the nine APA players were able to get their scores below par on the difficult course where just about any hole can be bogeyed with the smallest mistake. In round two, Kile had the low APA round of the day with a 29 and opened up a three stroke lead on Huckaby 61-64. In 3rd and still in striking distance was Chris Conradi who had two solid rounds of 33 to be just five strokes back. The heat was a factor as all of the players struggled in round three with Steven Yancey having the low round of a 32. Kile continued to hold his lead of three strokes over Huckaby with those two being the only players under 100 after three rounds. In the fourth and final round of the day Kile got off to a slow start only shooting one under on the front to see his lead shrink to two strokes. But then Kile finished with a flurry shooting a 12 on the back side while Huckaby struggled with a 19. Kile had opened up a seemingly insurmountable nine stoke lead heading into Sunday as it appeared he would win his first Baldoza.

Mike Baldoza Texas Open day 2.

As expected, Jeffrey Smith and Brice Bergesen were never seriously challenged during the final four rounds on day two, although it wasn't because they didn't try to let everyone else back in the tournament. Both players shot 65 their first two rounds, but no player other than Bergesen was able to get within nine strokes of the leader. With just two rounds to go, Bergesen remained three strokes behind Smith. Knowing if he could catch a bit of a hot streak, he would have a chance at the win. In the 7th round, Smith opened the door with a 17 on the front. Bergesen was unable to capitalize and also shot a 17 to remain three strokes back. Smith followed with a 14 on the back and when Bergesen had a 17 on the back, the lead was 6 heading into the 8th and final round. Bergesen did his best to put pressure on Smith and shot his best round of the day with a 29. It would not be enough as Smith cruised in with a 31 to claim his second Mike Baldoza in three years. A spot for the tour championship was awarded to Rudy Cuellar who made his first tournament appearance of 2019 in this event.

In the APA it had appeared that James Kile would walk home with the win after a very impressive showing in day one. A few of the other players thought differently. Kile came out of the gate strong with a 32. Only Jay Salyer was able to gain any ground on Kile as he maintained his nine stroke lead with three rounds remaining. In round six, Kile finally fell victim to the course and struggled, shooting a 35. This opened the door for Huckaby and Salyer to close the gap a bit and they did, five and seven back respectively. These were the only three APA players to be under 200 for six rounds. In round seven, Kile again struggled. From holes 10 to 13, Huckaby gained five strokes on Kile and at the end of the round the lead was down to a single stroke over Huckaby and just three over Salyer. Steven Yancey was also able to get within six strokes of the lead. In the Final round of the event, while not in contention, Mickey Delucca shot his low round of the event and tied the overall low score in the APA with an outstanding 29. Among the leaders. Salyer ran into trouble early and was not able to get anything going his final round. Huckaby, playing in the group just behind Kile, watched as Kile took a four on hole eight as he got stuck with difficult deuce and bogey putts where he had to putt over cracks. His double bogey left the door open for Huckaby and he would not let this chance pass him by. Huckaby had a one stroke lead with nine holes to go and he was able to hold on for a one stroke victory. Huckaby has been the dominant player on the APA tour this year and has built up a nearly insurmountable lead on Player of the Year points. He will look to build on that lead at our next event on his home course in Arlington in July. Each APA player in the tournament that did not already have 4 spots received a spot for the tour championship to be held in Lake Charles in September.

	PPA

1	Jeffrey Smith	31	28	26	29	32	33	31	31	241	$180
2	Brice Bergesen	26	32	30	29	31	34	34	29	245	$120
3	Lee Messenger	29	35	32	32	30	30	32	31	251	$ 60
4	Don Parker	30	30	35	33	31	29	35	30	253	$ 20
4	Geoff Mosk	31	35	34	30	31	32	29	31	253	$ 20
6	Mason Spradlin	35	33	33	31	31	29	33	34	259
7	Rudy Cuellar	32	37	36	36	30	32	29	35	267

	APA

1	Mike Huckaby	31	33	35	35	32	31	31	32	260	$ 52
2	James Kile	32	29	35	29	32	35	35	34	261	$ 26
3	Jay Salyer	36	32	34	34	31	32	31	39	269	$ 26
4	Steven Yancey	34	35	32	33	35	35	30	36	270	$ 26
5	Jerry Medina	40	33	34	37	32	30	32	35	273	$ 26
6	Chris Conradi	33	33	35	34	39	30	34	38	276
7	Ken Stanfill	36	35	34	40	36	37	37	32	287
8	Mickey DeLucca	41	42	37	42	33	36	44	29	304
9	Jack Ramsey	40	51	46	42	36	41	35	39	330

Playoff Time is Here in Abilene!

The SWPT did not play at Abilene in 2018 so the players were excited to go back and relearn the course and all that played on Saturday were there on Friday getting in some much needed practice. Some of the players went to a local Buffalo Wild Wings Friday night to watch the Astros beat the Red Sox. Overnight there were some very heavy storms including a tornado that cause some damages to homes and other buildings less than a mile away from the course. Luckily the course and all of the players were ok save for Lee and Mike’s hotel losing power for a few hours. With everyone being safe the players teed it up and started at 12:15.

In round 1 in the Pro division, Wade Sahmel shot a 25 which was much better than anyone expected the low round to be. As great as his round was, it was only one better than both Brice Bergesen and Geoff Mosk. For Mosk, the 26 he shot was much better than any practice round he had. In round 2, Lee Messinger was the only player able to shoot better than 31. His 29 was good for a 2 round score of 59 that tied him for 3^rd place with Bergesen. In second was Mosk at 57, and still leading was Sahmel at 56. In the last round, Bergesen made a move shooting the low round of 29 but with just three holes to go, it appeared it would come down to Mosk and Sahmel. Mosk was six under after 10 holes and even with Sahmel as he prepared to play hole 16. Sahmel played a difficult but good ace shot where he hit is ball into the small opening where the hole is. There is some risk in that if you push or pull it just a hair you miss the opening and will have a difficult deuce putt. Sahmel pushed his putt just a touch and caught the corner of the opening causing the ball to kick to the right and curl behind the triangle obstacle leaving him a close to impossible deuce putt. He missed and all Mosk had to do was not Bogey to win the tournaments. Bergesen commented to Sahmel that he could play the hole 1000 times and not have that happen again. Mosk played it safe up to hole 16 and maintained his 1 stroke lead until hole 16 where his ace putt, playing the more conservative left rail into the obstacle shot, caught the corner of the triangle leaving him a longer but still very makeable deuce putt. His putt made a 90 degree lip around the hole and Mosk tapped in for a three. He then missed the next two holes and there was a 3-way tie for 1^st. In the Playoff Mosk started slowly and was never a factor. Sahmel stared hot and built up a three stroke lead going into the back-9. Bergesen was able to make some holes and put pressure on Sahmel but it looked like Sahmel would pull it out with 3 holes to go. Again playing hole 16 Sahmel did the same thing he did the last round of the tournament (a previously thought 1 in 1000 shot) and again bogeyed the hole, allowing Bergesen to pick up his 3^rd win of the season.

In the APA, Chris Conradi was the only player in the top 9 APA POY standings to not have a win. He was determined to change that and came out strong with a 28 that was good for a three stroke lead over Mike Huckaby and four over Jay Sayler. Unlike the players in the Pro Division, Conradi was able to match his 1^st round score in the second round to be in at 56 which was good for a five stroke lead. Huckaby, playing the same shot Sahmel was playing in the pro division, went 3 for 3 on hole 16. This helped him to shoot a 29 his last round to put a little pressure on Conradi. It was to no avail though as Conradi was the model of consistency and shot a 30 his last round to finish the event at 86 to win the APA division as well as beat all of the pro’s. It was a great 1^st, and probably not the last, win for Conradi for the 2019 season.

	SWPT 2019	Abilene			May 19
	PPA				Noon			APA

1	Brice Bergesen	26	33	29	88	$ 80	1	Chris Conradi	28	28	30	86	$26
2	Wade Sahmel	25	31	32	88	$ 40	2	Mike Huckaby	31	30	29	90	$13
2	Geoffrey Mosk	26	31	31	88	$ 30	3	Jay Sayler	32	38	34	104
4	Lee Messinger	30	29	32	91
5	Mason Spradlin	32	33	31	96
6	Joel Woodall	32	34	34	100

After the playoff in the pro division, the players were right back to it to compete in the second event of the day. The carpets had continued to get dryer as the day went on and the players were not adjusting well and the higher scores proved it. Geoff Mosk, fresh off his disappointing playoff performance, was able to come out of the gate hot and shoot the low round of the second event with a 28. No other pro would have a round in the 20’s during the second tournament. Four of the other five players were within three strokes of the lead, as the players headed to round 2 where again the scores were all tight. Wade Sahmel and Mosk were the leaders at 60, but just one stroke back was their playing partner Brice Bergesen. Just two strokes back was Lee Messinger, who won both events the last time tournaments were played here in 2017. Joel Woodall was also within striking distance at 64. The three leaders were playing in the lead group and with seven holes to go were all tied up. Messinger was still within striking distance, but would need to shoot a 13 on the back to catch the leaders. Bergesen had a perfect Back 9 with all 2’s to finish tied for 3^rd with Messinger. Sahmel lagged his ace putt on 13 and had to 2 bank in his deuce putt to stay even with Mosk. He then hit the right brick on 15 and had to make a long deuce to stay one back of Mosk. Mosk played it safe coming down the stretch and had a 1 stroke lead going into the last hole. Sahmel calmly made his ace and we had our second playoff of the day. In the playoff Sahmel got out to a lead and didn’t look back as he shot a 29 to win for the second time this year. It was the 8^th round that Sahmel and Mosk had played on the day (2 3 round events and 2 playoff rounds) and they were both ready for the long drive home back to Houston after a great day of Putting.

In the APA Division, Mike Huckaby jumped out to an early 8 stroke lead with an opening round of 29 and never looked back. He played solid the last 2 rounds with scores of 32 and 32 as he tried to match Chris Conradi’s earlier accomplishment of beating the pro’s as well. His 93 came up just two strokes short of the PPA winning scores, but was good for an 11 stroke victory in the APA and was his third win of the year. The win also increased his lead in the POY standings to 127 points over Chris Conradi.

	SWPT 2019	Abilene			May 19
	PPA				3:00 PM			APA

1	Wade Sahmel	30	30	31	91	$ 80	1	Mike Huckaby	29	32	32	93	$26
2	Geoffrey Mosk	28	32	31	91	$ 50	2	Chris Conradi	38	33	33	104	$13
3	Brice Bergesen	31	30	32	93	$ 15	3	Jay Sayler	37	39	34	110
3	Lee Messinger	31	31	31	93	$ 15
5	Joel Woodall	31	33	32	96
6	Mason Spradlin	36	31	31	98

Adair Defends HIS Course!

Tom Adair (PPA) and Steven Yancey (APA)

The weather could not have been better on Cinco de Mayo for the final tournament of the weekend in Tyler Texas. The scores in the Pro division continued to get lower as the conditions got better. Geoff Mosk and Mason Spradlin, playing in the same group, got off to hot starts by both shooting 12’s on the back on their way to a pair of 26s. Just 1 stroke back was one of the previous days winners, Tom Adair. 2 other players, Jeff Smith and Brice Bergesen were just 2 strokes off the pace. The score at Tyler are usually tight and it is normally difficult to run away with a tournament. This would hold true on this day. Tom stayed hot and shot a 26 of his own in round 2 to be in at 53. Also in a 53 was fellow Tyler local Spradlin. Mosk stayed close by with a 29 to be in at 55 just 2 strokes back. Adair continued to pour it on in round 3 with another 26 but he was only able to extend his lead to 3 over Mosk and Mason heading into the 4^th and Final round. Adair was playing in the group just ahead of Spradlin and Mosk so it was easy to tell just where everyone stood. Adair had a solid front 9 and was able to increase his lead to 4 over Mosk and 5 over Spradlin with 9 holes to go. It’s difficult to stay hot at Tyler and Adair left the door open on the back 9 for Mosk and Spradlin to come back. Mosk was able to close the gap to just 2 strokes with 3 holes to go and Mason was just one more stroke back. Adair deuced in so Mosk and Spradlin had a chance to tie or win but it was not to be. Mosk hit a poor putt on 16, made 17, but was not able to make 18 for the tie. Adair won his second tournament of the weekend with a 4 round score of 109. Mosk finished at 110 and Spradlin at 111. It was a good finish to a great weekend. The spots for the tour championship went to Adair, Spradlin, and Smith.

In the APA Gary Plain looked to complete the weekend sweep on this beautiful Sunday. After 1 round 8 of the 11 players were between 30 and 32 and it would remain tight throughout the day. After 2 rounds Chris Conradi took the lead at 59. Ken Stanfill continued his fine play with a 29 to be in at 60 after 2 rounds. Plain was in at 62 and many other players were still close by. In the 3^rd round Steven Yancey had his best round of the weekend with a 27 to pull within 1 stroke of Conradi and Plain who shot a 31 and 28 respectively. Stanfill remained close at 93. Mike Huckaby was in at 94 just 4 strokes back with Mickey Delucca at 94. All of the top 6 players still had a chance to win heading into the last round. Yancey stayed hot and was able to overtake Plain and Conradi by shooting a 29 to finish at 121. Both Plain and Conradi had chances to beat or tie Yancey down the stretch but their putts were just a bit off and Yancey was able to claim his second win of the year. When the dust had all settled 5 players finished within 4 strokes of each other making it one of the most exciting finishes of the year. Spots went to Yancey, Plain, and Delucca.

SWPT - Tyler - May 5, 2019

	PPA									APA

1	Tom Adair	27	26	26	30	109	$100.00	1	1	Steven Yancey	31	34	27	29	121	$ 26.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	26	29	27	28	110	$65.00		2	Gary Plain	31	31	28	32	122	$ 13.00
3	Mason Spradlin	26	27	29	29	111	$35.00	1	2	Chris Conradi	30	29	31	32	122	$ 13.00
4	Don Parker	31	28	29	26	114	$ 10.00		4	Mike Huckaby	31	33	30	29	123	$ 13.00
4	Jeffrey Smith	28	30	27	29	114	$ 10.00	1	5	Mickey DeLucca	32	31	31	31	125	$ 13.00	1
6	Brice Bergesen	28	30	30	28	116			6	Ken Stanfill	31	29	33	36	129	$ 13.00
7	Danny Tatum	30	31	32	32	125			7	Trevor Lewin	31	34	33	32	130		1
8	Matt Bellner	29	32	32	32	125			8	Chris Stewary	34	30	35	33	132
									9	Jay Salyer	34	33	37	32	136
									10	Jonathan Huffner	37	31	35	37	140
									11	Jack Ramsey	32	34	35	41	142

Tyler Doubleheader Always is a Favorite Stop

APA winner Gary Plain, PPA winners Tom Adair and Brice Bergesen

The SWPT made its annual stop to Tyler Texas on the weekend on May 4^th and 5^th. Tyler has a strong weekly tournament program that a few years ago brought Mason Spradlin to the tour. This year we had 2 new APA members, Chris Stewart and Jonathan Huffer, and a Chase Fields played in the open division Saturday along with Scott Myers, who due to some medical issues is taking a year off from the tour. We are always happy to see new members and welcome the players to the SWPT.

