14 players came out to the longest running 8 round event on the SWPT, an event that goes back more than 25 years, the Texas Open, rebranded the Mike Baldoza Texas Open 4 years ago.  It was slightly under 100 degrees when the putting started at noon with our defending champions Jeffrey (make sure you put the “rey” on his name) Smith and Mike Huckaby.  The course is fair with most of the holes playing straight without using a rail or obstacle.  The course is 30 years old and there are not any putts that are straight with more than a couple of holes that putters can take a big number on.  Only 3 players were able to break 30 in the 1^st round in the pro division.  Brice Bergesen who wanted to have this event at this course, was the 1^st round leader with an excellent score of 27.  Local players Smith and  Lee Messinger were the other players under 30 with scores of 28 and 29 respectively.  In round 2 Bergesen again had the low score of the round and after 2 rounds was already beginning to pull away as he had a 4 stroke over Smith.  As the temperature rose so did some of the players putting.  Bergesen faltered to a 33 while 5 players had their best rounds of the day, led by Geoff Mosk who had the low round of the event with a 24 that included a bogey on hole 16.  Smith had a 26 and was in the lead by 1 over Mosk as we went into the 4^th and final round of the day.  The heat had taken a toll on the players and the temp was now over 100 degrees, although the course does have plenty of shade.  No player was able to break 30 the last round and when the dust had settled Smith had a 1 stroke lead over Rainey Statum and Mosk.  Just 3 strokes back was Bergesen and 4 strokes back was Don Parker.  With so many players close to the lead it looked like it could come down to the final few holes to determine the 2020 Baldoza champion.

In the APA Defending champion Mike Huckaby and the 2020 player of the year points leader, Chris Conradi, came in as the favorites as they are both playing very well and they are both local players.  Conradi lived up to the billing and took a 1^st round lead with a 28.  Right on his heels was Jay Salyer who had a 29.  Jerry Medina, who was touting his physical Stamina as a strength that would carry him to victory, was in 3^rd 3 strokes back at 31.  Just like Bergesen in the pro division, Conradi again had the low score in the 2^nd round and extended his lead to 5 strokes.  Conradi continued to pour it on with a 3^rd consecutive low round and his lead was up to 8 strokes.  He did cool off the last round but still held a 7 stroke lead heading into the second day.  It was going to be very tough for anyone to get close to Conradi with as well as he was playing.

On day 2 the players started at 10 am and hoped to beat the heat.  Brice Bergesen was beating it to the tune of a 26 that vaulted him into the lead, 1 stroke over Rainey Statum.  The leader starting the day, Jeffrey Smith, faltered with a 35 and was never able to get back into contention.  Geoff Mosk was only 3 strokes back starting round 6 but was essentially done after taking a 5 on hole 8.  It was his 3^rd score of 5 or more for the event (hole 8 and hole 17 victimized him in previous rounds).  And just like that it was down to Bergesen and Statum, the 2 men that started the Texas Open way back in 1993 when they were running the tour together.  The Hall of Famer and the 2018 National Champion stayed within 2 strokes of each other going into the final 9 holes with Statum holding the advantage.  Bergesen was playing well but the aces dried up a bit for him on the back 9.  He was 3 stokes back going into hole 15 and knew he would need to ace out to have a chance to win.  He missed hole 15 and then missed his deuce putt from down the hill on 16 (only the 2^nd hole he bogeyed for the event) and the tournament was essentially over.  It did not matter though as Rainey continued to pour in ace after ace and finished at 230, 8 strokes ahead of Bergesen.  Smith and Mosk tied for 3 by holding off Greg Everly who shot 115 the second day, which was 2^nd only to Statum’s 112. 

In the APA Conradi was expected to take a victory lap on his way to an easy victory after a great day of play on day 1.  Salyer was able to get within 6 strokes after round 5 but that was as close as anyone could get.  Remarkably, Conradi was 7 for 7 on hole 8.  Hole 8 is a side hill hole that the players play off the left rail.  The rail has several dents in it and hitting any of them can lead to a miss.  When a player does miss, the deuce and bogey putts can be more difficult that the ace.  Conraid making hole 8 the first 7 times he played it was the main reason he was able to lead the APA division by 12 strokes going into the final round over playing partner Jerry Medina.  Medina had waited until round out to make his charge and a charge he did make.  Medina had the best APA round of the event with a 26.  He was doing his very best to put pressure on Conradi but it is difficult to feel pressure when you have a 12 stroke lead.  As Medina kept making aces, Conradi’s putts kept missing.  He even missed hole 8.  In fact, he didn’t make an ace until hole 12 .  By that point medina was still a ways back but it was looking like he had a chance, especially with holes 16 and 17 lurking, where taking a 4 or more is possible.  Medina kept up the pressure but Conradi was able to hold on for a 1 stroke victory.  It was almost the greatest comeback in Texas Open, and SWPT history, but Medina had to settle for 2^nd place while Conradi claimed his 1^st Mike Baldoza Texas Open title.

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.

The Southwest Putting Tour went PRIME TIME on Saturday 5/16 with a tournament starting at 7pm.  This was done to allow the course to have more customer players as they are limited to 36 total players on the course.  Unfortunately, due to bathroom breaks and a late rain storm, only 2 rounds were able to be completed Saturday night with the last round being played early Sunday morning.  Wade Sahmel, after a short nap, continued to play well and was 1 of only 2 players that was able to shoot below a 30 the first round with a 29.  The other was Geoff Mosk who was in the lead with a 28.  The second round saw 4 players under 30 and they weren’t named Mosk or Sahmel,  Olivia Prokopova had the low round with a 27 to get her to within 3 shots of the lead.  Danny Tatum had a 28 to also pull within 3.  Lee Messinger shot a 29 to pull within 1 stroke of the lead.  Brice Bergesen had a 29 to tie Mosk for the lead at 59.  It is always close at Tyler and this event would not be different with 6 players within 3 strokes of the lead.  The players tried to play the last round but the rain quickly picked up and it was decided to restart the round the next morning.  With the much improved playing conditions, score improved and it quickly became a 2 man battle with Messinger and Mosk both playing very well.  Messinger started his round on hole 11 and was able to shoot a 13 on the back half of the half of the course.  Mosk, starting on hole 1, shot a 13 on the front 9.  Both players finished their remaining holes at 4 under allowing Mosk to squeak out a 1 stroke victory for his first win of the 2020 season.