| SWPT 2020 | 2020 | 2020 | Total | # | |||||||
| PPA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Money | Finals | Money | # | # | TTL | Rds | |
| FINAL | Avg | Pts | won | won | Won | Tm | W | Str | |||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 28.67 | 765 | -0.80 | $987.00 | $220.00 | $1,207.00 | 15 | 4 | 1605 | 56 |
| 2 | Brice Bergesen | 29.05 | 727 | -0.41 | $671.50 | $350.00 | $1,021.50 | 15 | 4 | 1627 | 56 |
| 3 | Wade Sahmel | 28.26 | 479 | -0.46 | $563.00 | $160.00 | $723.00 | 10 | 4 | 989 | 35 |
| 4 | Jeffrey Smith | 29.56 | 452 | -0.41 | $427.50 | $270.00 | $697.50 | 12 | 1389 | 47 | |
| 5 | Rainey Statum | 28.89 | 363 | -1.58 | $475.00 | $160.00 | $635.00 | 4 | 3 | 491 | 17 |
| 6 | Lee Messinger | 29.93 | 341 | 0.01 | $330.00 | $220.00 | $550.00 | 11 | 1317 | 44 | |
| 7 | Danny Tatum | 29.24 | 266 | 0.28 | $305.00 | $160.00 | $465.00 | 11 | 1 | 1111 | 38 |
| 8 | Olivia Prokopova | 29.63 | 244 | 0.61 | $162.00 | $160.00 | $322.00 | 11 | 1274 | 43 | |
| 9 | Don Parker | 30.73 | 146 | 0.71 | $100.00 | $100.00 | $200.00 | 11 | 1352 | 44 | |
| 10 | Chance Marett | 31.26 | 136 | 0.32 | $102.50 | $100.00 | $202.50 | 6 | 594 | 19 | |
| 11 | Mason Spradlin | 31.86 | 97 | 0.92 | $50.00 | $100.00 | $150.00 | 7 | 669 | 21 | |
| 12 | Jody Kimble | 31.33 | 85 | 0.28 | $74.50 | $74.50 | 3 | 282 | 9 | ||
| 13 | Tom Adair | 31.00 | 82 | 0.03 | $45.00 | $100.00 | $145.00 | 5 | 465 | 15 | |
| 14 | Greg Everly | 30.94 | 72 | 0.40 | $43.00 | $100.00 | $143.00 | 4 | 557 | 18 | |
| 15 | Cliff Matthews | 29.00 | 67 | -1.00 | $52.00 | $100.00 | $152.00 | 1 | 87 | 3 | |
| 16 | John Kropinak | 28.83 | 58 | -0.53 | $70.00 | $70.00 | 2 | 173 | 6 | ||
| 17 | Joe Lea | 28.50 | 42 | -0.87 | $62.50 | $62.50 | 2 | 171 | 6 | ||
| 18 | Matt Bellner | 34.08 | 25 | 3.03 | $0.00 | 4 | 409 | 12 |
| SWPT 2020 | 2020 | 2020 | 2020 | ||||||||
| APA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Total | Finals | Total | # | # | Total | Rn | |
| FINAL | Avg | Pts | Index | Money | Money | Tm | W | Strokes | ds | ||
| 1 | Chris Conradi | 31.04 | 773 | -1.58 | $450.00 | $40.00 | $490.00 | 15 | 7 | 1738 | 56 |
| 2 | Mike Huckaby | 31.89 | 538 | -1.14 | $180.00 | $70.00 | $250.00 | 8 | 2 | 1116 | 35 |
| 3 | Steven Yancey | 31.65 | 387 | -1.10 | $126.00 | $50.00 | $176.00 | 7 | 1 | 981 | 31 |
| 4 | Alan Sahmel | 31.55 | 362 | -0.55 | $144.00 | $40.00 | $184.00 | 10 | 2 | 978 | 31 |
| 5 | Jay Salyer | 33.33 | 222 | -0.35 | $81.00 | $30.00 | $111.00 | 8 | 1000 | 30 | |
| 6 | Trevor Lewin | 34.22 | 219 | 1.10 | $54.00 | $30.00 | $84.00 | 10 | 1403 | 41 | |
| 7 | Jerry Medina | 32.39 | 214 | -0.61 | $90.00 | $30.00 | $120.00 | 6 | 1 | 842 | 26 |
| 8 | Dwain Willett | 31.75 | 193 | -1.78 | $72.00 | $72.00 | 4 | 2 | 381 | 12 | |
| 9 | Gary Plain | 33.27 | 166 | -0.13 | $63.00 | $30.00 | $93.00 | 5 | 1 | 499 | 15 |
| 10 | Charles Cox | 28.65 | 144 | -1.42 | $90.00 | $90.00 | 4 | 487 | 17 | ||
| 11 | Greg Simpson | 29.71 | 116 | -0.36 | $54.00 | $54.00 | 4 | 505 | 17 | ||
| 12 | Ken Stanfill | 35.04 | 105 | 1.12 | $18.00 | $20.00 | $38.00 | 8 | 876 | 25 | |
| 13 | Adam Sahmel | 31.69 | 85 | 0.94 | $45.00 | $45.00 | 6 | 602 | 19 | ||
| 14 | Mickey DeLucca | 33.30 | 79 | 1.53 | $45.00 | $45.00 | 9 | 999 | 30 | ||
| 14 | Jack Ramsey | 35.28 | 79 | 2.67 | $18.00 | $20.00 | $38.00 | 8 | 882 | 25 | |
| 16 | Charles Tarbell | 30.59 | 76 | 0.52 | $54.00 | $54.00 | 4 | 520 | 17 | ||
| 17 | Bryan Gentry | 30.00 | 40 | -0.41 | $36.00 | $36.00 | 1 | 240 | 8 | ||
| 18 | Robert Martin | 36.00 | 31 | 1.77 | $20.00 | $20.00 | 1 | 108 | 3 | ||
| 19 | Gary Green | 36.67 | 29 | 2.43 | $20.00 | $20.00 | 1 | 110 | 3 | ||
| 20 | David Greenup | 39.83 | 13 | 6.17 | $0.00 | 2 | 239 | 6 |
The evening of 8/29 saw the rain and it rained again the morning of the SWPT Tour Championship. The good news was that it remained overcast which kept the temperatures from being unbearable. The bad news was the carpet was wet and the conditions changed as the day progressed and the carpet dried out.