There were overnight rains before the evening of May 3^rd into the early morning hours so the course was damp as players arrived to get practice. As the day went on the course dried out and it ended up being a beautiful day. Tyler has very strong local players and it would not be easy for outsiders to win. In the pro division Mason Spradlin proved this theory true by shooting a 27 to lead by 1 over Brice Bergesen and 2 over Geoff Mosk. The Tyler course can be finnicky and it is difficult to shoot low rounds consistently. In round 2 Mason stumbled to a clean 34 as his putts were just a bit off on just about every hole. This left the door open for Bergesen to take the lead and he did with a 27 to lead by 4 over Mosk and Adair. The rest of the field waited and hoped Bergesen would stumble and give others a chance to catch up but Bergesen kept the pedal to the medal and Finished with an 83 that was good for a 4 stroke victory over Mosk and 5 over Adair. Spots for the tour championship went to Bergesen, Adair, and Spradlin.

In the APA local player Gary Plain is always difficult to beat on his home course. This day would be no different as he had the low APA round of the day to start the tournament with a 27. Plain and Mike Huckaby were the only 2 players to break 30 in the first round as Huckaby shot a 29. In round 2 Chris Conradi got into the mix with a 28 to pull within 1 stroke of Plain who was at 60. Huckaby was at 63 and no other player was below 64. It was a battle down to the very end to see who would win the days first event. Conradi shot a very solid 30, but Plain was just to much as he rallied to shoot a 29 to finish at 89 and win by 2. The spots for the tour championship went to Plain, Conradi, and Stanfill.

SWPT - Tyler - May 4, 2019, 12 pm

	PPA								APA

1	Brice Bergesen	28	27	28	83	$80.00	1	1	Gary Plain	27	33	29	89	$26.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	29	30	28	87	$50.00		2	Chris Conradi	33	28	30	91	$13.00
3	Tom Adair	30	29	29	88	$30.00	1	3	Mike Huckaby	29	34	30	93	$13.00
4	Don Parker	30	32	29	91			4	Jack Ramsay	33	31	32	96	$7.00
4	Mason Spradlin	27	34	30	91		1	4	Ken Stanfill	34	31	31	96	$7.00	1
6	Danny Tatum	31	31	30	92			6	Mickey DeLucca	34	32	33	99
								7	Steve Yancey	36	34	30	100		1
								8	Jay Salyer	35	41	33	109
									Open
									Chase Fields	33	28	36	97

SWPT - Tyler - May 4, 2019, 3 pm

	PPA								APA

1	Tom Adair	28	24	30	82	$80.00	1	1	Gary Plain	34	29	29	92	$26.00	1
2	Brice Bergesen	28	30	27	85	$50.00	1	2	Chris Conradi	32	35	30	97	$13.00	1
3	Geoff Mosk	29	30	29	88	$30.00		2	Mike Huckaby	32	35	30	97	$13.00
4	Mason Spradlin	29	31	29	89		1	4	Ken Stanfill	28	35	35	98	$13.00	1
5	Danny Tatum	31	31	29	91			5	Steve Yancey	34	35	31	100	$13.00
6	Don Parker	27	30	35	92			5	Jay Salyer	32	35	33	100
6	Matt Bellner	33	29	30	92			7	Chris Stewart	32	35	34	101
								8	Mickey DeLucca	36	34	33	103
								9	Jack Ramsay	38	34	33	105
								10	Jonathan Huffner	34	37	35	106
									Open
									Scott Myers	32	29	32	93	$10.00
									Chase Fields	32	34	32	98

In the 3pm tournament the course had dried out as the pros looked to score better and they did for the most part. 5 of the 7 players were below 30 in round 1 with Don Parker, who always seems to play well in Tyler, leading with a 27. Tom Adair and Brice Bergesen were just 1 stroke back at 28 while Geoff Mosk and Mason Spradlin were just 2 back at 29. In round 2 Adair went on a phenomenal run. After missing hole 6 he only missed hole 1 additional hole until he reached 17 and that was hole 10. It was the kind of run that can, and usually does, propel a player to victory. It gave Adair a 5 stroke lead over Parker and 6 over Bergesen. Adair walked the proverbial dog in the last round to finish at 82. Bergesen tried to keep pressure on Adair by shooting a 27 of his own but it was not enough as he finished 3 strokes back. Spots for the tour championship went to Adair, Bergesen, and Spradlin.

In the APA it was much of the same as the earlier tournament except that Plain got off to a slow start with a 34. He then closed with consecutive 29s to put pressure on the rest of the field. Stanfill was the only player under 30 in round 1 with a 28 which was good for a 4 stroke lead over several players. In the second round, Plains 29 was not only the only score under 30 in the APA, it was the only score under 34. This allowed Plain to take a sizeable lead over the rest of the field. Plain didn’t let up as he also had the lowest score the last round to win by 5 over Conradi. Interestingly enough, the same 3 players, Plain, Conradi, and Huckaby in the APA and Adair, Bergesen and Mosk in the PPA, finished in the top 3 spots in both of the days events.

Longtime Pro-Am Partners Win Together

The weather could not have been better on Saturday April 20^th at the beautiful Adventure Landing course in Dallas as the Southwest Putting Tour made its annual stop in Dallas. It is a “local” course to Jeffrey Smith and Lee Messinger and most expected them to play very well and probably win. As expected, both players played well the first round, but it was Brice Bergesen that was the leader after one round with a 26. Messinger and Smith were two and four strokes back, respectively. The course can be a bit finicky and putting three really good rounds together is tough, as Bergesen found out in round two. His 32 had him at a second round score of 58, which was good for a tie for second place with Messinger. Smith had the best round of the tournament with a 25 to give him a three stroke lead at 55. No one else was closer than five strokes off the pace and it was clearly a three man race. Messinger came out hot on the front nine and when Smith was only able to shoot two under, he found himself in the lead with just nine holes to play. The players all agree that the front nine is easier to score on than the back. But Smith, knowing he needed a strong finish to get his first win of the year, was determined to keep Messinger within striking distance. Smith shot an unbelievable 10 on the back nine, only missing hole 12; which he had made the previous 2 rounds. With Messinger struggling to make aces, Smith’s total of 81 was good for a 4 stroke victory and his first win of the 2019 season. Bergesen was able to hang on to 3^rd place and claim a spot, along with John Kropinak.

In the APA we have had seven different winners in seven different tournaments. There were four players hoping to make that trend continue, including two new members to the tour, Jerry Medina and Jay Salyer. Chris Conradi had the first round low score with a 30. The winner of the last event at Longview Greens, Mickey Delucca, was just one stroke back at 31. Trevor Lewin, who was looking for his first win of the year on the course just a few miles from his home, was still in the hunt at 33. Mike Huckaby improved by 12 strokes in his second round shooting a fine 27. Medina has a 5 stroke improvement to shoot a 29. However, Conradi continued to lead at 61 with Trevor just three strokes back. No one could get much going the last round and Lewin’s 33 was enough to catch Conradi to tie for the win at 97. This sealed the deal for an 8th winner in 8 tournaments. In the playoff Lewin was just a little bit better as he outlasted Conradi to claim a win on his home turf. Spots for the tour championship went to Lewin, Conradi, and Medina.

	SWPT - Coit Rd - April 20, 2019, 12 pm

	PPA								APA

1	Jeffrey Smith	30	25	26	81	$80.00		1	Trevor Lewin	33	31	33	97	$26.00	1
2	Lee Messinger	28	30	27	85	$50.00		2	Chris Conradi	30	31	36	97	$13.00	1
3	Brice Bergesen	26	32	31	89	$30.00	1	3	Mike Huckaby	39	27	32	98	$13.00
4	Geoff Mosk	32	28	32	92			4	Jerry Medina	34	29	36	99		1
5	John Kropinak	31	31	31	93			5	Steven Yancey	39	33	33	105
6	Don Parker	33	31	29	93		1	6	Jay Salyer	40	37	34	111
								7	Mickey DeLucca	31	36	52	119

Bergesen and Huckaby Both Survive Playoffs to Take Victory

In the late tournament, the 3 Houston Pros were determined to not let the Dallas group sweep the day. Brice Bergesen had the low round with a 26 followed closely by defending tour champion Don Parker and Geoff “Groff” Mosk who were just oee stroke back. Groff fell off the pace in round 2 when he played holes 15-17 in four over. Bergesen continued to lead with a score of 55. Parker remained one back. Jeffrey Smith and Lee Messinger shot rounds of 26 and 27 respectively to get back in the hunt. Bergesen, Smith, and Messinger were all playing in the lead group so they knew what it would take to beat each other. Parker has a good front but stumbled on the back and it looked like Bergesen would get the win by being 3 up with 2 to go. He then missed his deuce from on top of the hill which left a difficult bogey putt, but he took his time and made the 3 to keep the pressure on Smith. Smith now needed to make 17 and 18 and hope Bergesen missed 18 to tie, and that is exactly what happened. Bergesen will tell you he has not had much luck in playoffs over the last 10 or so years and it looked like that was going to change with him being two up heading into the last hole. He tried to lay up but hit his putt to hard and it came down the hill leaving a testy little died for the win. Bergesen again took his time and calmly drained the putt to seal his first win of the 2019 season. Spots went to Bergesen, Bellner, and Kropinak.

Trevor Lewin and Steven Yancey came out hot in the second APA event of the day by both shooting a 28. That was god enough for a four stroke lead over Mike Huckaby. Both the leaders had tough second rounds while Huckaby and Chris Conradi both broke 30 and all 4 players were within 2 strokes of each other with 1 round to go. Lewin has a solid 30 his last round and it looked like he would complete the daily double but Huckaby came in 1 stroke better to tie Lewin at 92 so we headed to another playoff. This time though Huckaby was to much for Lewin to handle and Huckaby became the first player this year to win 2 APA events.

	SWPT - Coit Rd - April 20, 2019, 2 pm

	PPA							APA

1	Brice Bergesen	26	29	31	86	$90.00	1	Mike Huckaby	32	31	29	92	$26.00
2	Jeffrey Smith	33	26	27	86	$60.00	2	Trevor Lewin	28	34	30	92	$13.00
3	Lee Messinger	31	27	29	87	$30.00	3	Steven Yancey	28	34	33	95	$13.00
4	Don Parker	27	29	32	88	$10.00	4	Chris Conradi	36	29	33	98
5	Geoff Mosk	27	35	31	93		5	Jerry Medina	34	37	36	107
6	Matt Bellner	31	34	30	95		6	Mickey DeLucca	33	37	42	112
7	John Kropinak	35	32	29	96

Mosk Masters Minigolf, Again;

DeLucca Returns to the Winners' Circle

Longview Greens

April 7, 2019

	SWPT					Montgom			SWPT					Montgom
	2019					7Apr'19			2019					7Apr'19

1	Geoff Mosk	36	29	32	97	$70.00		1	Mickey DeLucca	43	38	38	119	$26.00	1
2	Lee Messinger	37	34	31	102	$40.00		2	Alan Sahmel	46	42	33	121
3	Jeffrey Smith	32	33	39	104	$20.00	1
4	Don Parker	38	36	35	109
5	Mason Spradlin	43	44	36	123		1

A few players got together after the first days tournament to eat, watch some NCAA Basketball, and enjoy each other’s company. They all agreed that another 92 would not be shot and hoped that the rain would stay away. Amazingly, the rain did stay away and the tournament was played in very comfortable conditions. There were some overnight showers that had the course a little wet but there were not any spots on the course with anything close to standing water. There was only some slight dampness of the carpet that did not affect play much at all. Jeffrey Smith got out to great start shooting a 15 on the front 9. He was the only player able to break 18. His lead grew to as much as 6 before Geoff Mosk, Lee Messinger, and Don Parker were able to get a little closer before the end of the round. Smith held a 4 stroke lead over Mosk, 32 to 36, with Messinger just 1 more stroke back, and Parker 1 behind that. Smith had another solid round his second round with a 33 but Mosk was able to tie the course record with a 29, including a 13 on the front. This had Smith and Mosk tied after 2 rounds just as they were the day before, but this time at 65. Messinger was in third place at 71. The course can turn on you in a hurry and that is what happened to Smith the third round. Mosk continued his good play and shot a solid 32 that was good enough for a 5 stroke win over second place finisher Messinger. Smith held on to 3^rd place. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Smith and Mason Spradlin.

In the APA Mickey DeLucca was determined to play better and challenge Alan Sahmel for the victory and after the first round DeLucca had the lead 43-46. In the second round DeLucca improved to shoot his best score of the weekend, a 38, and extend his lead over Sahmel to 7 strokes. Sahmel, the reigning APA Senior National Champion showed what a great player he is by putting pressure on DeLucca the last round. After 9 holes Sahmel had cut the lead to just 3 strokes. He continued to put on pressure by shooting a 16 his last 9 holes for a third round score of 33. Mickey was up for the challenge and thought he had secured the win after making the boot hole, number 15. He encountered some trouble coming down the stretch but was able to hold on for the win 119-121. It was DeLucca’s first win on the SWPT since 2015 and we are all very happy for him. DeLucca also picked up his second spot for the tour championship to be played at his home course in Lake Charles in September.

Minigolf Puts Up a Fight, but Goes Down to Mosk & Sahmel

Longview Greens

April 6, 2019

	SWPT					Montgom			SWPT					Montgom
	2019					6Apr'19			2019					6Apr'19

1	Geoff Mosk	33	29	30	92	$90.00		1	Alan Sahmel	38	40	38	116	$26.00	1
2	Lee Messinger	32	31	32	95	$60.00	1	2	Mickey DeLucca	49	45	45	139		1
3	Jeffrey Smith	33	29	37	99	$30.00	1
4	Brice Bergesen	35	35	35	105	$10.00
4	Rainey Statum	37	35	33	105	$10.00	1
6	Mason Spradlin	37	34	35	106
7	Don Parker	34	38	39	111

Nine players showed up on Saturday April 6^th to play the lovely Longview Greens Mini Golf course in Magnolia Texas just off of Lake Conroe. The weekend weather did not look promising which kept some players at home. It is a beautiful course that offers different challenges from what most players are used to. Shooting under 36 every round is a challenge for even the best of players but it is a challenge that the players enjoy. In the Pro division Mason Spradlin led off the tournament as the defending champion. All 7 pros shot between 32 and 37 with Lee Messinger being the leader. Just 1 back were Jeff Smith and Geoff Mosk but everyone was still close enough to win. Hole 5 is affectionately known as the Stetson hole as the hole looks like a giant Cowboy hat with a tunnel in the middle. If you get your ball in the tunnel it is an ace. If you miss you are almost certainly looking at a 3 or worse. It can be very difficult to shoot under 18 on the front 9 unless you make this hole. In round one only 2 players were able to shoot under 18 on the front 9. In the second round, 3 players were able to break 18 on the front 9 and those players separated themselves from the field. Smith and Mosk set the course record both shooting 29s and Messinger had a 31. They were in a 62, 62, and 63 respectively. Brice Bergesen was the next closest player at 70. In the last round Mosk was able to keep the momentum going and shot a 15 on the front side. Smith had a tough front, missing the Stetson hole and was 4 back. Messinger was 3 back with 9 holes left to play. Messinger made 5 holes coming down the stretch but it was not enough as Mosk prevailed shooting a 32 his last round for a three round total of 92. Messinger finished second at 95 and Smith in third at 99. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Messinger, Smith and Rainey Statum.

