PINEHURST HOSTS SENIOR
AM TOUR NATIONAL FINALS
Pinehurst, NC (November 13, 2014) - Two Hundred Twenty Eight Senior
Amateur Golf Tour members representing fifteen states and
twenty-one cities converged on four premier venues (Pinehurst #9, Pinewild
Country Club, The Legacy Golf Links, and Seven Lakes Country Club) this Tuesday
and Wednesday to contest the 16th annual Senior Amateur Golf Tour National
Championships.
The field was greeted by
seasonably warm and sunny weather to compete for the $10,000.00 prize pool in
Edwin Watts gift certificates. "We had to deal with some pretty
rough weather the last two years", stated Tour Founder Dennis
McCormac. "(It) could not have been better this year. With
four superior courses in play, the guys really had a great time".
Arguably Yorktown,
VA's Brian Layne had the best time of all. After winning A Flight
first place honors at last year's National Finals, Layne moved up to compete
with the big boys in the Championship Flight this year. All he did was
make it two-in-a-row with a 2-day score of 147, besting Charlotte's Dave Brown
by a single stroke.
Layne, who only
started playing golf 8 years ago stated "I love any kind of competition
and felt I was playing too good to stay in A Flight". His results
this week proved him right.
Consistency was the key
for the A Flight winner, Charlotte's Tom Carbone. He hit 24 of 28
fairways with only one 3-putt during the 2-day competition. Carbone,
who didn't win a single event this year on his home Tour's schedule, said
"Getting off to a good start the first day at Pinewild was the key to my
win. I only had 29 putts that day".
Tour rookie Dick Kuehl
out of Sanford, NC's Carolina Trace CC, had a relatively comfortable 4
stroke margin of victory with a 2-day score of 159 in securing the B Flight
win. "I wasn't long but safe off the tee and my irons were pretty
accurate both days", stated Kuehl. “I made a bunch of 5 and 6
footers today which really helped".
Pinehurst's John Henely
was one of only three C Flight competitors to break 90 both days of the event
with a total of 86-85 - 171. After hitting the ball straight all day,
Henely was 1 shot down on the final hole of the tournament, facing a long iron
shot over water. He hit the shot purely and made par, giving him the win.
In the team competition,
which is based on the total strokes of the top two finishers from each tour in
each flight, the Raleigh/Pinehurst Tour emerged victorious, snapping a 6-year
"stranglehold" that the Charlotte Tour had on the team trophy.
Their 1281 total bested Charlotte by a mere 5 strokes.
"The last time we
won it was 2006" said Raleigh/Pinehurst Tour Director Bruce
Hallenbeck. "It was about time we got it back".
THE SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF TOUR
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT:
Brian Layne, Yorktown,
VA 76-71 - 147
Dave Brown, Charlotte,
NC 75-73 - 148
Jim Gallagher, Yorktown,
VA 76-73 - 149
Bill Hall, Charlotte,
NC 74-75 - 149
Keith Myers, Roanoke, VA
70-82 - 152
A FLIGHT:
Tom Carbone,
Charlotte, NC 75-79 - 154
Jim Alford, Zebulon,
NC 83-75 - 158
Ed Paterniti, Orlando,
FL 79-79 - 158
Jeff Thompson,
Charlotte, NC 77-81 - 158
Bobby Annison,
Shreveport. LA 82-77 - 159
Ricky Segal, Charlotte,
NC 80-79 - 159
Mike Smith,
Kentucky 80-79 - 159
B FLIGHT:
Dick Kuehl, Sanford,
NC 80-79 - 159
Glenn Wright, Pittsboro,
NC 82-81 - 163
Jerry Drewry,
Indiana 79-84 - 163
Allen Hagen, Charlotte,
NC 79-85 - 164
Les Brightbill,
Florida 75-89 - 164
C FLIGHT:
John Henely, Pinehurst,
NC 86-85 - 171
Mark Sikes, Charlotte,
NC 87-87 - 174
Joe Porter, Orlando,
FL 89-87 - 176
Terry Lawson, Orlando,
Fl 95-82 - 177
Mike Wren, Virginia
Beach, VA 91-87 - 87
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