In the Pro Division the top 2 seeds of Geoffrey Mosk and Brice Bergesen had bye’s. The featured match was between Wade Sahmel and 2 time national champion Cliff Matthews. Wade then went out and easily won 7-6. Other winners were 2018 National Champion Rainey Statum, 2014 national Champion Jeffrey Smith, 2015 Senior National Champion Danny Tatum, Lee messinger, and 2 time US Masters, 4 time US Open champion, USPMGA Hall of Famer, and with child, Olivia Prokopova. In the quarter finals Olivia lived up to her Boyfriends name of the bogey man, in route to giving away a few to many holes as Mosk stayed perfect against Sahmels and future Sahmels in SWPT Finals matches (5-0) with a 3-2 victory. In a battle of national champions and with 14 SWPT Tour champions between them, Smith knocked out Statum 3-1. On the other side of the bracket Tatum took Bergesen to sudden death before falling on the first hole of SD. Local legend and number 2 on the all-time SWPT wins list, Lee Messinger was able to beat Wade Sahmel 5-4. In the Semi Finals Mosk was able to get out to an early 2 hole lead on Smith after Smith bogeyed hole 5. But when Mosk Bogeyed hole 18, smith had taken a 1 hole lead that he would never relinquish. Mosk was able to stay close and had a chance to send the match into sudden death by making hole 18, but his put was just a touch soft and Smith advanced to the tour championship finals for the 10th time in his career when he had only lost 1 time before. In the other Match Brice got hot and was just to much for Messinger to handle as he won with a 5-4 margin. In the finals (video posted on Facebook) Bergesen and Smith traded aces like the champions that they are thru the first 18 holes. As they started the final 18 holes of the year, smith again was able to carve out a 1 hole advantage. On the front 9 Brice fought back and was able to take a 2 hole advantage. Bergesen then made the 1st 2 holes on the back while Smith was only able to make 1, putting Bergesen up by 3 with just 7 holes to go. Another make by Bergesen on hole 13 followed by a miss by Smith and the match was just abut over. Bergesen laid up in 14 forcing Smith to go for the ace and he did. But his putt missed the hole and went down the hill leading to a bogey and Bergesen claiming his 4th SWPT Championship.
In the APA 4 players gad a bye, and in the other 4 matches the higher seeded player won each match. Gary Plain defeated ken Stanfill 1 up. Steven yancey defeated Gary Greene 3-2. Jerry medina beat Jack Ramsey, and Trevor Lewin knocked out Robert Martin. In the next round once again the higher seeded players won each match. Chris Conradi defeated Gary Plain 3-2. Steven Yancey defeated Jay Salyer in a hotly contested match 2-1. Mike Huckaby put down Medina 2-1, and the giant Alan Sahmel beat his South African friend Lewin, 4-3. Huckaby was still stung from his loss in last years final match where he had the lead with 2 holes to go but eventually lost in sudden death. He was determined to make amends on his home course this year. He took another step as he defeated the 2018 APA Senior national champion Sahmel in convincing fashion 7-6. In the other Match the APA Player of the year and 7 time tournament winner Conradi had his hands full with Steven Yancey. The 2 battled back and forth and when the 36 holes were done they remained tied. It took another 2 holes of sudden death to complete the match and in 38 holes Yancey came out on top to advance to his first tour championship finals. In the finals the match stayed close with Yancey holding a slim lead with 9 holes to go. The Huckaby, a 7 time APA Tour Champion, rose to the occasion and went 1 up as the match reached it’s final few holes. Standing on the 9th hole, the 36th hole of the match, Huckaby was clinging to the 1 hole lead knowing an ace would get him the 2020 title. He struck the putt true and his ball found the bottom of the cup and Huckaby had claimed another SWPT APA Championship.