In the APA it was a 2 man race between Alan Sahmel and a rejuvenated Mickey DeLucca. It was the first time either player had played the course. DeLucca had some struggles and Sahmel was able to jump out to a 11 stroke lead after the first round. DeLucca played a little better in the second round but Sahmel was still able to pull away even more. Sahmel played consistently over all 3 rounds and was able to win the event with a score of 116. DeLucca had learned a few lessons along the way and was looking forward to the next day’s event knowing he had a chance to win for the first time in a few years.

Lake Charles Played Host to a Great SWPT Weekend

Lots and Lots of Aces

Lake Charles Weekend Winners
Charles "Sharky" Cox, Greg Simpson, Wade Sahmel, Geoff Mosk

	SWPT						LC			SWPT						LC
	2019						17Mar'19			2019						17Mar19

1	Geoff Mosk	24	26	24	24	98	$80.00		1	Charles Cox	25	28	24	27	104	$26.00	1
2	Jeffrey Smith	26	26	25	23	100	$50.00	1	2	Alan Sahmel	30	28	26	26	110	$13.00	1
3	Lee Messinger	30	26	25	26	107	$20.00	1	3	Greg Simpson	25	31	29	29	114	$13.00	1
4	Don Parker	27	28	28	28	111		1	4	Mike Huckaby	30	28	29	28	115	$13.00
5	Mason Spradlin	29	25	30	29	113			5	Charles Tarbell	32	30	27	29	118	$13.00
6	Wade Sahmel	31	25	32	28	116			6	Mickey DeLucca	30	31	29	30	120
									7	Adam Sahmel	32	27	32	36	127
									8	Chris Conradi	33	30	34	32	129
									9	Jack Ramsey	36	32	31	34	133

It was a little bit cooler on Sunday but there was no threat of rain as the players got ready for a 10 am tee time for the four round event. Geoff Mosk once again started off hot by shooting a 1^st round 24, which was good for a two shot lead over 2014 National Champion Jeffrey Smith. The defending Al and Tour Champion Don Parker was just three strokes back. In round two, almost everyone was hot. Mason Spradlin and Wade Sahmel had the low rounds with 25s; three other players had a 26. Mosk held on to his two stroke lead over Smith at 50-52. In Round three, Mosk missed hole one, but recovered to make his next eight for a ten on the front nine. Lee Messinger also shot a 10 on the front nine to remain within striking distance. Mosk finished with a 24 and was able to increase his lead to three over Smith; with no other player closer than seven strokes. Mosk was in the lead group and came out hot again shooting an 11 on the front nine. Not to be outdone Smith missed hole one and then made the next 8 to close the gap to two strokes. Mosk made 10 and 11 while Smith missed them both behind him. Mosk had a 4 stroke lead with seven holes to go. Not forgetting the lesson he learned yesterday when Messinger made seven of the last eight to chase him down, Mosk stayed moderately aggressive and made three more aces down the stretch to win 98-100 over Smith. Messinger shot a 26 his last round to hang on to 3^rd place over Parker. The spots went to Smith, Messinger, and Parker.

n the APA it is rare that a weekend of tournaments will go by in Lake Charles without Charles “Sharkey” Cox winning an event. Cox came out hot with a 1^st round 25. Not to be out done, the winner of the 3pm even the day before Greg Simpson also shot a 25. No other player was able to break 30 in the first round. Both players cooled off a bit in round two with Cox shooting a 28 and Simpson with a 31. The Sahmels, Adam and Alan came in with great scores of 27 and 28 respectively to stay in the hunt as well. Any doubt about Cox being able to get his 1^st win of the year were put to bed when Cox shot the low APA round of the day with a 24 in round three. He extended his lead over Alan, who had a round of 26 of his own, to seven strokes. Alan stayed hot the last round shooting another 26 to put some pressure on Cox, but Sharkey knows his home course as well as anyone and coasted in with a 27 and a six stroke victory. The spots in the APA went to Cox, Alan Sahmel, and Simpson.

We’d like to thank Greg Simpson and the wonderful employees of the Lake Charles Putt Putt for putting on a great tournament weekend. The course is always in great shape and the hospitality could not be better. We will be back in August for the Louisiana State Championship and September for the SWPT Championship.

	SWPT					LC			SWPT					LC
	2019					16Mar-3			2019					16Mar-3

1	Geoff Mosk	24	26	28	78	$90.00	1	1	Greg Simpson	24	28	28	80	$26.00	1
2	Lee Messinger	26	29	23	78	$60.00	1	2	Alan Sahmel	23	27	32	82	$13.00	1
3	Don Parker	29	26	26	81	$30.00	1	3	Charles Cox	28	30	27	85	$13.00
4	Wade Sahmel	27	32	23	82	$20.00		3	Mike Huckaby	30	27	28	85	$13.00	1
5	Jeffrey Smith	30	28	26	84			5	Mickey DeLucca	31	31	30	92	$5.00
6	Mason Spradlin	29	30	32	91			6	Adam Sahmel	32	32	29	93
7	Danny Tatum	31	31	31	93			7	Chris Conradi	33	30	31	94
								7	Charles Tarbell	27	32	35	94
								9	Jack Ramsey	41	34	36	111

After a quick snack and a little practice the players were back out on the course at 3pm to start the second event of the weekend. Wade Sahmel finally cooled of a little and shot a 27 his 1^st round which was good for 3rd. Lee Messinger was just two strokes back of Geoff Mosk, who shot a 1^st round score of 24. Mosk extended his lead in round two shooting a 26 which had him five strokes ahead of both Messinger and Don Parker. It looked like it was going to be another run away win in the second tournament, especially after Mosk shot a 12 on the front nine to hold a five stroke lead over Messinger with just 9 holes to go. Mosk then made hole 10 to get the lead back to 6 and was ready to coast in for his 1^st win of the year. But Mosk would only make one more ace the rest of the way while is playing partner, Messinger was making the seven of the last eight to shoot a 23. Mosk needed only to make hole 17 or 18 to close out the win but both putts just barely missed and we were heading to our first playoff of the year. In the playoff Mosk made the 1^st six holes and had a two stroke lead after the front nine, 11-13. Knowing what had just happened the round before, Mosk had to keep applying pressure, but neither player was able to get it really going on the back nine. After Mosk made hole 16, he was 10 under and held a three stroke lead with two holes to go. He played it safe the last two, while Messinger made the last two and Mosk held on for a stroke victory. Don Parker hung on to 3^rd place and Sahmel also shot a 23 his last round to get the crumb at 82.

In the APA Greg Simpson came out hot shooting a 24 which he felt confident would win him low round money. Just a few minutes after he finished, Alan Sahmel came in with a 23 to cut him by one. Those were the two lowest APA rounds of the day and the two were in for a battle. In round 2, Sahmel again had the low round, this time with a 27 that he shared with Mike Huckaby. It extended his lead over Simpson to two strokes heading into the final round. No other plater was within five strokes of the lead. Simpson was playing a few groups in front of Sahmel and knew he needed to apply some pressure. He shot a final round 28 and didn’t think it would be enough to chase down Sahmel, but sometimes putts just don’t want to drop and that was the type of round Sahmel had as he came in at 32 his final round and fell to 2^nd place. It wrapped up an APA day 1, a Simpson bothers sweep with Terry and Greg winning both tournaments. The spots went to Simpson, Sahmel, and Huckaby.


	SWPT					LC			SWPT					LC
	2019					16Mar-12			2019					16Mar-12

1	Wade Sahmel	25	24	23	72	$100.00	1	1	Terry Simpson	26	28	27	81	$26.00	1
2	Jeffrey Smith	26	26	25	77	$50.00	1	2	Charles Cox	27	29	28	84	$13.00	1
3	Geoff Mosk	28	26	25	79	$30.00	1	3	Mike Huckaby	30	27	29	86	$13.00	1
4	Lee Messinger	28	28	26	82	$20.00		4	Greg Simpson	29	30	29	88	$13.00
5	Don Parker	28	27	29	84			5	Mickey DeLucca	28	35	26	89	$5.00
5	Mason Spradlin	28	29	27	84			5	Alan Sahmel	31	29	29	89	$5.00
7	Danny Tatum	26	32	28	86			7	Adam Sahmel	27	33	31	91
7	Brice Bergesen	29	30	27	86			8	Chris Conradi	33	31	31	95
								9	Jack Ramsey	34	41	33	108

Seventeen players came out to the beautiful Lake Charles course on March 16^th to play in the Noon event. We are still seeing some unseasonable cool weather and many players wore long sleeve shirts and/or light jackets to stay warm. The course is always in great shape and the players looked forward to three competitive tournaments. In the Pro division, Wade Sahmel was using his new Euro Putter in preparation for the World Adventure Golf Masters where he will be playing for team USA in Sweden in three months. He took little time to adjust and shot the rounds low score of 25 to open the event. No player was more than 4 strokes back, with Jeffrey Smith and Danny Tatum being the closest at 26. Sahmel again shot the low round in round two with a 24. This increased his lead to three shots over Smith and five shots over Geoffrey Mosk, who both had score of 26. Sahmel continued to pour it on as he completed the trifecta by shooting a 23 his final round, which was again the lowest score of the round. His score of 72 was good for a five stroke victory over Smith and seven over Mosk. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Sahmel, Smith, and Mosk. There was little drama in the pro division to start the weekend but things were just getting started.

In the APA, Charles Cox who is always in contention at Lake Charles, said to his playing partner that he was playing for a spot in the first event and to win the other two because Terry Simpson was playing in only the 1^st event of the weekend and had been playing very well. Cox was not wrong and Simpson was the leader after one round after shooting a 26. Adam Sahmel and Cox were both just one strike back at 27. It should be noted that Sahmel was playing in his 1^st event in well over a year while sitting in his wheelchair and, as usual, playing one-handed. It was a joy and a pleasure to have him back out on the course competing in the game we all love. In round two, Simpson continued to lead after shooting a 28. He increased his lead on Cox to two strokes and led Mike Huckaby by three. Huckaby had the low round of 27 in round two. Simpson stayed consistent and shot another fine round of 27 in the 3^rd round, which was more than enough to stay ahead of Cox to get the win. Huckaby was able to hang on to 3^rd place, which had the spots for the tour championship going to Simpson, Cox, and Huckaby. It should also be noted that Mickey Delucca shot a 26 his last round, which is the lowest score he could remember shooting since having surgery on his foot several years ago. He had a problem with the yips and late last year at the recommendation of some friends switched to putting left handed. He has played better since making the switch and we hope this is a sign of good things to come from our good friend Mickey.

No Rain in Webster Brings a Flood of Aces by Lea

Record setting PPA winner Joe Lea, 8-stroke APA winner Steven Yancey

Conditions for Sunday had called for scattered rain starting about 10 am when the tournament was supposed to start but the players were blessed in that it did not rain at all. A cold front did come thru making the temperatures colder and there was some wind but over all the conditions were pretty good, especially if your name was Joe Lea. Lea tied the course record, shared by Joe Shirey and Geoff Mosk, with a 21 his opening round only missing holes 2, 12, and 16. This gave him a 4 stroke lead over Mosk, who shot a 25 with a bogey of his own. Mosk thought he would have gained some ground with a 26 in round 2 but instead he fell further behind as Lea shot a 23 missing 3 of his last 4 holes. Lea’s 44 tied a first 2 round SWPT record set by Brice Bergesen at Lake Charles back in 2012 when he shot a 22 in each of his 1^st 2 rounds. Lea had a 7 stroke lead after two rounds on Mosk, and 10 over Don Parker. Joe finally cooled off in round 3 as the weather also started to cool, with a 27, but it was still the best round anyone was able to shoot. Lea was at 71 after 3 rounds and held a 12 stroke lead. It was all but over with the only remaining battle being for 2^nd place. Mosk was at 83 with no less than 5 players within 2 strokes of him. In the last round Lea cruised in with a 29 to finish with a 4 round score of 100 (44 under par). Mosk and Lee Messinger had the rounds low scores of 26 to allow them to finish in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. Jeffrey Smith came in 4^th with the crumb going to Parker. It was a dominating weekend for Joe Lea as he played 7 rounds in 179 shots (73 under par).

In the APA Steve Yancey bounced back from a disappointing 1^st tournament with a 1^st round 27. It was the only score in the APA under 31. Things got much tighter in round 2 as day 1 winner, Mike Huckaby, shot a 27 of his own to pull within 1 stroke of Yancey. Jack Ramsey also had his best round of the weekend, a 29 to be in at 64 and 7 strokes off the pace. Yancey played solid the last two rounds with scores of 29 in each. Chris Conradi also played well the last 2 rounds with scores of 29 and 30 that allowed him to move up to 3^rd place. Huckaby was not able to keep up with Yancey but did hang on for second place to finish the weekend with a 1^st and 2^nd place finish. Ken Stanfill came in 4^th to get the final reimbursement money. Yancey’s total of 115 was good for an 8 stroke win as he picks up where he left off last year when he won 4 tournaments.

We will play 3 tournaments in Lake Charles in 2 weeks and look forward to weather that will hopefully be a little warmer.

	SWPT						Webster			SWPT						Webster
	2019						3 Mar '19			2019						3 Mar '19

1	Joe Lea	21	23	27	29	100	$110.00	1	1	Steven Yancey	27	30	29	29	115	$26.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	25	26	32	26	109	$65.00	1	2	Mike Huckaby	31	27	32	33	123	$13.00	1
3	Lee Messinger	27	29	28	26	110	$35.00	1	3	Chris Conradi	31	37	29	30	127	$13.00	1
4	Jeffrey Smith	28	28	29	27	112	$25.00		4	Ken Stanfill	32	33	31	32	128	$13.00
5	Don Parker	26	28	30	30	114	$20.00		5	Greg Simpson	34	35	29	32	130
6	Danny Tatum	28	30	29	29	116			6	Trevor Lewin	31	31	34	35	131
7	John Kropinak	30	25	30	32	117			7	Jack Ramsey	34	29	32	38	133
7	Mason Spradlin	31	24	30	32	117			8	Dwain Willett	37	36	29	36	138
9	Brice Bergesen	33	31	28	30	122			9	Mickey DeLucca	34	39	32	39	144

SWPT Opens 2019 Season in Webster

PPA winner Joe Lea and APA winner Mike Huckaby

It only feels like it has rained non-stop since the Putt Putt National Championship was held at Webster in September of last year. The 2019 season started off at Webster this Saturday and the conditions were damp but it hadn't rained much in the last 2 days and the course was playing very well. We had 10 players in each division ready to get the season started. Joe Lea started off the year with a sizzling 24 to have a 3 strike lead over a trio of players, mason Spradlin, Danny Tatum, and Jeffrey Smith. In the second round John Kropinak was the story as he shot the days low round of 22 which was only one stroke off the course record. That put him in a tie with Lea after 2 rounds at 50.Wade Sahmel was the only player within 6 strokes of the 2 leaders. Wade did his best to put some pressure on the leaders as he shot a 25 the last round. Tatum had a 25 of his own as well. Those fine rounds were good enough to get them into 3rd and 4th place respectively. Lea and Kropinak battled down to the very end with Lea scratching out a one stroke victory over Kropinak 79-80. In the first round of Match Play Geoff Mosk defeated Smith in 21 holes, Mason Spradlin defeated Kropinak, Don Parker Defeated Sahmel and Tatum defeated Messinger. In the 2nd round Parker and Mosk won their matches to secure a spot in the tour championship to be held in Lake Charles in September.

