Arroyo Del Oso Championship Recap

This past Sunday at the Arroyo Del Oso Championship Mother nature gave a great day of golf. Hopefully I sign of what is to come for the remainder of this season. The golf course was in great shape as always but proved to be a test of everyone’s skills.

In the Championship Flight Shaine Hersey captured his 2^nd victory this year with a 3 shot victory over 2^nd place finisher Paul Bartlett. Shaine made 12 pars in all and mixed in a couple of birdies for a 75.

In the Palmer Flight Alan Turney got his 2^nd win of the season with a very fine 76. Please note that Mr. Turney has already qualified for Nationals this year via his 2^nd place finish at the Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Regional Major earlier this month. Mr. Turney was also recently recognized in the Member Spotlight of the Month. In a very close 2^nd place was Nathan Lucero with a 77 who had 5 birdies on the day. There was a three way tie for 3^rd with Don Rountree, Emerson Vallo and Darren Webb.

In the Hogan flight new comer Robert Smith won in a playoff over Rick Blose to take home his 1^st GCAmTour trophy. Both carded an 84 while 3^rd place finisher Adrian Abreu shot an 88.

In the Sarazen flight Ajna Seret walked away with his 1^st victory of the season in only his 2^nd tournament after moving to the Sarazen flight shooting a very fine 87. Mr. Seret has also managed to move into 1^st place in the Callaway Order of Merit standings. Samuel Felix came in 2^nd place for the second time this year with an 89. Rounding out the top 3 was Paul Chavez with 93.

In the Jones flight there was yet another playoff for top honors between eventual winner Fernando Sanchez and Phil Vallo who both shot very a very impressive 83. Mr. Sanchez won on the 1^st playoff hole to capture his 3^rd win of the season in just 4 starts. Mr. Sanchez has now qualified for Nationals via his 3 local tour wins. In 3^rd place was Jed Seward with an even 90.

In the Snead flight new comer Mr. Gene Bartlett captured the top spot with a 102. Mr. Bartlett comes to us all the way from Amarillo TX and at 79 years young of age is officially our most Senior player on the local tour. Mr. Bartlett says he is looking forward to his next tournament.

All in all is was a great day for golf and all those that attended the Burgers, Brats and Beers event directly after the tournament had a great time.

Tierra Del Sol Championship Recap

The 1^st annual Tierra Del Sol Championship is officially in the record books. Mother Nature gave everyone a few things to think about for this brand new event at a hidden gem of a golf course in Belen New Mexico. There was a little bit of all four seasons present throughout the course of competition this past Sunday.

In the Palmer Flight Roland Lucero got his 1^st victory of the season starting out with 5 pars in his first six holes and finishing with an even 80. Emerson Vallo came in a close 2^nd with an 81 with a string of pars and a couple of birdies on the back nine. Terry Freeze rounded out the top 3 with an 82.

In the Hogan Flight Steve Robbins captured his 1^st victory this year with an 86, this was Steve’s last tournament locally as he has accepted a position with a Casino in San Diego, CA. Good Luck on the local tour out in Sunny California. Coming in a close 2^nd for the second time this season was Ken Stopka who shot an 87 with pars on 11 of the first 14 holes before stumbling a bit in the closing few holes, due to Mother Nature with her high winds. Rick Blose and Dallas Shaw rounded out the top three.

In the Sarazen Flight Jeff Petrin battled the elements for his 1^st victory of the 2011 season with a 5 stroke margin of victory over 2^nd place finisher Ron McCulloch. Jim Pendergast rounded out the top three finishing just 1 stroke behind 2^nd place.

In the Jones Flight Fernando Sanchez got his 2^nd victory this season with a 93 to edge out Phil Vallo and Ryan Manyo who tied for 2^nd place. Both shot 94.

In the Snead Flight Kevin Rael battled the elements to capture his third victory of the season. With his 3^rd victory Mr. Rael is now qualified for Nationals provided he meets the minimum requirements per the GCAmTour rules, see below.

 Qualifiers for the Senior and National Championship must be a member in good standing with Golf Channel Amateur Tour and are required to compete in at least five (5) tournament rounds on Tour of which three (3) must be local tournament rounds, meaning non-Majors. All qualifiers must ALSO compete in at least one (1) tournament round after June 1, 2011. A tournament round is designated as an 18-hole score.