The 2020 season had many challenges. Tournaments were canceled due to Covid-19. A course closed on us mid-year. Some events were moved. We had players like Micky Delucca who missed events because they were in the hospital. We had a hurricane hit Lake Charles and do substantial damage to the Putt Putt course there as well as the entire city. Yet we have much to still be thankful for. Most importantly the friendship that we share with each other. This is always a sad time of year as we know that for most of us, this will be the last time we see our Putt Putt family for many months. Some will see each other at Nationals in just a few week, and a few others will spend time with each other at the Mini Golf Masters in October. We don’t know yet at this time if our typical year end celebration in Lake Charles, the AL, will happen or not. But as we look forward to the next putting season we will remember the times we shared with each other this past season and the many season before that and relish the time that we can again get together and tell stories of the aces that got away.
| PPA PLAYOFF 2020 | SWPT- ARLINGTON TEXAS | |
| 30 AUGUST 2020 | ||
| Round of 16 | Olivia Prokopova d Don Parker | 6 and 5 |
| Rainey Statum d Tom Adair | 3 and 2 | |
| Jeffrey Smith d Greg Everly | 2 and 1 | |
| Danny Tatum d Chance Marett | 1up | |
| Lee Messinger d Mason Spradlin | 8 and 7 | |
| Wade Sahmel d Cliff Matthews | 7 and 6 | |
| Round of 8 | Geoff Mosk d Olivia Prokopova | 3 and 2 |
| Jeffrey Smith d Rainey Statum | 3 and 1 | |
| Brice Bergesen d Danny Tatum | 37th hole | |
| Lee Messinger d Wade Sahmel | 5 and 4 | |
| Semi Finals | Jeffrey Smith d Geoff Mosk | 1 up |
| Brice Bergesen d Lee Messinger | 5 and 4 | |
| Finals | Brice Bergesen d Jeffrey Smith | 5 and 4 |
| APA PLAYOFF 2020 | SWPT- ARLINGTON TEXAS | |
| 30 AUGUST 2020 | ||
| Round of 16 | Gary Plain d Ken Stanfill | 1 up |
| Steven Yancey d Gary Greene | 3 and 2 | |
| Jerry Medina d Jack Ramsey | 9 and 8 | |
| Trevor Lewin d Robert Martin | 9 and 8 | |
| Round of 8 | Chris Conradi d Gary Plain | 3 and 2 |
| Steven Yancey d Jay Salyer | 2 and 1 | |
| Mike Huckaby d Jerry Medina | 2 and 1 | |
| Alan Sahmel d Trevor Lewin | 4 and 3 | |
| Semi Finals | Steven Yancey d Chris Conradi | 39 holes |
| Mike Huckaby d Alan Sahmel | 7 and 6 | |
| Finals | Mike Huckaby d Steven Yancey | 1 up |
The players gathered at the Arlington Parks course for the last events of the 2020 season on August 29th. Many players were there on the 28th to get in some practice since the events on the 29th started at 9am. It only got up to 109 degrees on the 28th of August so many players didn’t practice for too long but it was much needed.
In the pro division Geoff Mosk knew that he needed a good showing to defend his 2019 player of the year title. Both Brice Bergesen and Wade Sahmel had an outside shot of catching him if they had top 3 finishes and he faltered. Jeff Smith, who has won both a Texas Open and SWPT Tour championship on this course in recent years came out hotter than a depot stove making the first 5 holes in route to a first round score of 28 that was good enough for a 1 stroke lead over Mosk, Rainey Statum, Olivia Prokopova, and Don Parker. Smith is the all time leader in wins on the SWPT and was still looking for his first win of the 2020 season and was in a good position after 1 round to get it. In round 2 Olivia Prokopova who was carrying around a very small human, stormed to the lead with a 26 to be in at 55 for 2 rounds. She was very closely followed by Statum who had a 27 of his own in round 2. 2 time National Champion Cliff Matthews was just 3 strokes back at 57 and Bergesen and Mosk were just 3 back at 58. In the last round Mason Spradlin had the low round of the day with a 24. He was a little to far back to get into contention but it showed that he had the game to do well the next day. Smith recovered from his poor second round with a 27 his final round to be in at 88. Greg Everly had scores of 26 and 28 his final 2 rounds to also be in at 88. Matthews had a good back nine of 14 to recover from an underwhelming front nine to finish the round at 30 and a 3 round score of 87. Prokopova, playing just a few groups behind the lead group that included Mosk and Bergesen, was also having a tough last round and finished at 32. With just 3 holes to go Mosk and Bergesen were tied and it was looking like they had a chance to pass the Prokopova and Matthews. Mosk needed to stay ahead of Bergesen to increase his point lead for the Player of the year award, and a win would secure. Mosk made holes 16 and 17 while Bergesen only made 1 coming down the stretch. Olivia was not able to make the necessary ace to tie Mosk so she finished at 87 along with Bergesen and Matthews. It was a very tight finish that included pressure putts from so many competitors. It was a great warm up for the Championship to be held the next day.
In the APA division Chris Conradi had already wrapped up the 2020 APA player of the year award with his 6 victories this year. The Arlington course is not very far from his home and he plays here several times a year in weekly tournaments. He was the odds on favorite to win both the regular tour event and the Finals the next day. On Saturday he did not disappoint. Conradi had a first round score of 30 which had him a tie with the other local favorite and 2019 player of the year, Mike Huckaby. Just 1 stroke behind those 2 players was Steven Yancey who continues to improve each year. Huckaby had a second score of 30 and was in the lead by himself after 2 rounds. Conradi was just 1 stroke back at 61 and Jerry Medina had moved into contention as he was at 63. In the final round Huckaby had a 35 to be in at 95. Conradi stayed consistent with a 32 and Medina had another 30 to tie Conradi for first at 93. In the playoff Conradi was just a bit to much for Medina as he won for the 7th time in 2020.