In the APA Ken Stanfill jumped out to an early lead with a 28 his 1st round.It was good enough for a 2 stroke lead over Trevor Lewin with several other players close by. In the last 2 rounds Mike Huckaby shot a 28 and a 27 to pull away from the rest of the field and shoot an 86. it was good for a 7 stoke win over Dwain Willett and 8 strokes over Chris Conradi and Ken Stanfill. In the 1st round of Match Play Willett beat Steve Yancey, Greg Simpson beat Lewin, Alan Sahmel beat Stanfill, and Delucca beat Conradi. In the matches for the spots Sahmel beat Delucca and Simpson defeated Willett.

	SWPT					Webster			SWPT					Webster
	PPA-2019					2 Mar '19			APA-2019					2 Mar '19

1	Joe Lea	24	26	29	79	$120.00	1	1	Mike Huckaby	31	28	27	86	$26.00	1
2	John Kropinak	28	22	30	80	$70.00		2	Dwain Willett	32	33	28	93	$13.00
3	Wade Sahmel	29	27	25	81	$40.00		3	Chris Conradi	33	31	30	94	$13.00
4	Danny Tatum	27	30	25	82	$30.00		3	Ken Stanfill	28	36	30	94	$13.00
5	Jeffrey Smith	27	30	27	84	$20.00		5	Greg Simpson	33	30	32	95	$13.00	1
6	Geoff Mosk	28	30	28	86		1	6	Trevor Lewin	30	36	30	96
6	Lee Messinger	30	29	27	86			7	Alan Sahmel	31	36	31	98		1
8	Don Parker	33	30	25	88		1	8	Mickey DeLucca	32	32	35	99
9	Mason Spradlin	27	30	32	89			9	Steven Yancey	38	32	31	101
10	Brice Bergesen	35	28	27	90			9	Jack Ramsey	34	34	33	101

A few Long sleeve t-shirts available for only $11 each

Another great deal, three high quality long sleeve tee shirts to chose from, all XL, all with the SWPT logo on the left breast. One in red, one in white and one in black. Only $11 each, you can pick up at the first SWPT event of the year, March 2nd at Webster. Email Brice at putterbrice@gmail.com to order.

RESERVE YOUR 2019 SWPT CAP NOW- - SIX DIFFERENT COLORS

stone khaki red blue white black

Only $11 each, very good quality, reserve yours at putterbrice@gmail.com and pick it up at the first event you play in. Hurry because quantities are limited.

Southwest Putting Tour Gear for 2019

The Southwest Putting Tour is offering a unlimited variety of gear this year. All items will be custom ordered through the Queensboro Shirt company.

The way it will work is each player wanting to buy some gear will go online to Queensboro.com and search through their online catalog. The SWPT has two logos, one with our tour logo and the other is one with your name, PPA or APA, and city. This is very similar to the exact font used on the shirts from the late 1960's throughout the 1970's, a retro look.

Once you have selected the gear you want to buy, just email the order to putterbrice@gmail.com. I will order for you and you can pay me at the next SWPT event after the the gear comes in. The tour logo can go on either sleeve or on the right breast side, The name monograms will be about 15% smaller on your shirts, these came a little large. Shirts come with one logo, if you want a second logo it is $5 extra. There is also a one time $5 charge for your name logo.

I ordered three different shirts and all seem to be of good quality and all fit about the same. The white one (#1226) had the best feel to it, seems to be of good quality and was the cheapest at about $26. The orange shirt (#1037) is the same Nike shirt we ordered back in 2010-2012, of very good quality but also the most expensive at $49 a shirt. The teal and green shirts ((#1254) seem to also be quality shirts, had the least soft feel of the three and sell for about ($28). There are many, many differnt shirts in the online catalog, browse around. Queensboro has all sorts of sales and hopefully we can take advantage of them. Any money saved through a Queensboro special will go into the SWPT fund.

I have already taken advantage of one of their specials by buying ordering a dozen caps with the tour logo on them and in six different colors. These will sell for $10 apiece and will be available at the first tournaments at Webster, if all the locals do not buy them all up first.

We have shown the SWPT has the best players (National champs in 2014,2015 and 2018), lets show everyone we can dress the best.

PPA & APA Anounces Location of the 2019 Nationals Week:

Kingsport, Tn

The 60th annual PPA National Championship will be played the week of September 16-20, 2019 in Kingsport, TN.

he success of the 2018 TPC in Kingsport, the overwhelming positive reaction from those players who participated and the hospitality provided by facility owner Dan Estes and his staff are some of reasons members of the PPA committee selected Kingsport to host the 60th annual event. Rainey Statum will be on hand to defend his national championship title.

“There will be 5 days of events and celebrations as we celebrate this momentous occasion”, PPA Commissioner Joe Aboid said.

Estes looks forward to hosting this year’s event. “We loved having the TPC in Kingsport last year," Estes said. "We are glad that the players who played in 2018 had such a good time and enjoyed the course, and that we were selected to host the PPA’s most prestigious event. This is a tremendous honor, one we do not take lightly."

"We know how to host large events, having been host to many events in Kingsport that have more than 1,200 participants," Estes said. "We know the PPA players will enjoy our facility and enjoy the southern hospitality. I look forward to seeing the players again and welcoming them back”.

Tournaments and events for the week of the Nationals will be announced in January.

Don Parker Defeats Reigning National Champion to Capture SWPT PPA Championship
Greg Everly Wins APA Title to Complete his Year of Domination

On Sunday September 30th the Southwest Putting Tour players gathered for the final time as we played our tour championship consisting of 36 hole matches. There are no easy matches at the tour championship. And as has happened most of the year, the first round was interrupted by a thunderstorm that popped up out of nowhere. It soaked the course in caused a considerable delay. Once the course was cleared of any puddles, play continued and there were no further delays. Brice Bergesen, who given his recent outstanding play, had to be considered a favorite to win, fell to Tom Adair in round one 3-2. Bergesen was heard saying that Adair played great and there wasn’t much he could have done better. In what most thought at the time was an upset, Don Parker dispatched 2014 National Championship Jeffrey Smith 7-6. Other winners were Lee Messinger 4-3, Groff on the 2nd hole of SD, Danny Tatum 1up, Joe Lea 1up, and Statum 2up. In the round of eight, the great shooting continued as Matthews defeated Adair 6-5, Parker defeated Player of the Year Messinger 3-2, Groff defeated Tatum 1up, and Statum defeated 2015 national champion and two-time tour champion on this course Joe Lea 3-2. In the Semi Finals match, Parker and Statum stepped up their game to another level as they easily won their matches 4-3 and 6-5 respectively. In the Tour Finals, Parker came out hotter than a depot stove by making 10 of his first 13 holes. He was able to build up his lead to as many as six holes. But Statum being the great putter and true champion he is did not quit and mounted a furious comeback. He cut the lead to two on the back nine as the two players traded aces and covers. Going into hole 17, Statum was down one and putting first. His putt was just a bit off and he took a two. Parker could win the Tour Championship with an ace. His putt was also just barely off and we went to hole 18. Statum made hole 18 to put the pressure on Parker who had another chance to win with an ace. This time Parkers putt was just a hair off to the right and the match would go to sudden death. Statum hit a pretty putt on hole one, but it was just a hair firm and caught the right lip. For the 3rd hole in a row Parker had a chance to ace for the win. This time he would not be denied as his ball found the bottom of the cup. Parker became the 7th different player in the last seven years to win the tour championship. This was Parkers first tour championship and had the most difficult path anyone could remember. He had to defeat three different national champions and a multiple time tour champion to get the victory.

PPA PLAYOFF 2018	SWPT-LONGVIEW TEXAS	RESULT
	30 September 2018

Round of 16	Tom Adair d Brice Bergesen	3 and 2
	Cliff Matthews d Jody Kimble 4 and 2
	Lee Messinger d Matt Bellner	4 and 3
	Don Parker d Jeffrey Smith	7 and 6
	Geoff Mosk d John Kropinak	37 holes
	Danny Tatum d Mason Spradlin	1 up
	Joe Lea d Jeff McDonald	1 up
	Rainey Statum d Wade Sahmel	2 up

Round of 8	Cliff Matthews d Tom Adair	6 and 5
	Don Parker d Lee Messinger	3 and 2
	Geoff Mosk d Danny Tatum	1 up
	Rainey Statum d Joe Lea	3 and 2

Semi Finals	Don Parker d Cliff Matthews	4 and 3
	Rainey Statum d Geoff Mosk	6 and 5

Finals	Don Parker d Rainey Statum	37 holes

In the APA we had 14 players going for the Tour Champion title. By virtue of their player of the year points Nationals runner up Greg Everly and Nationals Doubles Champion Steve Yancey each had a bye and were advanced to the quarter finals. The best match of the day was played in the first round between Gary Plain and Yancey's Nationals Doubles Partner, Trevor Lewin. Lewin was 5 down going into hole 15 with just 10 holes to go. He then made 7 in a row to pull into a tie with Plain. When Lewin made hole 9 on the 3rd hole of sudden death it appeared he had won the match. But Plain topped him and we headed to the 4th hole of sudden death. Lewin barely missed his putt. Playing a z shot, Plain's ball hit the hole, then the back rail, then the front of the cup, before plopping into the hole for the win. It was a great match and had virtually all of the players watching the finish as all had either finished their match or were waiting to play. Other winners in the round of 16 were Mike Huckaby 5-4, Dwain Willett 1up, Chris Conradi 6-5, Scott Myers 1up, and defending champ Greg Simpson 2-1. There was some good play but not any real close matches in the round of 8 as the winners were now just two matches away from the title. Everly beat Huckaby 3-2. Plain used up his aces to beat Lewin and fell to Willett 4-3. Former TV contestant Chris Conradi beat player of the year runner up Yancey 6-4. Defending champ Simpson beat Scott Myers 7-5. In the Semi Finals, the favorite all year long, Everly was able to beat Willett, who won an APA title on this course back in 1989, 3-2 to advance to the finals for the second year in a row. He would face either Conradi or Simpson, who defeated him the previous year in the finals at Webster. It was not to be for the defending tour and Louisiana State champion Simpson this year as Conradi was able to squeeze out a 2-1 victory. In the finals Everly had too much game for Conradi and he claimed his 1st APA Tour championship. Welcome to the Pro Division and congratulations on your Victory Mr. Everly!

APA PLAYOFF	SWPT-LONGVIEW TX
	'30 September 2018
Round of 16	Greg Everly	Bye
	Mike Huckaby d Jason Sheffield	5 and 4
	Dwain Willett d Robert Martin	1 up
	Gary Plain d Trevor Lewin	40 holes
	Steven Yancey	Bye
	Chris Conradi d Jack Ramsey	6 and 5
	Scott Myers d Bryan Gentry	1 up
	Greg Simpson d Ken Stanfill	2 and 1

Round of 8	Greg Everly d Mike Huckaby	5 and 4
	Dwain Willett d Gary Plain	4 and 3
	Chris Conradi d Steven Yancey	6 and 4
	Greg Simpson d Scott Myers	7 and 5

Semi Finals	Greg Everly d Dwain Willett	3 and 2
	Chris Conradi d Greg Simpson	2 and 1

Finals	Greg Everly d Chris Conradi	3 and 2

Matthews Remains Perfect: 3 Starts, 3 Wins

For a change there was great weather on Friday and Saturday as players ventured to Longview, Texas for the last tournament of the year and the tour championship. All of the top players came out to compete, so the competition was stiff. There were four different players with a total of five National Championships and two hall of Famers in the field.

In the Pro division, Brice Bergesen came out on fire as he continued where he left off at Nationals just a few weeks ago, shooting a low round score of 23. Bergesen had a three stroke lead over John Kropinak and National Champion Rainey Statum. Three other players were under 30, but after one round it appeared as though Bergesen was on his way to yet another SWPT Victory. But that would not be the case as two time National Champion Cliff Matthews matched Bergesen’s 1^st round with a 23 of his own in round two. Bergesen still had a two stroke lead over Matthews going into the 3^rd round. Statum was still in contention, just four strokes back. In the last round, Geoff Mosk shot a 25 and had hopes he would be able to catch the leaders but it was not to be. Matthews also shot a 25 and Bergesen a 27 for both of them to finish at 76. In the playoff, Matthews was just too much as he won the last event of the year. Other players finishing in the money were Mosk, Statum, Lee Messinger, Don Parker, Wade Sahmel, and Mason Spradlin.

In the APA National champion runner up Greg Everly and defending tour champion Greg Simpson came out hot shooting 27s. The only other player under 30 was Mick Huckaby who was just one stroke back. Round two saw Everly take the lead on his own by shooting another 27 to take a two stroke lead of Simpson, who continued his good play with a 29. Huckaby fell to five strokes back as it appeared to be a 2 man race. Always tough Bryan Gentry was the only player to shoot under 30 the last round with a 28. Longview can be a tough course and it is tough to put together three good rounds. Gentry’s 28 brought him in at 90 but it was not enough to catch Everly who won his last tournament as an APA player shooting a fine score of 87. Other players finishing in the money were Huckaby, Simpson, Steven Yancey, Chris Conradi, and Jason Sheffield.

For only the 3^rd time in the last 20 years, the Codgers did not win the team championship. The team of Brice Bergesen, Geoff Mosk, Joe Lea, and Greg Everly shot a score of 240 to beat the Codgers (Jeffrey Smith, Wade Sahmel, Cliff Matthews, and Mike Huckaby) who shot a 244.

In the Pro Am the team of Brice Bergesen and Jason Sheffield came out hot with a 1^st round 22. Not to be out done, the team of Rainey Statum and Steven Yancey shot a 20 in round two to take a 44-46 lead over the Bergesen-Sheffield team. Statum and Yancey shot a 22 the last round to complete their three rounds at 66, an amazing score for three rounds on the Longview course, even for best ball. Congrats to all the champions!

