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B FLIGHT HEROICS HIGHLIGHT SENIOR AMATEUR TOUR EVENT
Lexington, NC
May 10, 2012
Steve Wright of Deep Gap fired an even-par 71 at Sapona Country Club in the Championship Flight of the Senior Amateur Golf Tour to win the event in his very first Tour outing. Wright enjoyed a 4 shot cushion over runner-up Mike Smith of Lewisville, and got his Tour "career" off to a running start. However, it was B Flight players who set off the biggest "fireworks".
Two remarkable shots and a personal best Tour effort took center stage in the B Flight competition at Sapona.
Durham's Neil Bleau had not broken 90 in his last 4 Tour events, so it was somewhat suprising when his group turned in his scorecard with a 75 on it. "When Bleau goes low, he really goes low", said Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck. "It was September of last year when Neil last broke 80 'on-Tour' with an identical 75 at The Carlson Farm Course of Greensboro Country Club. It's good to see him back on-track".
Durham's Charles Smith was 2nd in the flight with a 78, highlighted by an eagle 2 on the 316 yard, par 4, Sixth Hole. "Charles hit his 56 degree wedge right at the hole after a strong drive. It ran right down the flagstick and into the cup', noted playing partner Jeff Moore of Burlington.
Not to be outdone, Advance's Dawson Strider, who tied for 3rd place in the flight with Pinehurst's Ed Zieglar, knocked a 4-iron hybrid into the cup from 172 yards on the 13th Hole for his 7th hole-in-one. Ed Burton, playing with Strider said "It was right on the stick the whole way. We saw it bounce a couple times. When we got to the green and didn't see it, we thought it might have gone over the green, but there it was - in the cup"!
Maybe not quite as dramatic, but equally impressive was Gus Alford's effort in the A Flight. The Zebulon resident beat Randy Bunn, also from Zebulon and Durham's George Paris by 2 strokes - 73 to 75 for top honors.
Ed Ball of Winston-Salem has two Tour starts and has twice finished "in-the-money" with an 84 to top the C Flight. He was 4 strokes clear of last week's winner - Mike Robinson of Greensboro. Ball also won the only "Skin" rendered in the C Flight for a very profitable day indeed. "Ed may be moving up to "B" pretty soon, based on his Tour handicap. We'll take a look at it as we do for every Tour member", said Hallenbeck. "Ed has indicated he's ready if that should happen".
The next Senior Tour event is the season's second Major Championship at Mill Creek Golf Club in Mebane. There are just a few spots left for that event. Any member who wants to play, but has not signed up, needs to contact Hallenbeck as soon as possible at 336-495-6556.
THE SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF TOUR
SAPONA COUNTRY CLUB EVENT
TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (6247 YDS)
Steve Wright, Deep Gap 71
Mike Smith, Lewisville 75
Eddie McBride,Lewisville 76
Joey Moffitt, Lexington 76
Ron Hockensmith, Southern Pines 77
Chuck Taubersmith, Pinehurst 77
Jim Gammon, Eden 77
A FLIGHT (5950 yds)
Gus Alford, Zebulon 73
Randy Bunn, Zebulon 75
George Paris, Durham 75
John East, Rockingham 77
David Frye, Winston-Salem 77
Tim Stone, Reidsville 77
Jim Rohr, Pinehurst 77
B FLIGHT (5950 yds)
Neil Bleau, Durham 75
Charles Smith, Durham 78
Ed Zieglar, Pinehurst 80
Dawson Strider, Advance 80
Jeff Moore, Burlington 82
C FLIGHT (5950 yds)
Ed Ball, Winston-Salem 84
Mike Robinson, Greensboro 88
Ron Alligood, Advance 89
Richard Hartley, High Point 91
Dennis Bryant, Sophia 91
Doug Harvey, Knightdale 91
Jim Pritchett, Winston-Salem 91
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