Scott R Chilcutt, Austin, TX (April 15, 2012) The Golf Channel Am Tour - Hill Country Tour kicked off Earth Week with the Legends of Golf Classic at the Onion Creek Club in Austin, TX. Known as the "Birthplace of the Senior PGA Tour", the Onion Creek Club, last year achieved designation as a Certified Audobon Cooperative Sanctuary by maintaining a high degree of environmental quality. The Golf Channel, just one of the NBCUnversal family to bring awareness to the "Green Is Universal" campaign with original programming during the week leading up to Earth Day on April, 22nd.
With deadly overnight storms on Saturday in Oklahoma and Kansas, along with the Sunday forecasts for the Hill Country, it had many on the edge of staying at home. Just before noon the cold front blew through with about 30 minutes of showers, but behind it the dry line calmed the winds to set up a perfect day for another record turnout at Onion Creek.
Slated to have four Blackwood's at the event, two of them made the call and best of the trip. For the second time in a row they've both been in an event, father Brack (Dallas Tour) and son David (Hill Country Tour) won their respective flights. Tony Eno from North Richland Hills, TX and a Palmer Flight player won the Tournament Champion, presented by Labor Finders, trophy.
RESULTS:
Championship Flight: Boerne, Tx member Chris Daniluck made it three and punched his ticket to the National Championship with a two over par, 72. Birdies on 3rd and 18th holes keep him just one stroke clear of second time player Chase Clayton from San Antonio. Clayton, the winner his first time out was three clear of Fort Sam Hoston, TX player Bradley Davis rounding out the top three.
Palmer Flight: With three birdies on the day, first year member, Tony Eno from North Richland Hills, TX picked up his first win on tour shooting a +2 - 72. The Woodlands, TX resident, Martin Nealey made the best of his late entry grabbing the second spot over Jacob Morton from Fort Hood, TX. Nealey, with only minor blimishes on his card from 6 through 11 made 14 pars on the day.
Senior Palmer Flight: In his first event on tour, 55 year old Scott Williams from College Station, TX commanded a four stroke advantage over Fort Worth, TX resident Sean Fenton for the win. With a couple of triples on the front, Fenton couldn't make up the deficit on the back nine but, did hold on for his fourth runner up spot on the year by one stroke over Frank Davis from San Antonio. Davis made birdie four on the final hole to edge out a pair tied in the fourth spot for the show position.
Hogan Flight: Dallas Tour member, Brack Blackwood from Grandbury, TX needs to add on to his trophy case posing for his fourth winner picture of the year. Five strokes back, Michael Mathis from San Antonio, TX grabbed his best finish on tour, four strokes ahead of Demetrio Young from Killeen, TX and Round Rock, TX member Jorge Rodriguez.
Senior Hogan Flight: Georgetown, TX resident Darrell Wilson picked up his first win since his promotion from the Senior Sarazen Flight after his runner up finish at the 2011 SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. A single stroke back, Gene Rampy from Bastrop, TX and Boerne, TX player Steve Trickel shared the 2nd place finish with Paul Wuerdeman from San Antonio and Del Valle, TX member Edward Villasana tied for 4th.
Sarazen Flight: Les Costales from Cedar Park, TX made par on the final 3 holes to force a playoff with San Antonio, TX resident Rene Realme. Realme would go on to make par on the first extra hole to take his second win on tour and the season. The pair finished three strokes clear of Austin, TX player John Cox with his best finish since his win at the 2011 TPC Sawgrass Open.
Senior Sarazen Flight: Odessa, TX native, Gregg Smith,
now living in Austin, took the trophy by four strokes over Michael Hirsch from Giddings, TX. Smith ran into some trouble at the tail end of his first nine, but bounced back with a birdie on the 2nd hole for his first win on tour in almost two years at the June, 2010 ASA - Cowan Creek Golf Club event. Jones, OK traveler Stan Wilson finished a single stroke behind Hirsch for the 3rd spot.
