Final Kerrville Event of 2012 - Mr. Nelson Open Recap

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