| SWPT | Arling | SWPT | Arling | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 29Aug | 2020 | 29Aug | |||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoffrey Mosk | 29 | 29 | 28 | 86 | $125.00 | 1 | Chris Conradi | 30 | 31 | 32 | 93 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | Brice Bergesen | 31 | 27 | 29 | 87 | $52.00 | 2 | Jerry Medina | 33 | 30 | 30 | 93 | $18.00 | |
| 2 | Olivia Prokopova | 29 | 26 | 32 | 87 | $52.00 | 3 | Mike Huckaby | 30 | 30 | 35 | 95 | $18.00 | |
| 2 | Cliff Matthews | 30 | 27 | 30 | 87 | $52.00 | 4 | Steven Yancey | 31 | 35 | 30 | 96 | $18.00 | |
| 5 | Jeffrey Smith | 28 | 33 | 27 | 88 | $23.00 | 5 | Alan Sahmel | 35 | 32 | 35 | 102 | $18.00 | |
| 5 | Greg Everly | 34 | 26 | 28 | 88 | $23.00 | 6 | Trevor Lewin | 32 | 40 | 33 | 105 | ||
| 7 | Rainey Statum | 29 | 27 | 33 | 89 | 7 | Robert Martin | 36 | 36 | 36 | 108 | |||
| 8 | Wade Sahmel | 32 | 30 | 30 | 92 | 8 | Gary Greene | 37 | 42 | 31 | 110 | |||
| 9 | Don Parker | 29 | 36 | 30 | 95 | 9 | Ken Stanfill | 35 | 42 | 35 | 112 | |||
| 9 | Lee Messinger | 30 | 33 | 32 | 95 | 10 | Jack Ramsey | 40 | 37 | 36 | 113 | |||
| 11 | Mason Spradlin | 37 | 35 | 24 | 96 |
In 2018 the SWPT held the inaugural “The Brice” event to honor Brice Brice Bergesen. Without Brice I know I would not be playing Putt Putt and I doubt there would be Southwest Putting tour. He is the only player to have won a PPA event in 7 different decades. He is a member of the PPA Hall of Fame. He was named one of the 60 greatest putters of all time. He was the 2018 Senior National champion and tied for 2nd in the National Championship to his long time friend Rainey Statum. He has ran the Texas and now Southwest Putting Tour for many many years. He is a 3 time SWPT Tour Champion and is 3rd in all time wins on the SWPT. We hold this event each year now to Honor all he has done for the game of Putt Putt and all he continues to do, including kicking our asses.
‘The Brice” teed off at 10am in a failed attempt to beat the Waco heat. It was nice and humid for the players playing the 3rd annual Brice event. After 1 round of play only 1 player was not within 2 strokes of the lead, with Jeffrey Smith and Chance Marett taking first round leads with scores of 29. It should be noted that Jeffrey Smith predicted that the Sunday scores would be a bit lower than the Saturday scores with players getting more used to the playing conditions. On day 1 there were a total of 4 scores below 30 in both divisions. We were half way to that after 1 round to start the day in this 4 round event. In round 2 Don Parker had the low round of the weekend with a 14-12-26. This catapulted him to a 2 stroke lead over Lee Messinger and Geoff Mosk who had 2 very good and consistent rounds of 30-29. 3 more players were just 1 more stoke back at 60, Brice Bergesen, Smith, and Marett. The field stayed tight and no one could separate themselves from the pack in round 3. Brice was finally able to figure out how to shoot below par on the front 9, something he couldn’t do on Saturday and also did not do in his 1st round on Sunday, and he used the new ability to get within 1 stroke of the lead at 89. Messinger had taken the lead with a second consecutive 29 (making for 8 round in the 20’s after 3 rounds of play). Bergesen and Parker were 1 stroke back. Smith and Mosk were just 2 strokes back. So 2 thirds of the field were within 2 strokes of the lead. Everyone was keeping an eye on the other players to see what they needed to do. The threesome of Mosk, Smith, and Bergesen were in the lead group. When Mosk missed 5 and then bogeyed 6, he fell 3 strokes behind Bergesen and Smith and was essentially out of the contest. Messinger was only able to muster a 1 under on the front which dropped him into a tie with Bergesen and Smith. Parker also was struggling the last round and was just off the pace. After a few holes on the back p smith had taken a 1 stroke lead, and from watching Messinger and Parker, they knew it was coming down to a 2 horse race. Both players made 14 and 15 for Smith to remain up by 1. Then both missed the tough 16th and 17th holes. Smith had a chance to win with an ace on 18 but his putt missed wide right. Mosk was putting 2nd in the group and made an ace to get him to within 2 strokes of the lead. It was too little too late, but did get him into 3rd place and secure the 2 day total score victory. Bergesen needing an ace to tie does what great players do. He hit a perfect putt that found the center of the cup to force a playoff. In the first weekend of the year Bergesen and Smith had a playoff at what turned out to be the last ever event at Webster with Bergesen winning the playoff. Smith, who is the all time leading winner in SWPT history, had noted that he had not won an event yet this year and REALLY wanted this one. He also told me as we stood by the 18th hole before Bergesen hit his putt that he knew Brice was going to make it. In the playoff Brice made hole 3 to go one up. He stayed 1 stroke up thru the first 8 holes, then Smith made the tough hole 9 for the first time all weekend to tie the score. Both players made 10, then missed the next 3 as nerves set in. Smith then missed the table top hole for the 1st time all day and commented that the miss probably cost him the tournament. Bergesen made the ace and then made 15 as well. The last 3 holes are very tough to make so it was going to be difficult for Smith to Catch Bergesen. Both players hit good putts on 16 that came very close to going in but neither dropped. Smith then hit a good putt on 17 that found the left lip of the hole before missing. After a Bergesen miss on 18 Smith had a chance to tie and send us into sudden death. His putt was just a bit wide of the hole on the right, and Brice was able to win the event named after him for a second time in 3 years. It was a tough loss for Smith, but going into the tour championship weekend I think finally feels like his stroke is coming around and he will be tough to beat.