	SWPT 2018					Long			SWPT 2018					Long
	PPA					29Sept			APA					29Sept

1	Cliff Matthews	28	23	25	76	$170.00		1	Greg Everly	27	27	31	87	$36.00
2	Brice Bergesen	23	26	27	76	$110.00		2	Bryan Gentry	30	32	28	90	$18.00
3	Geoff Mosk	29	27	25	81	$75.00		3	Mike Huckaby	28	31	32	91	$18.00
4	Rainey Statum	26	27	30	83	$60.00		3	Greg Simpson	27	29	35	91	$18.00
5	Lee Messinger	30	29	25	84	$30.00		5	Steven Yancey	33	29	31	93	$18.00
5	Don Parker	29	28	27	84	$30.00		6	Chris Conradi	31	35	31	97	$18.00
5	Wade Sahmel	30	27	27	84	$30.00		7	Jason Sheffield	33	31	34	98	$18.00
8	Mason Spradlin	30	29	26	85	$10.00		8	Dwain Willett	31	36	34	101
9	Joe Lea	31	29	27	87			8	Trevor Lewin	36	32	33	101
9	Jeffrey Smith	31	29	27	87			8	Scott Myers	37	31	33	101
11	Danny Tatum	30	29	29	88		2	11	Ken Stanfill	35	39	36	110
12	Jeff McDonald	31	27	31	89		3	12	Jack Ramsey	40	32	42	114
13	Jody Kimble	30	31	30	91			13	Robert Martin	44	36	38	118
14	John Kropinak	26	34	34	94
14	Tom Adair	32	30	32	94
16	Matt Bellner	31	32	33	96		1

SWPT Has Impressive Showing at Nationals

Southwest Putting Tour took home most of the glass trophies. Swept the doubles (4 trophies), APA in Western Open, both PPA and APA in Seniors, winner and runner up in PPA championship, and runner up in APA championship. That is 10 out of a possible 12 glass awards that are staying in Texas, with nine different players getting a coveted glass award. It is safe to say that as a group, the tour kicked everyone butt. It was really fun to watch.

PPA National Champion - Rainey Statum
PPA National Runner Up - Brice Bergesen
PPA Seniors National Champion - Brice Bergesen
PPA Doubles Chamions - Jeffrey Smith & Wade Sahmel

APA National Runner Up - Greg Everly
APA National Seniors Champion - Alan Sahmel
APA National Doubles Chamionship - Steven Yancey & Trevor Lewin
APA Western Open - Jason Sheffield

Statum and Trent Tune Up for Nationals Week

The SWPT hosted a warm up event for nationals on 9/7. 19 Pros and 11 Amateurs played while some others practiced on the course the tournament was not currently being played on. Monte Snyder and Rainey Statum came out of the gate hot with opening round 25s. Nine other players were also under 30 on Course 1 after round one that also saw a rain delay in the middle of the round. With the rain came higher scores, but as would be a sign of things to come, Statum adjusted well to the conditions and held a 2 stroke lead over Brice Bergesen after two rounds at 54. For round three, the players switched to the normal tournament course. Again with the wet conditions only seven players were able to break 30. Bergesen shot a 27 and found himself in the lead at 83. Statum was the only player within 2 strokes of Bergesen, who since switching to the claw grip has been nearly unstoppable. However, stumbled down the stretch and Statum was able to overtake him and finish with a four round score of 112. In second, was Jeff Garrison who shot a 56 his last two rounds to come in at 113. It was a great warm up for the national tournaments that would start in just three days.

In the APA 33 was as low as anyone could go in round one. There were three scores in the 40s showing how difficult the course can play. Rodney Ashley and Todd Trent felt fortunate to be leading after one round. In round two, Greg Everly had the only sub 30 round in the APA with a 29 that brought him to a a tie with Bryan Gentry at 63 after two rounds. As the players switched to course 2, Everly was again the only player to break 30. He now had a two stroke lead over Todd Trent as he was in at 91 for three rounds. As in the pros, the leader had a difficult last round and finished at 125. Trent saw his opportunity playing a few groups behind Everly and had his best round of the day, at 29 to finish at 122 and win the warm up event. Even though there was a rain delay this was a great warm up for all who played as we get ready for nationals in just a few days.

	SWPT 2018						Web
	PPA						7Sept

1	Rainey Statum	25	29	31	27	112	$180.00	1
2	Jeff Garrison	27	30	29	27	113	$120.00
3	Brice Bergesen	28	28	27	31	114	$80.00
3	Wade Sahmel	28	29	30	27	114	$80.00	1
5	Joe Lea	28	30	29	28	115	$50.00
6	Lee Messinger	27	29	33	27	116	$40.00
7	John Kropinak	28	31	28	30	117	$25.00
7	Mike Flavin	31	27	31	28	117	$25.00
7	Jay Klapper	30	31	30	26	117	$25.00
10	Monte Synder	25	33	30	30	118	$15.00
11	Jody Kimble	31	27	29	32	119	$10.00
12	Geoff Mosk	31	31	29	29	120
12	Zack Martin	29	30	31	30	120
12	Randy Reeves	33	32	27	28	120
15	Jeffrey Smith	26	36	33	29	124
16	Jeff McDonald	28	32	36	30	126		1
16	Jeff Studer	31	30	32	33	126
16	Brad Lebo	32	32	30	32	126
19	John Wilder	37	34	33	28	132

	SWPT 2018						Web
	APA						7Aug

1	Todd Trent	33	30	30	29	122	$36.00
2	Greg Everly	34	29	28	34	125	$18.00
3	Chris Conradi	34	32	36	28	130	$18.00
4	Dwain Willett	37	33	31	30	131	$18.00
4	Alan Sahmel	38	33	30	30	131	$18.00
6	Rodney Ashley	33	36	31	32	132
7	Bryan Gentry	40	35	34	30	139
8	Mike Huckaby	42	35	32	31	140
9	Jack Ramsey	36	41	35	31	143		1
10	Trevor Lewin	36	37	33	39	145		1

Brice Wins "The Brice"

Brice and Dwain show the claw grip which they both went to just a month earlier

Day one

Twenty three players came out to play in the inaugural “The Brice” tournament at Webster. It was plenty warm, but with Nationals just two weeks away, it was a great tune up for the year’s biggest event. It is also a way to Honor Brice Bergesen, one of the legends of not only our Tour but all of Putt Putt. I, Geoff Mosk, am personally thankful for all that Brice has done for the Game. Most of my best friends in life have been found at Putt Putt. If not for him running the weekly tournaments at Gulf Freeway, most of us would not have found this great game and met many great people. We should not wait until someone is gone to honor them. I’m glad that I had a little bit to do with honoring Brice this weekend.

Bergesen had the honor of going first and he not only went first, he came out of the gate with the low 1^st round score of 26. Only 3 players that were able to break 30 the 1^st round and the course was playing tougher than most expected. Rainey Statum was in second place with a 27 and Mason Spradlin was three strokes back at 29. Bergesen continued to lead the event named after him with another outstanding score of 27 as he built up his lead to five strokes after just two rounds over Statum and Lee Messinger. Always tough to beat at Webster, Wade Sahmel, was six strokes back at 59 as we only had 4 players under 60 after two rounds. Sahmel had the low round of the day, an outstanding 24. to take a one stroke lead over Bergesen as those two separated themselves from the pack a bit. Joe Lea was five back at 88. Statum and Geoff Mosk were six back at 89. In the last round most of the players were gassed playing with a heat index of well over 100 degrees. Still Bergesen finished strong with a 28 and was the day one leader at 112. Statum closed even stronger with a 26 to be at 115. Sahmel stumbled to a 34 but was still in third at 117. Four more players were within nine strokes and hoping to make up some ground as we switched to course one on day two.

In the APA Todd Trent and Greg Simpson were the first round leaders with 31’s, with most other players staying close as well. Dwain Willett toed the APA low round of the day with a 26 in round two and pulled into the lead with a 60. Six other players, including Simpson at 61 and Trent at 63, were within nine strokes. Trent shot a 26 of his own in the third round to take the lead. He was the only APA player to shoot below 30 in the third round. The heat was becoming a factor for many of the players. In the last round no player was able to break 30 and some had their worst rounds of the day. When the smoke had cleared, local player and an original Gulf Freeway player, Willett was in at 122 and had a one stroke lead over Trent who had flown in for the tournament. Simpson and Steve Willman were within striking distance at 130.

Day two

The tournament started at 10am on day two and it was already steaming hot on the course. The humidity was almost 100% and sweat was pouring from most players bodies. It should be noted that the leaders in both divisions had switched to the claw grip. Statum showed Bergesen the Claw grip and he has seen a noticeable improvement in his stroke and accuracy as a result. Willett switched more recently and he is seeing noticeable results as well.

Now playing on what is referred to as the customer course because you have to walk by hole one on course one to get to hole one on course two, resulting in 80% of customers playing course one. Everyone was not only looking to make a move, but to get practice on a course that is not normally played in tournaments. Statum came out hot with a 27 that put him tied for the lead with Bergesen at 142. Sahmel was hanging close at 146, along with Messinger. Mosk had closed to within fivr strokes at 147, while Joe Lea had the low score of the round with a 26 to get within six of the lead with three rounds to go. Bergesen continued to struggle in round six with a 32. The course can give up low scores but can also go dry on you and that happened to several players. It did not happen to Statum or Sahmel as they both shot 27s and were now in first and second place at 169 and 173 with just two rounds to go. No one else was within eight strokes and it appeared to be a three man race between three local players. Bergesen, being the champion he is, got it going in round seven with a 27 and had pulled within one of Statum who was at 200. Sahmel was just 2 strokes back at 202. Mosk and Messinger were at 206 hoping to make a run the last round. In the final round, Mosk was one over after six holes and was essentially done. Messinger shot a 13 on the front and thought he might have a chance going into the back nine. None of the leaders was able to have a good front with Bergesen two under, Statum even, and Sahmel over par. Messinger shot another 13 on the back to close with a strong 26 while he waited on the leaders to finish. Sahmel finished with a 13 on the back, but came up two strokes short of tying Messinger. Statum shot a 15 on the back to come up one stroke short of the clubhouse lead. With one hole to play, Bergesen needed an ace to tie Messinger. In a similar situation back in March, he needed an ace on 18 to win and instead took a 3 to lose in a playoff. On this day his new stroke was true and his putt found the bottom of the cup setting up an 18 hole playoff. In the playoff, Messinger had two bogey strokes before making an ace on hole four. He also made the next three holes to go from two down to pull back into a tie with Bergesen with nine holes to play. On Hole 14, Bergesen made his ace, and when Messinger pushed his put a hair and hit the right triangle resulting in a bogey, he had built up a three stroke lead with four holes to go. But Messinger is one of the top players in SWPT history and would not go away. He made the final four holes, leaving Begesen with a chance to win with an ace on 18. His putt caught the lip and we were headed to sudden death. Bother players missed hole 1 and Lee went down the back hill on 2 but made his deuce putt. Bergesen with his third hole in a row where an ace could get him the win, played it out of tee dot 7 and hit slight pull that lined up perfectly. The playoff win for Brice ended a string of nine playoff losses in a row, dating back to 2010. Fittingly, Brice was the very first winner of “The Brice” and it was his second win in row.

In the APA division, there were only two scores below 30 posted all day. As Robert Johnson stated, there are many places that over strokes can be taken. It is very difficult to get thru an entire round without a bogey. Dwain Willett started off with a solid score of 30 and after five rounds had built his lead up to seven strokes over Todd Trent. Steve Willman was the only player that was still within nine strokes of the lead. Willett was solid again in round six with a 31. With Trent finding the bogey monster, the lead was now up to 13 over Trent and Greg Simpson. Willett finished with scores of 31 and 30 and he was never challenged. He finished with a fine score of 244 for eight rounds. The battle for 2^nd was tight the last two rounds. Trent was able to hold off Bryan Gentry, Steven Yancey, Alan Sahmel, and Greg Simpson for second place while those other players were able to finish in the top six and earn reimbursement money for their efforts.

Overall this was a great tune up for Nationals. Those in attendance know what they need to work on and hopefully a good time was had by all. We look forward to seeing all of our friends from the SWPT and the National players here in 2 weeks!

	SWPT 2018
	PPA

1	Brice Bergesen	26	27	31	28	30	32	27	31	232	$310.00
2	Lee Messinger	30	28	32	29	27	31	29	26	232	$210.00
3	Rainey Statum	27	31	31	26	27	27	31	33	233	$160.00	1
4	Wade Sahmel	30	29	24	34	29	27	29	32	234	$70.00	1
5	Geoff Mosk	30	31	28	30	28	30	29	34	240	$45.00
5	Mason Spradlin	29	35	27	27	31	31	28	32	240	$45.00
7	Joe Lea	30	32	26	34	26	34	29	30	241	$20.00
8	Robert Johnson	31	33	29	33	30	30	31	30	247
9	Don Parker	31	31	30	29	30	36	30	31	248
10	Jeffrey Smith	31	29	30	32	31	33	33	31	250
11	Danny Tatum	30	33	29	38	31	33	31	34	259
12	Byron Kirby	36	29	41	33	33	32	29	32	265


	SWPT 2018
	APA

1	Dwain Willett	34	26	32	30	30	31	31	30	244	$72.00	1
2	Todd Trent	31	32	26	34	34	39	32	34	262	$36.00
3	Bryan Gentry	35	36	30	30	35	32	35	31	264	$36.00
4	Steven Yancey	33	33	35	31	34	31	33	35	265	$36.00
4	Alan Sahmel	33	32	35	35	29	34	29	38	265	$36.00	1
6	Greg Simpson	31	31	30	38	35	31	37	33	266	$36.00
7	Ken Stanfill	37	32	31	36	31	34	35	32	268
8	Steve Willmann	33	32	34	31	31	36	35	41	273
9	Chris Conradi	39	37	36	33	35	31	33	37	281
10	Jack Ramsey	39	42	30	32	39	34	34	32	282
11	Mickey DeLucca	38	33	40	36	41	47	35	32	302

Bergesen Goes Wire to Wire in Longview

PPA
The constant rain the players faced on Sunday at Longview created much higher scores for most players. Jeffrey Smith won on Saturday with a average score of 25.3 but averaged 31.75 on Sunday. The notable exception to that rule was Brice Bergesen, who possibly inspired by Smith's first win of the season on Saturday, shot a 27 for a one shot lead over his nemesis at Longview, Geoffrey Mosk. Tom Adair was in third place at 29. As the rain intensified, hard enough to soak everyone, but not hard enough to call the players in, Bergesen added a 29 for a 57 and was surprised to see his 56 gave him a 5-shot lead over Mosk and Joe Lea. The rain slacked up the rest of the tournament and when Bergesen shot a third round 31, he was again surprised to see his lead up to six shots over Mosk and seven over Lee Messinger. Mosk was in the group right behind Bergesen and when in the final round Mosk made 4 of his first 5 holes and Bergesen was one over par through six holes, the lead was down to a single shot. Bergesen played five under after hole six for a 32 and a 119, and Mosk never could quite tie for the lead and his 29 and 122 was three shots off the pace at the end. Messinger again finished third at 124. It was a wet weekend but the monkey was off both Jeffrey Smith's and Brice Bergesen's back with solid wins. The SWPT final spot went to Matt Bellner.