Jones Flight: It was an "All Senior" top three in the combined flight with David Castillo from San Antonio, TX recording his first win of the year by one stroke over Houston Tour member Neil Macdonald from Huntsville, TX. Giddings, TX resident Thomas West grabbed the 3rd spot two strokes ahead of Open Division low finisher Coy Dayton of Austin.
Snead Flight: David Blackwood from San Antonio, TX started the day with a birdie four on the par five first hole and needed it, in the end only squeaking out a one stroke advantage over The Teravista Open champion Aaron Seafous from Austin. Seafous finished one stroke ahead of San Antonio's Mark Colwell.
Senior Snead Flight: Boerne, TX member Tom Hill had the field covered picking up his 2nd win on the year by seven strokes over Thomas Kerwin from Pflugerville, TX. Kerwin recorded his fourth runner up spot on the year after winning the Winter Classic - Hill Country Tour in December. Dan OShea from Copperas Cove, TX rounded out the top three.
SKINS:
Championship: 2 -- Chase Clayton, San Antonio, TX; Bradley Davis, Ft. Sam Houston, TX. 1 -- Chris Daniluck, Boerne, TX; Mark Miller, Bulverde, TX.
Palmer / Senior Palmer: 1 -- Tony Eno, North Richland Hills, TX; Bryan Wood, Leander, TX; Ron Finnerty, Laredo, TX; Scott Williams, College Station, TX; Larry Wilburn, Austin, TX.
Hogan / Senior Hogan: 2 -- Maurice Mintken, Round Rock, TX. 1 -- Jim Morgan, Round Rock, TX; Gene Rampy, Bastrop, TX; Edward Villasana, Del Valle, TX.
Sarazen / Senior Sarazen: 2 -- John Heintz, San Antonio, TX. 1 -- Devin Brown, San Antonio, TX; Michael Esquivel, Austin, TX; Daniel Mcgrath, Austin ,Tx; John Cox, Austin, TX.
Jones / Snead: 2 -- David Castillo, San Antonio, TX. 1 -- David Blackwood, San Antonio, TX; Carlos Cruz, San Antonio, TX; Coy Dayton, Austin, TX; Tom Hill, Boerne, TX; Dan OShea, Copperas Cove, TX.
Next Up - Hill Country is back in action for the Championship at Falconhead on May 5th. The Open at The Tribute is next up on the Dallas Tour on April, 29th, register early as the field will be limited. Oklahoma Tour visits the Cherokee HIlls Golf Club for the Hard Rock Open on April 28th.
For more information:
Scott R Chilcutt
Tour Director
Dallas / Fort Worth - Hill Country - Oklahoma
Golf Channel Amateur Tour
405.513.1467 - 972.201.9478
schilcutt@gcamtour.com
Scott R Chilcutt, Kerrville, TX (April 1, 2012) Riverhill Country Club, scarred by the drought of 2011 like most of the State of Texas and specifically the Hill Country, is the home of the Mr. Nelson Open. Designed by Bryon Nelson and Joe Finger, the event was originally scheduled for early June, hoping that the spring of 2012 would bring some much needed nourishment. But during the winter, the ownership determined they needed to put a face lift on the fairway grasses. As a result, we decided that in order to play the venue in 2012 we needed to do it before the "kill off" of what was left occurred. Tanker trucks full of water did what most say can't be done south of the 34th parallel and that's keep the Bent Grass greens alive and vibrant so the putting surfaces were good. Lift, clean and place was utilized in the fairways so that the players were not penalized for good shots off the tee and ultimately the tricky design was the winner.
Scott Thompson from Helotes, TX was the winner of the Tournament Champion, presented by Labor Finders, Trophy. Thompson, ran across the Golf Channel Am Tour at our fall SilverHorn Open event, joining the tour shortly after and has seen his share of success.
RESULTS:
Championship Flight: Newcomer Chase Clayton from San Antonio, TX went round the horn; birdie, bogey, double bogey, birdie, par to start his round in route to a two over par 74 with a four stroke cushion. Bulverde, TX member Mark Miller went out in one over par, but slid back coming to the club house to finish in the second spot. Chad Sullivan from Georgetown, TX finished third, after winning his first event on tour at the The Teravista Open.
