The southwest Putting tour went Prime Time on 6/27 for the first 4 rounds of the 2020 Louisiana State Championship.  Course owner Greg Simpson always has the course in great playing shape and it a favorite of all the tour players.  With the tournament starting with a few more customers on the course than normal, Greg had announced each player off the tee with some career highlights and where they were from.  It was a very nice touch that all of the players appreciated. 

In the Pro division Lee Messinger and Jeffrey Smith came out hot with a pair of 24’s to take a two stroke lead over Geoff Mosk.  Messinger then fired the low round of the weekend with a 22 that gave him a five stroke lead after just two rounds over Smith, who won the 2014 national Championship on this course, and 7 over the past two winners of this event, Wade Sahmel and Mosk.  Messinger cooled off a bit his last two rounds with scores of 28 and 27.  This allowed Mosk to pull within three strokes with a score of 104.  Smith was just four back at 105.  Brice Bergesen had rounds of 25 and 24 in rounds two and three respectively/ which had him in 4^th place at 107.  By the time the 4^th round was played the temps had cooled off considerably and the lights were on at the course.  It was playing conditions that players outside of locals were not used to playing in but the overall score for the entire Pro division was only three strokes more than it was in the first round, so it didn’t appear to affect the players to much.

In the APA division we had a good turnout with 12 players.  Mike Huckaby came out hot to jump to the lead with a score of 26.  Four other players including Bryan Gentry, playing his first event in 2 plus years, had scores in the 20s to stay close to Huckaby.  Huckaby cooled off and was in at 58 after 2.  Steven Yancey was consistent with rounds of 29-29 to also be in at 58.  Those scores were one off the leaders, Bryan Gentry and Chis Conradi were both n at 57.  The always dangerous Charles “Sharkey” Cox was still close at 60.  Huckaby had rounds of 27-25 to close out the day and take the lead with a score of 110.  Six other players were within eight strokes of the lead, so it was far from over. Day two was lining up to have an exciting finish.

Day 2 of the 8 round Lake Charles State championship started bright and early at 10am before the temps became 2 unbearable.  Olivia Prokopova from Houston Texas (don’t say is from the Czech Republic anymore) had the low round with a 25 to inch closer to the lead.  5 other players had scores of 27.  Jeffrey Smith and Brice Bergesen fell back a few strokes as Lee Messinger and Geoffrey Mosk also had rounds of 27.  Mosk had caught Messinger during round 5 but Messinger made his last 4 holes to dig out his 27 while Mosk only made 1 of his last 4 to fall 3 strokes back again.  In round 6 Mosk again caught Messinger and going into the last hole had a change to take the lead with a 24.  Instead he pushed his putt, hit the right cheese, and bogeyed to fall 1 stroke behind Messinger yet again.  Smith  and Wade Sahmel were still within striking distance just 6 strokes back but it was becoming more of a 2 horse race with just 2 rounds to go.  On the front 9 of round 3 Mosk only missed hole 2 when he left it 2 inches short of the hole.  Messinger hit good putt after good putt but they consistently found the lip or came up just short of the hole.  With 27 holes to go Mosk had opened up a 5 stroke lead.  After making hole 10 the lead was up to 6.  Just when it looked like Mosk would pull away like he had 2 years ago, he deuced the last 8 holes to finish the round at 27.  Messinger continued to struggle and when the round was over Mosk had a 4 stroke lead over Messinger. Olivia, who got off to a slow start but had the second best score after the second round of day 1, had moved into 3^rd place just 6 strokes back.  Wade Sahmel was 7 back and he had noted that he had come back from just about as far, if not a little further, than that against Mosk in the last round at an event at Webster a few years ago.  Smith was also just 8 back and very capable of shooting a score low enough to catch Mosk if Mosk struggled at all in the final round.  Messinger, Sahmel, and Smith all had good last rounds shooting 24s.  Messinger had an 11 on the front 9 to pull within 3 of the lead, but Mosk, having won this event twice before, was up to the task and made 7 of his last 9 to have the low round of the day with a 23 that secured a 5 stroke victory for his 3^rd Louisiana State Championship.  Messinger held on for 2nd place and Smith moved up to 3^rd place.  Sahmel collected the last money spot at 4^th place.

In the APA Mike Huckaby continued his solid play the first 2 rounds on Sunday but couldn’t shake Steven Yancey.  After 2 rounds Huckaby had extended his lead by only 1 stroke and was now 3 up on Yancey after shooting rounds of 28-27 to Yancey’s 29-27.  No other player was able to make a charge and it looked like it would be a 2 man race for the title for the last 2 rounds.  Yancey was a model of consistency in the tournament.  He was the only player in the APA to not have a round higher than 29.  In fact, there were only 2 PPA players that could match that feat.  IN round 7 yancey continued his consistent play with a 28.  Huckaby stumbled a bit to shoot a 31 and with just 1 round to go Yancey and Huckaby were tied.  Yancey again played very consistently with a 29 to finish his 8 rounds at 225.  Huckaby, who came within just 2 holes of winning the APA tour Championship on this course 9 months ago, displayed a championship killer instinct and had the best round of any APA player at this years event with a 24 to win by 5 over yancey who finished in 2^nd place.  It was his first Louisiana State Championship.  Course owner Greg Simpson held on for 3^rd place.  Other players receiving   reimbursement money were Charles Cox, Bryan Gentry, Chris Conradi, and Charles Tarbell.