APA
The APA players had a little more trouble with the rain than the PPA players, as no one averaged 32 per round. Gary Plain was the first round leader with the tied low APA score of the day, a 30, and he lead Chris Conradi and Ken Stanfill by one. Plain shot one over his second round but still retained a share of the lead, along with Stanfill and Conradi at 67. Saturday's winner Scott Myers was only two back and Saturday's runner-up Steven Yancey was only one back. Yancey shot a third round 31 to shoot 99 and take a 2-shot lead over Plain at 101 and Conradi at 102. He stayed hot and closed the door in the fourth round with a day low 30 of his own for a 129 total over Conradi, who also shot a final round 30. Myers and Plain tied for third at 135. Jack Ramsey got the SWPT spot.

Jeffrey Smith Uses 2nd rd 23 to Coast to a W

The rain gods came to Longview both days of the SWPT weekend. On Saturday torrential rains came early in the morning and thankfully let up in time for the carpets to not have puddles on them. Sunday was a different story as it started to rain about tee off time and continued until play in the third of the four rounds. At least the rain kept the temperatures down, but scores were up as the pros shot an average of 2.5 strokes per game higher on Sunday.

PPA
Jeffrey Smith and Brice Bergesen are number 1 and 3 in total Southwest Putting Tour wins, yet after 20 events in the 2018 season, neither player had a victory. Both players feel Longview is the best true putting test of the courses we play. so both were determined to do their best to get a win this weekend. Smith came out smoking with a first round 25 to lead playing partner and defending champ Jody Kimble by one shot and 2015 National Champ Joe Lea and Don Parker by three shots. The battle between Smith and the rest of the field ended on the front nine the second round as Jeffrey shot a 10 and Jody a 20, then Jeffrey added a 13 on the back for a 23 and a 48 total, an all time low score for two rounds at Longview. Only Lea's 25, to put him at 53, kept Smith from having a 7-shot lead over Lee Messinger at 55. He shot a 28 his final round, truly a walk in the park if there ever was one, to shoot a record low 76 for 54 holes. Lea hung on eight shots back at 84 for second and Messinger was third at 86. The SWPT final spots went to Jim Palisano and Matt Bellner.

APA

In the APA, Scott Myers was the first round leader with a 31, two shots ahead of Chris Conradi with Gary Plain the only other player under par at 35. Myers continued his steady play of never getting into trouble with a second round 33 to be at 64, with Plain two back at 66 and Conradi three back at 67. Myers played another steady round with a final round 31 for a 95 and a win over very hard charging Steven Yancey, who started the tournament with a front nine 23 and finished the tournament with a 27 and a 97, the only APA score under 30 on the weekend. Plain hung on for third at 99. The SWPT spots went to Myers, Plain and Ken Stanfill.

Cliff Matthews Wins Mike Baldoza Texas Open

23 players participated in the Mike Baldoza Texas Open July 28^th and 29^th at the Putt Putt Course in Tyler. Temperatures were expected to be at or near 100 degrees, but an unexpected light rain in the early morning hours kept it to a more bearable 93 degrees on Saturday. The Tyler course has some hole that you will not find anywhere else, like the famous Gator Hole, and is always a fun course to play. On Day 1 every player had at least one round of 30 or more on the difficult course. In the PPA first round, 2 time National Champion and Hall of Famer Cliff Matthews had a 28 to take a one stroke lead over Wade Sahmel, Mason Spradlin, Rainey Statum, and Lee Messinger. In round two, Matthews extended his lead to two strokes but all but one was still within six strokes of the lead. As happens to everyone at some point, Matthews had a 32 in round three and the field tightened. It was clear that no one would be able to run away in this event, which is normal for tournaments at Tyler as it is always very close. At the end of day 1 Spradlin had carved out a one stroke lead at 116 with seven other players within three strokes of the lead. Everyone knew it was going to come down to the last round on day two to determine a champion.

In the APA division Greg Everly looked to win Back to Back Texas Opens and he came out hot. Everly and Ken Stanfill both shot opening rounds of 28 to be the first round co-leaders with Chris Conradi only one stroke back. In round two, no player was able to break 30 as Everly took a rather commanding lead. In second place was Stanfill at 62 and in third, and making his first appearance in many years, was James Kile in at 63. In rounds three and four Gary Plain, who is always tough on his home course, shot two 29’s to gain a stoke on Everly and to be in second place. Everly ended the day at 117, which was only one stroke off the lead in the pro division. It had become a two man race.

That night 17 of the players and wives went to KAWAS and enjoyed dinner together. It has been said many times that some of the best parts of Putt Putt is the time you spend away from the course with the great friends you make. A great time was had by all and this has the potential to become a Tyler Tradition.

Day 2 of the Mike Baldoza Texas Open started at 10am and it was a hot and sticky morning. Most players expected the scores to be lower on day two and they would be right. Spradlin and Matthews came out hot with 27s but the low round went to local Pro Tom Adair who shot a 26 to get back into the hunt. Jody Kimble and Rainey Statum stayed close as well with 28s of their own. Lee Messinger was also within striking distance after shooting a 29. In the sixth round, Kimble shot the low round of the tournament with a 25 as he and Matthews took the lead at 172. Spradlinw as just two strokes back at 174. Wade Sahmel was still only five strokes back but was running out of time. Sahmel showed what a tough player he is and fired a 28 and 27 his last two rounds. That would be good enough to make up the five strokes on most players at Tyler but came up just a bit shy on this day. Kimble went 31-27 his last two rounds to finish Sunday with a score of 111 which was five strokes better than anyone shot on Saturday. His eight round total of 230, finished one behind Matthews, who was one of only two players to have all of his rounds in the 20s for the dat. Matthews shot rounds of 27-28-29-28 on day 2 for a total of 112 and a one stroke victory. Congratulations to 2018 Mike Baldoza Texas open Champion Cliff Matthews!

In the APA Division, Everly started where he left off and shot a 28 his opening round. Scott Myers, who was a bit disappointed with his play on Saturday, had the APA low round of the weekend with a 26 to start the day. Everly had a nine stoke lead and also had his eyes on the Trophy given to the overall winner of the Mike Baldoza Texas Open. He was only one back of Matthews overall after five rounds. The temperature got hotter and Everly cooled off a bit shooting 32-31-28 his last three rounds, but he was never seriously challenged as no one was able to get within seven strokes of him for the APA lead. Gary Plain had solid rounds of 30-30-31-30 on day two to claim second place at 245. In third was Ken Stanfill with a solid score of 250. Also finishing in the money were Steven Yancey, Chris Conradi, and Scott Myers.

	2018 Texas Open
	Tyler, Tx
	PPA	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	Cliff Matthews	28	27	32	30	27	28	29	28	229	$310
2	Jody Kimble	30	28	31	30	28	25	31	27	230	$240
3	Wade Sahmel	29	31	27	31	29	29	28	27	231	$160
4	Mason Spradlin	29	30	29	28	27	31	31	28	233	$70
5	Jeffrey Smith	31	26	30	32	30	28	30	28	235	$50
6	Rainey Statum	29	28	32	30	28	28	29	32	236	$40
7	Lee Messinger	29	28	31	29	29	32	30	29	237	$20
8	Tom Adair	33	27	30	32	26	29	30	31	238
9	Brice Bergesen	30	30	26	31	32	31	30	29	239
10	Geoff Mosk	32	29	29	33	32	29	28	30	242
11	Don Parker	30	29	32	33	32	33	29	29	247
12	Matt Bellner	33	31	32	30	34	35	32	29	256

	APA	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	Greg Everly	28	30	28	31	28	32	31	28	236	$72
2	Gary Plain	32	34	29	29	30	30	31	30	245	$36
3	Ken Stanfill	28	34	34	30	32	32	28	32	250	$36
4	Steven Yancy	30	34	33	30	34	28	31	31	251	$36
5	Chris Conradi	29	37	34	32	33	31	28	29	253	$36
6	Scott Myers	34	32	35	36	26	28	31	34	256	$36
7	Mike Huckaby	31	33	32	33	34	32	32	32	259
8	James Kile	33	30	37	37	32	30	32	32	263
9	Trevor Lewin	37	38	32	35	31	33	30	32	268
10	Mickey DeLucca	37	39	34	35	36	35	31	33	280
11	Jack Ramsey	38	39	37	35	36	36	33	35	289

Mosk has a Record Day en Route to

Louisiana State Championship

Day 1

A warm and muggy morning greeted the 22 players who came out to the beautiful Lake Charles Putt Putt course to compete in the Louisiana State Championship. The course is always in great shape and is a good test of putting skill.

Geoff Mosk came out of the gates as hot as you can by making the first 12 holes, shooting the first perfect nine of his career, in route to a 23 that was good enough for a one stroke lead over Joe Lea. Jeffrey Smith was just two back on the course he won the 2014 National Championship on at 25. Five more players were in at 26. In round two, Lea and Mosk separated themselves from the rest of the field to be in at 47 and 48 respectfully, except for Rudy Cuellar, who shot the day's low round of 23 to also be in at 48. As the day wore on the weather got hotter and the carpet started to fluff causing shots that went in earlier in the day to come up short. No player was able to shoot lower than 26 and five were not able to break 30. Lea continued to lead at 74 with Cuellar one back at 75, followed by Mosk four back at 78, and Smith in at 79. The struggles continued in the last round but the players did adjust somewhat. Wade Sahmel had the low round with a 25 to pull into a tie for 4th at 109 with Cuellar. Smith was in 3rd at 105, Mosk in 2nd at 104, and Lea the leader after day one at 102.

In the APA Greg Simpson was also able to shoot a perfect 9 to start the tournament on his was to a 1st round lead with a 24. Local player Charles Tarbell was in second with a fine score of 26. In 3rd was last years winner of the AL Terry Simpson with a 28. In round two, it was Sharkey Cox who got hot and shot a 24 of his own. This pulled him into a tie for second place with Tarbell at 54, just two strokes behind the defending tour champion Greg Simpson. Terry Simpson was just three5strokes back at 55. As these four players distances themselves from the field. In the last two rounds, they all remained close. Greg Simpson was able to keep the lead for all of day one, finishing at 109. This was good for a three stroke lead over Cox, Terry Simpson, and Tarbell who were all tied at 112. It will be a tight race that will likely come down to the last round to see which of these players will bring home the title of 2018 APA Louisiana State Championship.

Day 2

The players for day two of the Louisiana State Championship were happy to start at 10 so they could be finished before it got too hot. In the Pro division ,Joe Lea and Geoff Mosk picked up where they left off by shooting a 12 and 11 on the front respectfully. Lea cooled off on the back but Mosk stayed hot to shoot the low score of the round, a 24, which would be the worst round of the day for him. Lea was just three strokes back at 131. Jeffrey Smith was still close at 134 with Wade Sahmel closing with a 10 on the back 9 to be in fourth at 135. Sahmel continued his hot shooting by shooting a 10 on the front nine and a 22 for the round his second round and he lost 2 strokes on the leader! Lea and Smith also had good second rounds with each shooting a 25 but the story of the round was “Groff,” who shot a 10-10 for a 20 and an eight stroke lead. Mosk continued his hot shooting with a third straight 10 on his was to a 23 in round three. Lea, Smith, and Sahmel all continued their great play shooting 25, 25, and 26 respectively. The last round had Mosk walking the proverbial dog but he stayed hot shooting another 23 for a four round score of 90 and an 8 round score of 194. Lea had the low score of the last round with an outstanding 22 to secure second place at 203. Smith shot 74 his last 3 rounds to finish in 3rd at 208. Sahmel rounded out the top four at 112. Also finishing in the Money were defending Champ Danny Tatum at 227, and in a 228 were Lee Messinger, Rudy Cuellar, and Robert Cook. It should be noted that Cook improved by 14 strokes from his Day 1 score.

The four round score of 90 that Mosk shot was the lowest score anyone could remember on the SWPT, and his final three round score of 66 is also the lowest anyone could recall. It was definitely a day Mosk will not forget.

In the APA it was a tight race that would go right down to the wire. Day 1 leader Greg Simpson extended his lead to five over Sharkey Cox with a first round 28. Chris Conradi also fired a first round 28. Terry Simpson and Charles Tarbell fell to eight strokes off the pace. In round two, almost on queue, Cox shoots a 25 to pull within two strokes of Simpson. No one else was closer than 12 strokes of the lead as Simpson and Cox separated themselves from the field. Simpson and Cox both shot solid 30s in round seven to stay just two strokes of each other. A shootout loomed for round eight and that is exactly what we got. Both players had solid 14s on the front nine. If Simpson could shoot another 14 it would be very difficult for Cox to catch him. He did 1 better with a 13 to finish with a 27 and an 8 round total of 222. But Cox showed why he is one of the top APA players of all time at the Lake Charles course, making the final hole and closing with an 11 to tie Simpson at 222. In the playoff Simpson was able to outlast Cox to win by one and claim the 2018 APA Louisiana State Championship.

	SWPT 2018										LSC
	PPA										14/15July

1	Geoff Mosk	23	25	30	26	24	20	23	23	194	$310.00
2	Joe Lea	24	23	27	28	29	25	25	22	203	$200.00
3	Jeffrey Smith	25	28	26	26	29	25	25	24	208	$160.00
4	Wade Sahmel	26	29	29	25	26	22	27	28	212	$70.00	1
5	Danny Tatum	26	29	28	33	26	30	28	27	227	$50.00	1
6	Lee Messinger	30	27	32	27	27	27	29	29	228	$20.00
6	Robert Cook	26	31	30	34	28	23	26	30	228	$20.00	1
6	Rudy Cuellar	26	22	27	34	34	30	26	29	228	$20.00	1
9	Byron Kirby	31	29	29	30	25	25	27	33	229
10	Don Parker	27	30	29	31	25	26	33	29	230
11	Brice Bergesen	29	28	33	29	29	32	28	24	232
12	Mason Spradlin	26	27	32	35	30	27	27	35	239

	SWPT 2018										LSC
	APA										14/15
											July
1	Greg Simpson	24	28	26	31	28	28	30	27	222	$72.00
2	Charles Cox	30	24	28	30	30	25	30	25	222	$36.00	1
3	Terry Simpson	28	27	29	28	33	32	29	26	232	$36.00	1
4	Chris Conradi	29	32	30	31	28	29	30	28	237	$36.00
5	Charles Tarbell	26	28	27	31	33	32	29	33	239	$36.00	1
6	Bryan Gentry	32	30	27	35	32	28	31	29	244
7	Alan Sahmel	30	34	34	31	31	30	29	29	248		1
8	Steven Yancey	33	33	31	27	36	35	30	31	256
9	Ken Stanfill	31	31	34	33	36	32	30	32	259
10	Mickey DeLucca	36	34	40	38	37	33	34	33	285

June 10, 2018--Sunday--Arlington Parks--10am tee off

PPA
Everyone agreed that the scores would be lower than on Saturday, that it would take in the 80's to cash, and everyone was right!! Lee Messinger shot an opening round 9 shots lower than on Saturday with a 26 to lead Cliff Matthews by one shot. Steady Don Parker was third at 29. Don was the only player under 30 the second round with a 28 and it pulled him within one of Lee, 56 to 57. Also at 57 was Cliff with Jeffrey Smith back at 60. It was a battle between Don and Lee the final round, both shooting weekend low 12's on the front nine. Don briefly caught Lee in the final round but Lee pulled ahead on the back nine and shot another 28, good for a 82 and a two shot win over Don's 84. Cliff and Jeffrey were tied for third at 88. Spots went to Cliff Matthews and Tom Adair.

