| SWPT 2019 | Total | |||||||||
| PPA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Money | # | Sp | # | Mth | Ply | |
| Thru 11Aug | Avg | Points | Index | Winnin | Tm | ots | Win | W | L | |
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 28.86 | 712.0 | -0.80 | $904.00 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 28.69 | 574.0 | -1.40 | $755.00 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 29.31 | 570.0 | -0.61 | $832.00 | 17 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Lee Messinger | 29.12 | 518.0 | -0.60 | $577.00 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | Wade Sahmel | 29.56 | 338.0 | -1.40 | $520.00 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| 6 | Don Parker | 30.31 | 260.0 | 0.02 | $319.00 | 18 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 7 | Joe Lea | 27.04 | 237.0 | -1.78 | $290.00 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 8 | Tom Adair | 26.40 | 218.0 | 0.34 | $210.00 | 8 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Mason Spradlin | 30.67 | 167.0 | 0.81 | $91.00 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Danny Tatum | 30.76 | 103.0 | 1.51 | $30.00 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | John Kropinak | 29.69 | 72.0 | 0.74 | $70.00 | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Rudy Cuellar | 32.29 | 39.0 | 2.64 | 6 | 4 | ||||
| 13 | Matt Bellner | 33.27 | 32.0 | 2.02 | 5 | 4 | ||||
| 14 | Gary Reed | 31.00 | 25.0 | -0.97 | 1 | |||||
| 15 | Joel Woodall | 32.67 | 13.0 | 1.75 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 16 | Rainey Statum | 11.0 | $10.00 | 1 | 1 |
| SWPT 2019 | ||||||||||
| APA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Total | # | Sp | # | Mt | Pl | |
| Thru 11Aug | Avg | Points | Index | Money | Tm | ot | W | W | L | |
| 1 | Mike Huckaby | 30.82 | 674.0 | -1.82 | $286.00 | 16 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2 | Chris Conradi | 31.75 | 625.0 | -0.61 | $210.00 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| 3 | Steven Yancey | 32.57 | 392.0 | -0.94 | $152.00 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 4 | Gary Plain | 31.44 | 333.0 | -1.53 | $91.00 | 5 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Charles Cox | 33.13 | 254.0 | -2.34 | $78.00 | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Terry Simpson | 31.60 | 225.0 | -2.50 | $78.00 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 7 | Greg Simpson | 27.56 | 224.0 | -0.99 | $91.00 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | Trevor Lewin | 29.56 | 217.0 | -0.06 | $72.00 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | James Kile | 34.55 | 193.0 | -1.07 | $58.00 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 10 | Mickey DeLucca | 34.40 | 155.0 | 2.06 | $49.00 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Jay Salyer | 29.15 | 154.0 | 1.11 | $62.00 | 10 | 4 | |||
| 12 | Ken Stanfill | 33.26 | 146.0 | 0.68 | $46.00 | 9 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Alan Sahmel | 33.92 | 144.0 | -1.26 | $52.00 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| 14 | Jerry Medina | 27.36 | 98.0 | -0.10 | $76.00 | 6 | 4 | |||
| 15 | Jack Ramsey | 36.14 | 71.0 | 2.89 | $7.00 | 10 | 2 | |||
| 16 | Dwain Willett | 33.00 | 59.0 | 0.77 | $13.00 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 17 | Charles Tarbell | 31.10 | 50.0 | 0.07 | $65.00 | 3 | 1 | |||
| 18 | Adam Sahmel | 33.29 | 29.0 | 1.13 | 3 | |||||
| 19 | Chris Stewart | 29.93 | 22.0 | 0.54 | 2 | |||||
| 20 | Johnathan Huffer | 35.14 | 13.0 | 2.40 | 2 | |||||
| 21 | Tommy Phillips | 38.00 | 11.0 | 1.20 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 22 | Aaron Armstrong | 31.00 | 6.0 | 4.45 | 1 |
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!
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
| 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.
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 | ||
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 4th 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 3rd 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 4th and 5th. 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 3rd 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.
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 | ||||||||||||
The weather could not have been better on Saturday April 20th 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 3rd 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 | |||||||||||||
| 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 3rd 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.
| 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 6th 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 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 1st 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 3rd 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 1st 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 1st 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 1st round which was good for 3rd. Lee Messinger was just two strokes back of Geoff Mosk, who shot a 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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 3rd 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 2nd 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 16th 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 1st 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 1st 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 3rd round, which was more than enough to stay ahead of Cox to get the win. Huckaby was able to hang on to 3rd 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.
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 1st 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 2nd 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 2nd and 3rd respectively. Jeffrey Smith came in 4th 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 1st tournament with a 1st 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 3rd place. Huckaby was not able to keep up with Yancey but did hang on for second place to finish the weekend with a 1st and 2nd place finish. Ken Stanfill came in 4th 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 | 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 |