In the APA, Conradi came out of the gates almost as hot as the weather and shot scores of 30-30 to take a 4 stroke lead over Mike Huckaby, who is just 1 win away from tying Greg Everly for the most APA wins in tour history. Jay Salyer was 6 strokes back and still in contention. Chris has been playing great all year and is running away with the APA Player of the Year contest and he could not be matched on this day. His 3rd round score of 31 gave him a 7 stroke lead over Salyer going into the final round. Conradi let off the gas a little but and coasted in with a 33 that was good for a 9 stroke lead over Salyer. Huckaby was able to hold on for 3rd place just 1 more stroke behind Conradi. Conradi now has 6 wins on the year and a commanding lead in the POY points race and in stroke average. With the Arlington Parks course just a few miles from his home, he is going to be tough to beat in 3 weeks when the tour makes its final stop of the year at the Arlington Parks course where the 2020 SWPT championship will be held.
The Waco course got some TLC recently all holes that hadn’t been re-carpeted in the last 2 years not only got new carpet, but also got concrete chips removed and cracks patched up as well. With a new coat of paint the tournament course will be looking as good as any that we play. The course is always tough and new carpet didn’t change that Breaking 30 was a difficult feat to accomplish. On Saturday only 4 of 45 rounds were in the 20’s, but the course was playing very fair and that is about all we can really ever ask for.
15 players came out to try the new carpet on Saturday August 8th where temperatures reached 100 degrees. Many players brought water for themselves and for others. The Conradi’s also brought ice and snacks for everyone and it was GREATLY appreciated by everyone. Mason Spradlin, who says he doesn’t ever play this course well, started off with a 28 to take the 1st round lead by 1 over Brice Bergesen and 2 over Greg Everly and Jeffrey Smith. It was the lowest score he had ever had on the course that he has been playing for a few years now. Spradlin fell victim to some of his old enemy holes in round 2 allowing for a new leader. Geoff Mosk was that leader after shooting a 27 with a miss on the easy table top hole 14. That allowed him to be the only player under 60 with a score of 59. Bit it was a tight race. Smith and Bergesen were just a single stroke back at 60. It should be noted that Bergesen shot even on the front 9 his first 2 rounds and shot his 29 in the opening round by making the last 7 holes. He continued this in the 3rd round with a 3rd consecutive 18 on the front 9. Mosk and Smith were not able to take advantage however as they were both only to manage a 17 on the front 9. Everly started the round just 2 strokes back of Mosk at 61, but shot a 1 over 19 on the front. Only Lee Messinger and Chance Marett were able to shoot as low as 16 on the front the last round in the PPA. Mosk was able to 5 aces on the back 9 to pull away from Smith and Bergesen and claim his 3rd victory of the year. Smith and Bergesen tied for 2nd 3 strokes back of Mosk at 92 and Everly was able to hang on to the final cash spot at 93.
In the APA only 2 players were able to break par in the opening round. Defending Player of the year Mike Huckaby and local player and host Ken Stanfill who both shot a 1 under par 35. Players rebounded a bit in round 2 with most of the field being able to finish under par. Trevor Lewin had the low score of the round with a 31 that gave him the lead going into the final round by 1 over Chris Conradi and Huckaby. Trevor had a decent last round of 35 and hoped it would stand up. It did against all of the players except Conradi who had the low APA round of the day, and the low round of any player in the 3rd round, with a 29. This allowed Conradi to claim his 5th win of the year and all but lock up the APA Player of the year award for 2020. Jay Salyer and Stanfill were able to hold on for a tie of 3rd place to share the last cash spots.
It rained overnight and the course was till very wet when the players arrived early Sunday morning. The temperature was in the low 80’s but the Humidity was at 130% so drinking water to replace the gallons of sweat each player was using was a must. One player even wore a band aid to try to keep the sweat in, or to cover a wound, the world will never know for sure. Rainey Statum came out hot again shooting a 1st round score of 28. He was undefeated in the 2 events he had played this year and was looking to make it 3 in a row. Tied with him was Jeffrey Smith, who amazingly was still looking for his 1st win of the decade. Also looking for their 1st wins of the decade and only 1 stroke back were Lee Messinger and Mason Spradlin. Having a disastrous 1st round and not in contention was Geoff Mosk who had just 3 aces in route to a 34. It was still very tight after 2 rounds. Messinger had taken a 1 stroke lead at 57. Statum and Smith were just 1 stroke back at 58. Brice Bergesen was at 59, and Spradlin at 60. A shoot was looming. Coming from way back, Mosk was 9 under after hole 14 but deiced in to finish in 5th place at 89. Mason had a solid last round of 28 to come in 4th. Smith also had a solid last round and with 2 holes to go had a chance to tie but when he missed hole 17 he was destined to finish in 3rd at 87. Statum had his best round of the day with a 27 and because he won the previous day was in the first group. His 85 had been posted and Messinger knew what he needed to do. He, like Smith, needed to make his last 2 to tie and try to grab the victory that has eluded him this decade. He hit 2 clutch putts and forced a playoff with Statum. In the playoff Statum was just to much has he went on to win his 3rd tournament in as many events.