APA
Greg Everly shot a opening round 28 and was four shots ahead of three other players. Greg is hard enough to beat without spotting him four shots. Greg slid to a second round 32 but saw his lead only drop by one shot with Mike Huckaby moving into second place with a 63. Greg played an excellent final round and shot the weekend's low 18-hole score with a 25, good for a 85 and a 12-shot win over Mike and Scott Myers, both at 97. Mike and Scott played a 18-hole match for the stroke play spot for the tour finals and Mike won easily as Scott only had one ace. In the match play for the spots, Chris Conradi beat a worn out Scott Myers in one bracket and Ken Stanfill beat Chris Wiggins in the other bracket.

	SWPT 2018					Arling			SWPT 2018					Arling
	PPA					10June			APA					10June

1	Lee Messinger	26	30	26	82	$120.00		1	Greg Everly	28	32	25	85	$36.00
2	Don Parker	29	28	27	84	$50.00		2	Mike Huckaby	32	31	34	97	$18.00	1
3	Jeffrey Smith	30	30	28	88	$15.00		2	Scott Myers	32	33	32	97	$18.00
3	Cliff Matthews	27	30	31	88	$15.00	1	4	Steven Yancey	34	32	34	100	$18.00
5	Brice Bergesen	33	33	29	95			5	Ken Stanfill	37	33	32	102	$4.50	1
6	Tom Adair	33	32	32	97		1	5	Chris Wiggins	32	32	38	102	$4.50
								7	Chris Conradi	37	34	32	103		1
								8	Trevor Lewin	36	31	37	104
								9	Robert Martin	38	37	34	109

June 9, 2018--Saturday--Arlington Parks--Noon tee off

PPA
It was the strangest tournament of the 2018 SWPT season in that 5 of the 7 players had a great chance to win. All screwed up somewhere along the way, even the eventual winner Lee Messinger. Lee made a 5 on hole five in the first round and struggled in with a 35, good for a last place tie. Brice Bergesen led after the first round with a 28, good for a one shot over Jeffrey Smith, both players looking for their first win of the season. In the second round Lee bogied the second hole, then made 10 aces for a 26 and a 61 total, Even though Jeffrey had a screw up on hole 6 the second round with a 5 he was the 36 hole leader at 59, Brice was at 60, and Lee, Cliff Matthews and Don Parker were at 61. In the third round both Brice and Cliff played the last 7 holes one over par to miss the playoff by one. Cliff earlier had his big screw up by making a 5 on hole 13, the easiest hole on the course to ace. Don was the only player to play bogey free and ended in a tie with Lee after 54 holes at 91, with Brice, Jeffrey and Cliff one shot back. Lee made another 5 on hole 5 in the playoff but made enough aces to hold Don off for his 5th win of the season. The tour final spots went to Cliff and Tom Adair.

APA
In contrast to the PPA players making a mess of the tournament, the APA players played solid. Mike Huckaby got off to a great start by shooting a first round 27, good for a 4-shot lead over Greg Everly. Mike somehow made a 3 on hole three the second round and only had three aces and shot a 34 and his lead was down to one shot over Steven Yancey and Greg Everly, 61 to 62. All three players had good final rounds but Greg missed the playoff by one shot with his 30 and 92 total. Steven shot his second straight 29 and Mike had a 30 and they tied at 91. In the 18-hole playoff Steven was able to hole Mike back for his third win of the season. Mike got the stroke play spot and the match play spots went to Chris Conradi and Scott Myers.

	SWPT 2018					Arling			SWPT 2018					Arling
	PPA					9June			APA					9June

1	Lee Messinger	35	26	30	91	$120.00		1	Steven Yancey	33	29	29	91	$36.00
2	Don Parker	31	30	30	91	$50.00		2	Mike Huckaby	27	34	30	91	$18.00	1
3	Brice Bergesen	28	32	32	92	$20.00		3	Greg Everly	31	31	30	92	$18.00
3	Jeffrey Smith	29	30	33	92	$20.00		4	Chris Conradi	34	33	35	102		1
3	Cliff Matthews	32	29	31	92	$20.00	1	5	Ken Stanfill	34	33	37	104
6	Mason Spradlin	32	32	31	95			6	Scott Myers	36	35	38	109		1
7	Tom Adair	35	33	34	102		1

The Southwest Putting tour made their annual trip to Waco on May 12^th for the inaugural Allen Thomas Memorial, a longtime Waco player who passed away last year. The course is more than 50 years old and the holes are longer than what is played just about anywhere else. It makes for a very challenging course where any score under 30 is good. If you can go 3-4 strokes under 30 then you have a great chance of winning. In the first tournament of the day John Kropinak fired a 1^st round score of 28 to take the lead. He did so by shooting a very impressive 12 on the back nine. Most players would agree that the back nine has better ace holes that the front, but a 12 is still very impressive. Only 1 other player, Jody Kimble, was able to shoot as low as 30 in the first round. As is typical at Waco, all other players were between 31-34. The second round found players still tightly bunched with all but one player shooting between 29 and 32. Geoff Mosk shot a 29 to be in a 60 and tie Kropinak. Kimble and Brice Bergesen were each just one stroke back. Lee Messinger and Don Parker were both within striking distance at 64, but it would take a heck of a round to catch the leaders. That is exactly what happened. Parker shot the low round of the day, a 26, to finish at 90. Bergesen and Mosk were still out on the course and knew what they needed coming in to tie Parker. Brice needed to make 2 of his last 3 to tie. None of the last three holes are real good aces but can be made with skillful putts. That is exactly what Bergesen did by making holes 16 and 18. Mosk only needed to make one of the last three. He missed 16 and 17. On 18 he hit the left rail late and went into the valley of sin. He then missed the deuce for his only bogey of the day. He not only missed the playoff, he missed cashing at all. Don was able to win the playoff on the second hole of sudden death. It was his first win of the year. Kimble and Kropinak tied for third at 91.

In the APA division Greg Everly unexpectedly showed up. He cut a vacation short in order to compete in the Allen Thomas Memorial event and he led after one round with a 32. Trevor Lewin and Bryan Gentry were just one stroke back at 33 and Steve Willmann, who grew up next door to Allen Thomas in the Waco area, was just 2 strokes back at 34. Everly put the pedal to the medal the last two rounds, shooting back to back 30’s on his way to a 6 stroke victory at 92. Lewin also finished well and was the only other APA player to be under 100 with a score of 98. The rest of the APA players knew they could compete in the second event of the day if they could eliminate the bogeys, which are very easy to make on just about every hole.

	SWPT 2018
	May 12	Waco		12 pm
	PPA
1	Don Parker	33	31	26	90	$130.00	38 holes
2	Brice Bergesen	31	30	29	90	$60.00
3	Jody Kimble	30	31	30	91	$30.00
4	John Kropinak	28	32	31	91	$30.00
5	Geoff Mosk	31	29	32	92
6	Lee Messinger	33	31	30	94
7	Mason Spradlin	34	32	36	102
8	Jeffrey Smith	34	36	33	103

	APA
1	Greg Everly	32	30	30	92	$36.00
2	Trevor Lewin	33	34	31	98	$18.00
3	Steven Yancey	36	32	35	103	$18.00
4	Bryan Gentry	33	40	32	105	$18.00
5	Steve Willmann	34	34	38	106
6	Chris Conradi	38	35	34	107
7	Ken Stanfill	40	34	34	108

In the second tournament of the day Jody Kimble jumped out to an early lead with the day’s low round of 25. He made every odd numbered hole up to hole 17. Only one other player was below 30 as John Kropinak started off hot again with a 29 of his own. Kimble kept up his strong play in the second round shooting a 30. Only Jeff Smith was able to gain any ground on Kimble as he shot his best round of the day, a 29. Kimble cruised in his last round with a 33 which was good enough to finish at 88, three strokes ahead of second place finisher Geoff Mosk, at 91. Kropinak finished his day at 92 to be in third place by himself.

In the APA division many of the players scored better in the afternoon tournament. Trevor Lewin had the low round of the day in the APA the first round, and the only sub 30 score in the APA, a 28 to take a two stroke lead over three time winner in 2018, Bryan Gentry. In round two, Steve Willmann found his stroke and shot the low score for the round with a 30. He found himself just 1 stroke back of Gentry who was at 62. Greg Everly was close by at 65 as well. The last round saw some very good scores. Steven Yancey had his best round of the day with a 30. Chris Conradi shot a 31 to move all the way up to third place. Gentry shot a 34 to finish at 96 and thought for sure that Willmann would catch him. Coming down the stretch Willmann came up an ace short to finish in second place at 97. It wrapped up a fun day at the challenging Waco Course.

We are more than half way thru the SWPT 2018 schedule. The next events will be in Arlington on June 9-10 when the Astros also happen to be playing the Rangers in Arlington. We hope to see several players out there and maybe catch a baseball game!

	SWPT 2018
	May 12	Waco		3 pm
	PPA
1	Jody Kimble	25	30	33	88	$130.00
2	Geoff Mosk	30	30	31	91	$60.00
3	John Kropinak	29	31	32	92	$40.00
4	Brice Bergesen	33	30	31	94
5	Lee Messinger	37	30	29	96
6	Don Parker	32	33	34	99
7	Mason Spradlin	33	34	32	99
8	Jeffrey Smith	38	29	32	99

	APA
1	Bryan Gentry	30	32	34	96	$36.00
2	Steve Willmann	33	30	34	97	$18.00
3	Chris Conradi	33	34	31	98	$18.00
4	Greg Everly	33	32	35	100	$18.00
5	Steven Yancey	38	33	30	101
6	Trevor Lewin	28	39	38	105
7	Ken Stanfill	37	35	35	107

Mason Masters Minigolf

	SWPT 2018	Longview Greens
	April 28th
	PPA
1	Mason Spradlin	31	32	33	96	$140.00
2	Jeffrey Smith	33	34	30	97	$ 70.00
3	Lee Messinger	34	31	37	102	$ 40.00
4	Don Parker	38	31	35	104	$ 20.00
5	Joe Lea	32	32	42	106	$ 10.00
6	Geoff Mosk	38	36	35	109
7	Danny Tatum	38	37	36	111
8	Brice Bergesen	42	36	35	113
9	John Kropinak	40	39	41	120


	APA

1	Bryan Gentry	39	44	33	116	$ 36.00
2	Steve Yancey	44	42	40	126
3	Doug Austin	33	45	45	123

Groff is Good

	SWPT 2018	Longview Greens
	April 28th
	PPA
1	Geoff Mosk		36	32	35	103	$150.00
2	Lee Messinger		34	37	33	104	$80.00
3	Joe Lea		38	36	32	106	$60.00
4	Mason Spradin		39	32	36	107	$40.00
5	John Kropinak		36	36	36	108	$20.00
6	Don Parker		35	38	37	110	$10.00
7	Jeffrey Smith		41	38	35	114
8	Brice Bergesen		37	45	37	119
9	Danny Tatum		37	39	43	119
10	Matt Bellner		45	46	43	134

	APA

1	Steve Yancey		43	41	41	125	$26.00
2	Doug Austin		44	37	49	130

Blustery Winds = Bundled Up Players in Tyler

19 total players made their way to Tyler Saturday for a double header on the course that will host this year’s Mike Baldoza Texas Open. Though not as cold as last weekend, temperatures in the low 50’s and a constant wind that reached 25mph made most of the players bundle up to keep warm. The course is in great shape and playing well with freshly scraped and painted rails. However, due to the amount of shots that require a precise line and touch the constant wind caused scores to be higher than usual. The players were also greeted with a surprise appearance from hall of famer Cliff Matthews causing everyone to step their game up a notch.

4/14 3:00 PPA – By 3:00 temperatures had risen slightly but the wind was still fierce. Jeffrey Smith once again found himself in the lead after round one by shooting a 28. Jody Kimble, who finished the early tournament with back to back 29s, kept with tradition and found himself in a tie for second place with Tom Adair and John Kropinak by shooting another 29. In round two, Kimble was able to gain one stroke on Smith by shooting a 30, tying both players at 59. Through 11 holes in the final round Smith held a three stroke lead on Kimble who was at that point only -2 on the round. Kimble’s cold round did not last long as he aced hole 12 and then proceeded to ace every remaining hole but number 18. Smith finished his final round at 29 but was unable to match Kimble’s 28. Shooting an 87 overall Kimble was able to pick up his first win of the season. Smith finished second at 88 and Mason Spradlin finished third at 91. The spots went to Jody Kimble, Jeffrey Smith, and Mason Spradlin.

4/14 3:00 APA – In the second tournament of the day local Gary Plain finally got rolling, shooting a 28 to tie for the first round lead with Saturday morning winner Bryan Gentry. Round two saw Plain and Gentry continue to hold the lead at 60 overall with Greg Everly in second at 61 and Mike Huckaby in third at 62. Whether it was a bit of fatigue or the constant wind, the aces dried up for the APA as all but one of the players shot their worst round of the tournament. Both Everly and Plain were in prime position to take advantage of the high scores but neither could get anything going on the back nine as Everly shot an 18 and Plain shot a 17. Gentry was able to grind out a 33 for a total score of 93 to capture his second win of the day. Everly finished two shots back at 95 and Gary Plain was able to hold on for thirdplace at 96. The spots went to Bryan Gentry, Greg Everly, and Mike Huckaby.

	SWPT 2018	Tyler		April 14
	PPA			3:00 PM				APA

1	Jody Kimble	29	30	28	87	$140	1	Bryan Gentry	28	32	33	93	$36
2	Jeffrey Smith	28	31	29	88	$70	2	Greg Everly	31	30	34	95	$18
3	Mason Spradin	32	29	30	91	$40	3	Gary Plain	28	32	36	96	$18
4	John Kropinak	29	31	32	92	$20	4	Mike Huckaby	30	32	36	98	$6
5	Tom Adair	29	34	30	93	$10	5	Chris Conradi	31	34	33	98	$6
6	Lee Messinger	32	30	32	94		6	Scott Myers	34	31	33	98	$6
7	Don Parker	30	31	34	95		7	Steven Yancy	32	34	34	100
8	Brice Bergesen	35	30	31	96
9	Matt Belner	33	31	32	96

4/14 12:00 PPA - In the PPA Jeffrey Smith and Local pro Tom Adair were the only two players to break 30 in the first round with matching 29s. Three players followed close behind one stroke back. In round two both Smith and Adair struggled to keep their momentum as neither broke 33 while Lee Messinger and Mason Spradlin both shot 29 making, Messinger the tournament leader at 59 overall with Spradlin one stroke back. In the last round; Messinger looked on his way to his third consecutive victory and fifth win in the last six tournaments as he was two strokes up with five holes to play; but after an unfortunate lip out on hole 14 and a miss on the aceable 15, Spradlin was able to pull even. Tied going into hole 17 Messinger left his ace putt just wide as Spradlin aced, taking a one stroke lead. Messinger was unable to ace hole 18 and Spradlin deuced to shoot 29 on the round and 89 for the tournament. John Kropinak launched himself back into contention by firing a tournament best 27 but came up just wide on hole 18 which would have forced a playoff with Spradlin. It was Spradlin’s first win since becoming a professional in 2017. Kropinak and Messinger tied for second at 90 overall. The spots went to Mason Spradlin, John Kropinak, and Jody Kimble.