Palmer Flight: Minnesota native, Todd VanDerSchaegen now from San Antonio, picked up his first win since the 2010 ASA - Tour Championship by one stroke over Cuero, TX player Derek Loebbecke. Loebbecke, off to PGA school in Florida at the end of the month matched VanDerSchaegen coming to the clubhouse, but couldn't overcome the one stroke deficit on the front nine. Local player Greg Brueland from San Antonio, TX stayed three strokes clear of the fourth spot finishing third.
Hogan Flight: Paul Wuerdeman from San Antonio, TX made the best of his round leaving the field behind in his win by 5 strokes. Canyon Lake, TX player E.B. Jobe out for his first event since the 2011 TEXAS OPEN at Horseshoe Bay Resort played steady golf to pick up the 2nd place spot, four strokes ahead of Steve Trickel from Boerne, TX.
Sarazen Flight: The highly touted rematch of the The Teravista Open in the Sarazen flight gave way to John Heintz from San Antonio, TX when he picked up his first win since the April 2011 event at Comanche Trace. Heintz had an up and down round, but with the help of a birdie on the par 5 -12th stayed two shots clear of Austin, TX member Michael Esquivel recording his fourth runner up finish of the year. William Dunem from New Braunfels, TX and Copperas Cove, TX member Jeffrey Karpoff shared the third place finish.
Senior Sarazen Flight: The eagle landed on Bastrop, TX player Gerald Cato's round and he used all its feathers to grab his first win on tour since the 2009 ASA - Tour Championship. Cato teed it up at the down wind, downhill par 4 - 16th two strokes behind Joe Abreo from Bulverde, TX and three strokes behind New Braunfels, Mike Allman when he recorded an eagle two. Allman and Abreo shared the second place spot.
Jones Flight: Helotes, TX player Scott Thompson picked up his third win on tour by two strokes over Thomas West from Giddings, TX. West carded a birdie on the 15th hole and looked to have the win wrapped up, but found trouble on the final two holes. Monte Loose from Morgans Point Resort, TX rounded out the top three.
Snead Flight: Ramon Colen from San Antonio played the steady line to pick up his first win since the 2011 Austin/San Antonio Tour Championship, nine strokes ahead of Boerne, TX Tom Hill. Hill edged out Carlos Cruz from San Antonio by a stroke where he finished third.
SKINS:
Championship /Palmer: 2 -- Chad Sullivan, Geogetown, TX; Mark Miller, Bulverde, TX; Derek Loebbecke, Cuero, TX. 1 -- Ron Finnerty, Laredo, TX; Dave Davlin, San Antonio, TX.
Hogan: 1 -- E.B. Jobe, Canyon Lake, TX; Steve Trickel, Boerne, TX; Paul Wuerdeman, San Antonio, TX.
Sarazen / Senior Sarazen: 1 -- Devin Brown, San Antonio, TX; John Heintz, San Antonio, TX; James Matthews, Killeen, TX; Bobby Duty, Granbury, TX; Richard Huyck, San Antonio, TX; Mike Allman, New Braunfels, TX; Gerald Cato, Bastrop, TX; Michael Hirsch, Giddings, TX.
Jones / Snead: 2 -- Jim Schmitz, Boerne, TX. 1 -- Monte Loose, Morgans Point Resort, TX; Thomas West, Giddings, TX.
Next Up - Hill Country is back in action at the Onion Creek Golf Club on April 15th for The Legends of Golf Classic. Dallas Tour is at The Golf Club at Frisco Lakes for the Frisco Lakes Challenge on April 7th. Oklahoma Tour visits the Cherokee Hills Golf Club for the Hard Rock Open on April 28th.
For more information:
Scott R Chilcutt
Tour Director
Dallas / Fort Worth - Hill Country - Oklahoma
Golf Channel Amateur Tour
405.513.1467 - 972.201.9478
schilcutt@gcamtour.com
www.gcamtour.com