In the APA Jerry Medina came out as hot as a depot stove with a 28 and took a 2 stroke lead over Conradi. The next closest player was Jay Salyer with a 33. Jerry continue his solid play with a 31 the next round and went into the last round with a 4 lead trying to win his first ever APA event, or at least his first one in more than 35 years. Jerry played extremely well all day and did soming that not many APA players ever do on this course. His last round of 30 gave him a score of 89. I can’t remember the last time the winning score in the APA was below 90 on the Longview course. This is an accomplishment that will not soon be forgotten. It also bears mention that Salyer finished at 95, which on most days would be good enough to win in Longview. He played solid with scores of 33-31-31
It was a fun weekend where the players were able to avoid the rain and share some fellowship with each other. We only have 2 weekends left in this shortened 2020 season. We look forward to seeing all that can make it to Waco in 2 weeks where all of the carpet has been replaced, and cracks in the concrete have also been repaired. The 60+ year old course needed some TLC and we are all happy that it finally received it. it should be a great playing course for many years to come. A group of players will be at the course this coming Sunday at 10am. The heartland Tour is also having 2 events at the course on Coit Rd this coming Saturday if any players are interested in playing in their event.
As we approached tee time on Saturday we had 15 players that had come out to play what is normally considered the most fair course on tour. Good putts are rewarded and bad putts very often result in tough deuces and bogeys. As we prepared to tee off a 16th player showed up in Matt Bellner. With it being is lone course he didn’t want to arrive early and have any of his super secret shots stolen by the other players. Rainey Statum, Tom Adair, and Lee Messinger didn’t need any of those shots as they came out of the gate strong. Statum was in the lead with a 25, with Adair and Messinger just a single stroke back. Geoffrey Mosk and Brice Bergesen were also close at 28. In round 2, after having 5 players in the 20’s in round 1, not a single player was able to break 30. The weather caused the carpet to fluff and putts that rolled in earlier were now coming up short. Statum now had a 3 stroke lead over Adair, Bergesen, and Mosk with a few other players within striking distance. Rainey left the door open by shooting a 31 his final round but it was enough to hold on for the win. Unfortunately for Statum, this was a skins event so the win didn’t come with any money yet. It was just for pairings for the skins event. The 3somes playing for $10 per hole were Statum, Mosk, and Bergesen in group 1. In group 2 were Jeffrey Smith, Danny Tatum, and Adair. Both groups were close on the front 9 with the biggest surprise being a 2 winning hole 4 for both groups. On the back 9 Tatum and Statum cleaned up! Statum ended up winning 13 holes in his group and Tatum making 14-18 in his to win 11 holes in his. Smith won $50, Mosk $30, and Bergesen and Adair won $20 each
In the APA this course usually has the highest winning score of any course on tour. It isn’t unusual to see a score of 100 win this event. Steven Yancey had a solid 1st round score of 30 to take a 2 stroke lead over the almost certain player of the year, Chris Conradi, and Ken Stanfill, who both shot fine rounds of 32. Conradi followed up his 32 with another solid round of 31 but he was still 1 stroke back of Yancey as we headed into the final round. Ken Stanfill was still within striking distance but he was unable to recover from a bogey on hole 1 and just barely missed making the top 3 and qualifying for the skins event. Jay Salyer and Jerry Medina also finished just a single stroke out of making the skins event with their final scores of 103. Gary Plain recovered from a 1st round score of 39 and shot a final round score of 30 to get the last skins spot while Yancey and Conradi battled to the last hole with Yancey coming out on top and beating Conradi with a final round score of 96. In the skins event Conradi and Yancey didn’t play nice. They shut out Plain and each won 9 skins to take home $36 each. It was a fun event and one that we plan to do every year at a different location.
14 players came out to the longest running 8 round event on the SWPT, an event that goes back more than 25 years, the Texas Open, rebranded the Mike Baldoza Texas Open 4 years ago. It was slightly under 100 degrees when the putting started at noon with our defending champions Jeffrey (make sure you put the “rey” on his name) Smith and Mike Huckaby. The course is fair with most of the holes playing straight without using a rail or obstacle. The course is 30 years old and there are not any putts that are straight with more than a couple of holes that putters can take a big number on. Only 3 players were able to break 30 in the 1st round in the pro division. Brice Bergesen who wanted to have this event at this course, was the 1st round leader with an excellent score of 27. Local players Smith and Lee Messinger were the other players under 30 with scores of 28 and 29 respectively. In round 2 Bergesen again had the low score of the round and after 2 rounds was already beginning to pull away as he had a 4 stroke over Smith. As the temperature rose so did some of the players putting. Bergesen faltered to a 33 while 5 players had their best rounds of the day, led by Geoff Mosk who had the low round of the event with a 24 that included a bogey on hole 16. Smith had a 26 and was in the lead by 1 over Mosk as we went into the 4th and final round of the day. The heat had taken a toll on the players and the temp was now over 100 degrees, although the course does have plenty of shade. No player was able to break 30 the last round and when the dust had settled Smith had a 1 stroke lead over Rainey Statum and Mosk. Just 3 strokes back was Bergesen and 4 strokes back was Don Parker. With so many players close to the lead it looked like it could come down to the final few holes to determine the 2020 Baldoza champion.