4/14 12:00 APA – Nine APA players braved the conditions including Robert Martin and Chris Wiggins who players were glad to see return to the tour. In round one, Chris Conradi showed that playing in the local weekly tournament did him some good as he lead the field with a 30. Steven Yancey and Bryan Gentry followed one stroke back. Gentry kept up his steady play in round two with a 31 to take a two stroke lead over Conradi, Mike Huckaby, and 2017s APA player of the year Greg Every. After struggling with a 17 on the front nine to open round nine, Gentry was able to string together a few aces and shoot a 14 on the inner half. This put him at 31 on the round and 92 total which was good enough for a two stroke victory. Conradi, Huckaby, and Everly all shot matching 31s to tie for second. Steven Yancey was able to recover from a second round 35 with a 29 in the third round to sneak into fifth place. The spots went to Bryan Gentry, Mike Huckaby, and Greg Everly.

	SWPT 2018	Tyler		April 14
	PPA			Noon				APA

1	Mason Spradlin	31	29	29	89	$140	1	Bryan Gentry	31	30	31	92	$36
2	Lee Messinger	30	29	31	90	$ 55	2	Mike Huckaby	32	31	31	94	$18
3	John Kropinak	30	33	27	90	$ 55	3	Greg Everly	35	28	31	94	$18
4	Jody Kimble	33	29	29	91	$ 20	4	Chris Conradi	30	33	31	94	$18
5	Don Parker	30	34	31	95	$ 5	5	Steven Yancy	31	35	29	95	$18
6	Jeffrey Smith	29	33	33	95	$ 5	6	Gary Plain	34	33	32	99
7	Tom Adair	29	36	32	97		7	Scott Myers	35	35	30	100
8	Brice Bergesen	33	32	35	100		8	Chris Wiggins	33	33	36	102
9	Cliff Matthews	34	35	31	100		9	Robert Martin	38	34	33	105

4/15 PPA – All those who were unhappy with the cold and windy weather Saturday were in for a surprise as the wind remained the same and the temperature dropped to the low 40s on Sunday. Players suspected that the poor shooting by Cliff Matthews on Saturday would not continue Sunday as he would eventually find his touch. They were right as his first round 29 put him only one stroke back of Saturday morning winner Mason Spradlin. John Kropinak continued his stellar play by also shooting a first round 29, tying him with Matthews and Lee Messigner for second place. Through two rounds it was anybody’s tournament as Matthews and Jeffrey Smith lead at 59 but an incredible six of the remaining eight players were within two strokes. After the final round, Smith once again found himself one stroke short at 89 overall as Don Parker shot a tournament tying best 28 and Matthews continued his hot play with a 29 putting the two players tied for the lead at 88 overall. In the 18 hole playoff, Parker took an early lead through three holes but had an unfortunate bogey on hole four. Matthews was able to capitalize with an ace and never looked back, soundly beating Parker. It was Matthews’ first win on the Southwest Putting Tour since 2012. In match play Brice Bergesen proved he had been sand bagging the field all weekend as he beat Saturday winner Mason Spradlin and Sunday runner-up Don Parker to win a spot. Matt Bellner was also able to beat a Saturday winner in Jody Kimble followed by a tight match with John Kropinak in which he was able to win 1-up.

4/15 APA – Sunday morning Scott Myers was the first player to show up to the course and it paid off. Myers lead out of the gates with a 30 and did not look back. After shooting a blistering seven under par 29 in round two, Myers found himself at 59 overall, four strokes ahead of the winner of both of Saturday’s tournaments Bryan Gentry. Gary plain rounded out the top three at 65. Myers proceeded to shoot a 32 putting him at 91 overall and good for a wire to wire victory. It was his first ever Southwest Putting Tour and could be the first of many as Scott continues to play more and more tournaments on the tour. Gentry was unable to complete the weekend sweep but played well enough to capture second place at 94 overall. Gary Plain finished third at 95 as the trio of Mike Huckaby, Chris Conradi, and Steven Yancey tied for the crumb in fourth at 98. In match play local pro Gary Plain was able to edge Chris Wiggins 1-up to win a spot. Steven Yancey was able to beat Chris Conradi in the first round, but could not get past Bryan Gentry who played well all weekend. Gentry was able to win the second match play spot 4 and 3.

	SWPT 2018					Tyler			SWPT 2018					Tyler
	PPA					15Apr			APA					15Apr

1	Cliff Matthews	29	30	29	88	$150.00	1	1	Scott Myers	30	29	32	91	$36.00	1
2	Don Parker	33	27	28	88	$75.00		2	Bryan Gentry	31	32	31	94	$18.00	1
3	Jeffrey Smith	31	28	30	89	$60.00		3	Gary Plain	33	31	31	95	$18.00	1
4	Lee Messinger	29	32	29	90	$25.00		4	Chris Conradi	31	36	31	98	$6.00
4	John Kropinak	29	31	30	90	$25.00		4	Mike Huckaby	32	33	33	98	$6.00
6	Mason Spradlin	28	33	31	92	$3.33		4	Steven Yancey	32	34	32	98	$6.00
6	Brice Bergesen	31	30	31	92	$3.33	1	7	Robert Martin	35	35	33	103
6	Jjody Kimble	31	29	32	92	$3.33		8	Chris Wiggins	35	35	34	104
9	Tom Adair	33	32	32	97
9	Matt Bellner	32	32	33	97		1

THE FROZEN NINE: Par Temp of 36 Cooled Most of the Putters

Dallas – April 7^th

Ten players made it out to the beautiful Adventure Landing course on Coit Round in Dallas on April 7^th to participate in the 6^th Tournament of the young SWPT season. Temperatures in the upper 30’s with wind chills in the 20’s greeted those brave enough to endure the conditions. One of the players left after some practice after not being able to feel his hands well enough to putt. So the “Frozen Nine” took to the course at noon to see who could battle the course and conditions. Who would survive?

The course plays very well and low scores can be had, but it can be difficult to get anything going when it is cold and windy. No player in either division was able to shoot below a 30 in the first round. In the PPA both Lee Messinger and Geoff Mosk were able to get it to 30 and take a 3 stroke lead over Tom Adair. In round two, Mosk was able to get a little better with a 28 to take a two stroke lead over Messinger. In the last round it looked like a shootout would occur when Messinger shot a 12 on the front nine to not only catch, but pass Mosk for the lead. When Mosk made the tricky 9^th hole he had pulled back to within one stoke with just nine holes to go. Messinger showed what a great player he is by keeping the pedal to the medal the acing six of the last nine holes to go along with one bogey after the outcome had already been determined. Mosk was as cold as the weather making just two down the stretch with a bogey of his own to finish five stokes back. Spots went to Messinger (his 4^th and final spot), Mosk, and Adair.

In the APA division, the scores were tight all day. After the first round, all six players were within four strokes of the leaders Greg Everly and Steve Yancey, who both shot a four under 32 in the opening round. Scores stayed tight after two rounds as well. Everly was in the lead at 65 by two over Yancey at 67. Lurking just three stokes back were Trevor Lewin and Chris Conradi at 68. The temperature at the course did not warm up, but Yancey did. He fired the APA Low round of the day, a 30, finish at 97. Everly needed to shoot two under the last nine holes to tie but could not get his putter hot and came up just one stroke shy at 98. Mike Huckaby came in at 101 to claim the last cash spot. Because of the very cold conditions it was determined before the tournament that there would be no match play and the three spots for the tour championship in September at Longview would go to the top stroke play scores. This was the first win for Steve Yancey who has upped his game this year and looks to be a top player in the APA this year.

	SWPT 2018					Dallas			SWPT 2018					Dallas
	PPA					7Apr			APA					7Apr

1	Lee Messinger	30	30	25	85	$80.00	1	1	Steven Yancey	32	35	30	97	$36.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	30	28	32	90	$40.00	1	2	Greg Everly	32	33	33	98	$18.00	1
3	Tom Adair	33	30	34	97		1	3	Mike Huckaby	33	36	32	101	$18.00	1
								4	Trevor Lewin	35	33	35	103
								4	Chris Conradi	34	34	35	103
								6	Ken Stanfill	36	34	38	108

Dallas – April 8^th

On Sunday we again had 9 players at Coit Road. Jeffrey Smith was able to feel his hands a little better than the day before and was able to play. We all wished Mike Huckaby a happy birthday as he spent time with his family on the cold, but not quite as cold as the day before, Sunday morning.

It was 37 degrees at tee time, 1 degree warmer than at tee time the day before, but it was not nearly as windy so it didn’t feel quite as bad and the scores reflected it. Both Geoffrey Mosk and Lee Messinger came out of the gate strong. Both shot a six under 12 on the front nine. Messinger finished the round with a 27 to have a one stroke lead. Jeffrey Smith adjusted to the colder temperatures in the second round to shoot the low score of the weekend with a 24. He didn’t gain much ground on the leaders as Mosk shot a 25 and Messinger a 26 to be tied at 53 after two rounds. Disaster struck in the 3^rd round for Mosk as he only managed a 1 under 17 on the front nine, and only managed a 30. Messinger’s third straight round in the 20’s gave him a three stroke lead at 80 heading into the final round. Tom Adair and Smith had fallen well off the pace going into the last round. Messinger played the first six holes at an amazing rate the first three rounds by acing 16 of the 18 through that stretch. He finally stumbled on the front nine and amazingly missed three of the first six holes. Mosk capitalized and was able to pull within one after the front nine. Mosk made the 10^th to have a chance to tie but Messinger topped him and then went on to blister the rest of the course to put Mosk away just like he had done the day before. It was the third time in seven events that Messinger had finished 1^st with Mosk in 2^nd. The spots went to Mosk, Smith, and Adair.

In the APA Division the players were again bunched up tightly. After two rounds, four players were all within four stokes of the lead with Trevor Lewin leading the pack at 59. Chris Conradi and Greg Everly were just three stokes back at 62 and Saturday’s winner Steve Yancey was at 63. It got even tighter after round three. Lewin still had the lead at 91, but playing partners Everly, 92, and Yancey, 93, had closed the gap. Conradi was still lurking at 94. A shootout was looming in the APA division and a shootout is what we got. In the lead group Lewin made hole one while his playing partners missed. There would not be another miss in the group until hole seven. They all made holes 2 thru 6 for 16 aces in a row. Lewin and Everly put a little distance between themselves and Yancey and it was a two man race down the stretch. Lewin had a two stroke lead on Everly with three to play. He went down the hill on hole 16 and missed the tricky putt coming back up to take a bogey. Everly then calmly made a perfect putt to ace the hole and tie the score. Both players missed 17. Everly missed 18 and thought for sure he had lost the tournament with Lewin making hole 18 the previous three rounds. Lewin’s putt was just a hair off and 18 more holes would be needed to determine a winner. In the playoff Everly was able to limit mistakes and came out on top for his 1^st win of the 2018 season. It was a very close call for Lewin but he has nothing to hang his head about. It was fun to watch these two players go head to head down the stretch. Some were able to watch live on facebook as well where we will try to show any playoffs live. Spots for the tour championship went to Everly, Lewin, and Yancey.

	SWPT 2018	Dallas		April 8
	PPA									APA

1	Lee Messinger		27	26	27	27	107	$90.00	1	Greg Everly	32	30	30	27	119	$36.00
2	Geoffrey Mosk		28	25	30	30	113	$50.00	2	Trevor Lewin	29	30	32	28	119	$18.00
3	Jeffrey Smith		33	24	34	29	120	$20.00	3	Steve Yancey	33	30	30	31	124	$18.00
4	Tom Adair		35	33	33	34	135		4	Chris Conradi	32	30	32	34	128
									5	Ken Stanfill	33	35	34	36	138

Lee Messinger Sweeps and Joe Lea Goes Low on Sunday in Lake Charles

There was a light sprinkle that greeted players as they arrived at the beautiful Lake Charles course on Saturday March 17^th but it quickly cleared up providing excellent conditions for the start of the second weekend on the SWPT. The course was primed for low scoring, but the players were not; 28 was as low as anyone could go in the pro division and that was good enough for Geoff Mosk to have a one stroke lead. It was tightly packed as three players were tied for last at six under 30. The next round was a little bit better as Brice Bergeses was surprised to find himself in the lead at 56 after shooting a 27. Lee Messinger, Mason Spradlin, and Mosk were all just one stroke back trying to get hot. In the last round finally had a player that took advantage of the course as Messinger fired a 10 on the front nine on his way to a 25. Don Parker also finished strong with a 25 of his own. The rest of the field continued to struggle as they hoped they would play better in the second tournament of the day. Messinger’s 25 carried him to a two stroke win over Mosk and Bergesen, who rounded out the top three at 85. All three players received spots for the SWPT Tour championship in Longview later this year.

In the APA 10 players were ready to battle it out. The tournaments in Lake Charles are always highly contested in the APA Division. A Familiar name was at the top of the list after 1 round. Charles “Sharkey” Cox shot a 27 to have a one stroke lead over Charles Tarbell and two strokes over Steven Yancey and Dwain Willett. After the second round Charles Tarbell would have been leading the pro division with a score of 54. Willett remained two strokes back with Sharkey and Greg Simpson four and five strokes back respectively. It is never over at Lake Charles until it is actually over as the course can render very low scores at any moment. It can also give out a higher score without notice and that is what happened to Tarbell as he fell from first to a tie for 4^th place with Steven Yancey at 91. Three players tied for the top spot it, Dwain Willett, Greg Simpson and Sharkey Cox all finished at 87. In the 18 hole playoff Simpson and Cox quickly separated themselves, making it a man race down to the 18^th hole that Sharkey made to get the win. The three spots went to Greg Simpson, Dwain Willett, and Charles Tarbell.

	SWPT 2018					LC-1			SWPT 2018					LC-1
	PPA					17Mar			APA					17Mar
						Noon								Noon
1	Lee Messinger	29	28	25	82	$100.00	1	1	Charles Cox	27	31	29	87	$36.00	1
2	Geoff Mosk	28	29	27	84	$50.00	1	2	Dwain Willett	29	27	31	87	$18.00	1
3	Brice Bergesen	29	27	29	85	$40.00	1	2	Greg Simpson	30	29	28	87	$18.00	1
4	Don Parker	30	32	25	87			4	Steven Yancey	29	30	32	91	$18.00
5	Mason Spradlin	30	27	32	89			4	Charles Tarbell	28	26	37	91	$18.00
6	Joe Lea	30	31	30	91			6	Jack Ramsey	30	34	31	95	$18.00
								7	Trevor Lewin	31	30	35	96
								8	Ken Stanfill	33	32	32	97