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Eagle Creek
(2-Day Major and
Skins)
October 4-5,
2003
(cue
CBS golf music) It was the tournament everyone had waited for all
season. A tradition unlike any other.
Okay, so it was our first year; but the setting was historic
Eagle Creek Golf Club in Norwalk.
The greens were plush, the rough was in Major tournament
conditions and the greens were……….well, sand.
The
day one contenders were familiar faces of 2003 tournament champions;
Gregg Roberts, Joe Scuer and Dave Hawk.
All were on the first page of the leaderboard and were fighting
for the coveted “Tour Champoinship”.
These players were able to put together solid rounds under
difficult conditions to put themselves in a position to contend on
Sunday.
The
scores were rough on Day One. Craig
“Grumpy” Chenevey might have actually smiled when he chipped in on
the par 5 11th hole for a birdie.
Craig saw his hopes for a first Tour victory disappear on
Sunday, but is a player to look out for next year.
Old
man George Herrling (Dick and George aren’t on email, so I can get
away with it) was able to get the second and final skin of the day
with a birdie on the par 4 15th.
Playing
in his usual suspenders, Dick Neroda was the Day one leader, firing a
net 68. Dick and George
are always dangerous players on courses of modest length.
On
Day 2, the frost on the ground delayed play by over an hour and had
all the players nervously awaiting their tee times.
Overall Tour Championship contenders knew the scoring would be
better on Sunday, as Chuck Nagy posted the low round of 80 for the
weekend. Chuck and
playing partner Vince Prieto had solid weekends to build on for next
year.
Dick
continued his strong play, shooting a net 71 to capture 2nd
place. Kevin Major
rebounded from a 90 on day 1 to shoot an 81 on Day 2 to finish in 3rd. Kevin also solidified his year-end standing and finished in
the money in 4th place.
One point behind him was Joe Scuer in 5th.
Gregg
Roberts had his second solid day; shooting a net 68 and captured the 2
day tournament championship. This
also put himself in the position to upset favorite Dave Hawk for the
Tour Title. With Dave
shooting an uncharacteristic 92 and finishing in 14th, Gregg was able
to leap from 3rd to 1st place in the overall
standings and is the 2003 Tour Champion!
Congrats Gregg!
Dave
Hawk still had a remarkable year and finished in 2nd place
overall ahead of Mike Thompson, who was a last minute withdraw from
the event. Congratulations
to both of you on successful seasons.
As
for the skins, Gregg Roberts came out strong and birdied the first
hole for a skin. Joe
Scuer birdied the 2nd hold and was the only player to par
the most difficult hole, #3, and pick up 2 skins.
Gary Boyd birdied the 4th hole for a skin, and also
turned out to be the most improved player of the weekend.
Gary shot a gross 106 on Saturday, but showed Tim Couch-esque
resiliency by firing an 89 on Sunday.
Deer
Track champion Jeff Hillgoth blazed his way to a birdie on the scenic
par 4 14th hole for the 5th skin of the day.
Kevin Major ended the Tour on a great note with a birdie on 18
for the final skin of the year.
Once
again, No player parred the 17th hole.
The hole had 21 bogeys over 2 days, but no pars.
Thanks
so much to all of you! I
hope to see you all again next year!
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