In the APA Defending champion Mike Huckaby and the 2020 player of the year points leader, Chris Conradi, came in as the favorites as they are both playing very well and they are both local players. Conradi lived up to the billing and took a 1st round lead with a 28. Right on his heels was Jay Salyer who had a 29. Jerry Medina, who was touting his physical Stamina as a strength that would carry him to victory, was in 3rd 3 strokes back at 31. Just like Bergesen in the pro division, Conradi again had the low score in the 2nd round and extended his lead to 5 strokes. Conradi continued to pour it on with a 3rd consecutive low round and his lead was up to 8 strokes. He did cool off the last round but still held a 7 stroke lead heading into the second day. It was going to be very tough for anyone to get close to Conradi with as well as he was playing.
On day 2 the players started at 10 am and hoped to beat the heat. Brice Bergesen was beating it to the tune of a 26 that vaulted him into the lead, 1 stroke over Rainey Statum. The leader starting the day, Jeffrey Smith, faltered with a 35 and was never able to get back into contention. Geoff Mosk was only 3 strokes back starting round 6 but was essentially done after taking a 5 on hole 8. It was his 3rd score of 5 or more for the event (hole 8 and hole 17 victimized him in previous rounds). And just like that it was down to Bergesen and Statum, the 2 men that started the Texas Open way back in 1993 when they were running the tour together. The Hall of Famer and the 2018 National Champion stayed within 2 strokes of each other going into the final 9 holes with Statum holding the advantage. Bergesen was playing well but the aces dried up a bit for him on the back 9. He was 3 stokes back going into hole 15 and knew he would need to ace out to have a chance to win. He missed hole 15 and then missed his deuce putt from down the hill on 16 (only the 2nd hole he bogeyed for the event) and the tournament was essentially over. It did not matter though as Rainey continued to pour in ace after ace and finished at 230, 8 strokes ahead of Bergesen. Smith and Mosk tied for 3 by holding off Greg Everly who shot 115 the second day, which was 2nd only to Statum’s 112.
In the APA Conradi was expected to take a victory lap on his way to an easy victory after a great day of play on day 1. Salyer was able to get within 6 strokes after round 5 but that was as close as anyone could get. Remarkably, Conradi was 7 for 7 on hole 8. Hole 8 is a side hill hole that the players play off the left rail. The rail has several dents in it and hitting any of them can lead to a miss. When a player does miss, the deuce and bogey putts can be more difficult that the ace. Conraid making hole 8 the first 7 times he played it was the main reason he was able to lead the APA division by 12 strokes going into the final round over playing partner Jerry Medina. Medina had waited until round out to make his charge and a charge he did make. Medina had the best APA round of the event with a 26. He was doing his very best to put pressure on Conradi but it is difficult to feel pressure when you have a 12 stroke lead. As Medina kept making aces, Conradi’s putts kept missing. He even missed hole 8. In fact, he didn’t make an ace until hole 12 . By that point medina was still a ways back but it was looking like he had a chance, especially with holes 16 and 17 lurking, where taking a 4 or more is possible. Medina kept up the pressure but Conradi was able to hold on for a 1 stroke victory. It was almost the greatest comeback in Texas Open, and SWPT history, but Medina had to settle for 2nd place while Conradi claimed his 1st Mike Baldoza Texas Open title.
The southwest Putting tour went Prime Time on 6/27 for the first 4 rounds of the 2020 Louisiana State Championship. Course owner Greg Simpson always has the course in great playing shape and it a favorite of all the tour players. With the tournament starting with a few more customers on the course than normal, Greg had announced each player off the tee with some career highlights and where they were from. It was a very nice touch that all of the players appreciated.
In the Pro division Lee Messinger and Jeffrey Smith came out hot with a pair of 24’s to take a two stroke lead over Geoff Mosk. Messinger then fired the low round of the weekend with a 22 that gave him a five stroke lead after just two rounds over Smith, who won the 2014 national Championship on this course, and 7 over the past two winners of this event, Wade Sahmel and Mosk. Messinger cooled off a bit his last two rounds with scores of 28 and 27. This allowed Mosk to pull within three strokes with a score of 104. Smith was just four back at 105. Brice Bergesen had rounds of 25 and 24 in rounds two and three respectively/ which had him in 4th place at 107. By the time the 4th round was played the temps had cooled off considerably and the lights were on at the course. It was playing conditions that players outside of locals were not used to playing in but the overall score for the entire Pro division was only three strokes more than it was in the first round, so it didn’t appear to affect the players to much.
In the APA division we had a good turnout with 12 players. Mike Huckaby came out hot to jump to the lead with a score of 26. Four other players including Bryan Gentry, playing his first event in 2 plus years, had scores in the 20s to stay close to Huckaby. Huckaby cooled off and was in at 58 after 2. Steven Yancey was consistent with rounds of 29-29 to also be in at 58. Those scores were one off the leaders, Bryan Gentry and Chis Conradi were both n at 57. The always dangerous Charles “Sharkey” Cox was still close at 60. Huckaby had rounds of 27-25 to close out the day and take the lead with a score of 110. Six other players were within eight strokes of the lead, so it was far from over. Day two was lining up to have an exciting finish.