We look forward to seeing everyone in 2 weeks for the Mike Baldoza Texas Open at the Course on Coit Rd in Dallas.

After 8 weeks off and 3 missed tournament weekends, the Southwest Putting Tour was the first to return to normal competition.  This weekend was originally scheduled for Dallas at the Coit Road location, but due to Covid-19, that course has not yet re-opened.  Kat Adair at the Tyler Putt Putt Course agreed to host the weekend and the SWPT was all set to begin play! 

Weather was going to be an issue on Saturday with scattered storms projected throughout the day.  We caught a break and there was only a slight drizzle at the start and at the very end of the tournament.  Wade Sahmel, who drove up the morning of the event after working all night and getting next to zero sleep, did what he normally does with no sleep and was the first round leader at 27.  Don Parker and Jeffrey Smith were the only other players able to break 30 shooting a 28 and 29 respectively.  Sahmel slowed down a bit in round 2 with a 30 that dropped him into a first place tie with Parker at 57.  Chance Marett and Geoff Mosk were just 3 strokes back at 60 with several other players shortly behind.  He again played solid his last round with another 30 to finish at 87.  Mosk and Marett both played well, but not quite well enough as they both finished 2 strokes back at 89.  Other players to cash were Parker (90), Tom Adair (91), Jody Kimble (93), Smith (93), and Brice Bergesen (93).

In the APA, Alan Sahmel looked to make it a Sahmel Sweep.  He started off the weekend with a 32 which was good for 3^rd place behind Jay Salyer and Mickey DeLucca who both tied the APA low round of the day with a 31.  In round 2, Chris Conradi tied the low APA score with a 31 to be at 65.  That pulled him to within 1 shot of Salyer.  Sahmel and DeLucca were just 2 and 3 strokes back setting up an exciting finish.  Papa Sahmel tied the APA low round of the day with a 31 in the final round to be in at 67.  Salyer was able to shoot a 33 which forced a tie and an 18 hole playoff.  In the playoff Sahmel took an early lead and was able to hold off Salyer to collect his 1^st win of the 2020 season and complete the sweep.  The weather wasn’t great, but the players were more than happy to be back out on the course and among friends more than anything else

To start off the last event of the weekend, no less than 3 pro players had a 4 in the first round of the event.  None of them went to Wade Sahmel who only had 2 bogey strokes the entire weekend as he did his best to shed his nick name of the Bogey Man.  Sahmel was leading by 1 over Tom Adair with scores of 28 and 29 respectively.  Don Parker was the only other player within 2 strokes of the lead.  Sahmel continued his solid play with scores of 30 and 32 his last 2 rounds.  Adair was only 1 stroke back going into the final round but as can happen on the Tyler Course, he went dry and was not able to contend.  Two-time USPMGA Masters Champion, along with a bazillion other titles, Olivia Prokopova made a bit of a charge her last 2 rounds with a 31-28 finish to move up to a second place tie with Jody Kimble, who was a model of consistency with scores of 31-30-30.  Geoff Mosk and Chance Marett tied for the 2^nd time during the weekend, this time for 4^th place 1 more stroke back.  Sahmel had the tournament wrapped up with just a few holes to go.  The only drama left was who was going to win the 3 event total stroke average.  With only hole 4 to go, he needed an ace to tie Mosk.  Just has he did in the semi-finals of the SWPT Tour Championship the last time the event was held in Tyler, his putt was just a bit off, and Mosk was able to take a little consolation in winning the weekend stroke competition, even though Wade won 2 events, more POY Points, and more money.

In the APA, if Wade wins in the pros, the Alan Dada Sahmel will be in it trying for another Sahmel Sweep.  And he also came out guns-a-blazing and was the leader after 1 round with a 31.  Mike Huckaby was able to stay close with a 32 and several other players were able to stay within striking distance as well.  In round 2 both players separated themselves from the pack with each shooting a 30.  They were in at 61 and 62 respectively with no other player within 3 strokes of the lead.  Sahmel, playing very consistently like his son Wade, had a final round 31 and cruised to a 5 stroke victory over Huckaby and Trevor Lewin who had the low score of the last round with a 30.  Other players cashing were Gary Plain at 99, Chris Conradi at 101, and Ken Stanfill at 101.