Day 2 of the 8 round Lake Charles State championship started bright and early at 10am before the temps became 2 unbearable. Olivia Prokopova from Houston Texas (don’t say is from the Czech Republic anymore) had the low round with a 25 to inch closer to the lead. 5 other players had scores of 27. Jeffrey Smith and Brice Bergesen fell back a few strokes as Lee Messinger and Geoffrey Mosk also had rounds of 27. Mosk had caught Messinger during round 5 but Messinger made his last 4 holes to dig out his 27 while Mosk only made 1 of his last 4 to fall 3 strokes back again. In round 6 Mosk again caught Messinger and going into the last hole had a change to take the lead with a 24. Instead he pushed his putt, hit the right cheese, and bogeyed to fall 1 stroke behind Messinger yet again. Smith and Wade Sahmel were still within striking distance just 6 strokes back but it was becoming more of a 2 horse race with just 2 rounds to go. On the front 9 of round 3 Mosk only missed hole 2 when he left it 2 inches short of the hole. Messinger hit good putt after good putt but they consistently found the lip or came up just short of the hole. With 27 holes to go Mosk had opened up a 5 stroke lead. After making hole 10 the lead was up to 6. Just when it looked like Mosk would pull away like he had 2 years ago, he deuced the last 8 holes to finish the round at 27. Messinger continued to struggle and when the round was over Mosk had a 4 stroke lead over Messinger. Olivia, who got off to a slow start but had the second best score after the second round of day 1, had moved into 3rd place just 6 strokes back. Wade Sahmel was 7 back and he had noted that he had come back from just about as far, if not a little further, than that against Mosk in the last round at an event at Webster a few years ago. Smith was also just 8 back and very capable of shooting a score low enough to catch Mosk if Mosk struggled at all in the final round. Messinger, Sahmel, and Smith all had good last rounds shooting 24s. Messinger had an 11 on the front 9 to pull within 3 of the lead, but Mosk, having won this event twice before, was up to the task and made 7 of his last 9 to have the low round of the day with a 23 that secured a 5 stroke victory for his 3rd Louisiana State Championship. Messinger held on for 2nd place and Smith moved up to 3rd place. Sahmel collected the last money spot at 4th place.
In the APA Mike Huckaby continued his solid play the first 2 rounds on Sunday but couldn’t shake Steven Yancey. After 2 rounds Huckaby had extended his lead by only 1 stroke and was now 3 up on Yancey after shooting rounds of 28-27 to Yancey’s 29-27. No other player was able to make a charge and it looked like it would be a 2 man race for the title for the last 2 rounds. Yancey was a model of consistency in the tournament. He was the only player in the APA to not have a round higher than 29. In fact, there were only 2 PPA players that could match that feat. IN round 7 yancey continued his consistent play with a 28. Huckaby stumbled a bit to shoot a 31 and with just 1 round to go Yancey and Huckaby were tied. Yancey again played very consistently with a 29 to finish his 8 rounds at 225. Huckaby, who came within just 2 holes of winning the APA tour Championship on this course 9 months ago, displayed a championship killer instinct and had the best round of any APA player at this years event with a 24 to win by 5 over yancey who finished in 2nd place. It was his first Louisiana State Championship. Course owner Greg Simpson held on for 3rd place. Other players receiving reimbursement money were Charles Cox, Bryan Gentry, Chris Conradi, and Charles Tarbell.
We look forward to seeing everyone in 2 weeks for the Mike Baldoza Texas Open at the Course on Coit Rd in Dallas.
To start off the last event of the weekend, no less than 3 pro players had a 4 in the first round of the event. None of them went to Wade Sahmel who only had 2 bogey strokes the entire weekend as he did his best to shed his nick name of the Bogey Man. Sahmel was leading by 1 over Tom Adair with scores of 28 and 29 respectively. Don Parker was the only other player within 2 strokes of the lead. Sahmel continued his solid play with scores of 30 and 32 his last 2 rounds. Adair was only 1 stroke back going into the final round but as can happen on the Tyler Course, he went dry and was not able to contend. Two-time USPMGA Masters Champion, along with a bazillion other titles, Olivia Prokopova made a bit of a charge her last 2 rounds with a 31-28 finish to move up to a second place tie with Jody Kimble, who was a model of consistency with scores of 31-30-30. Geoff Mosk and Chance Marett tied for the 2nd time during the weekend, this time for 4th place 1 more stroke back. Sahmel had the tournament wrapped up with just a few holes to go. The only drama left was who was going to win the 3 event total stroke average. With only hole 4 to go, he needed an ace to tie Mosk. Just has he did in the semi-finals of the SWPT Tour Championship the last time the event was held in Tyler, his putt was just a bit off, and Mosk was able to take a little consolation in winning the weekend stroke competition, even though Wade won 2 events, more POY Points, and more money.
In the APA, if Wade wins in the pros, the Alan Dada Sahmel will be in it trying for another Sahmel Sweep. And he also came out guns-a-blazing and was the leader after 1 round with a 31. Mike Huckaby was able to stay close with a 32 and several other players were able to stay within striking distance as well. In round 2 both players separated themselves from the pack with each shooting a 30. They were in at 61 and 62 respectively with no other player within 3 strokes of the lead. Sahmel, playing very consistently like his son Wade, had a final round 31 and cruised to a 5 stroke victory over Huckaby and Trevor Lewin who had the low score of the last round with a 30. Other players cashing were Gary Plain at 99, Chris Conradi at 101, and Ken Stanfill at 101.
| SWPT | Tyler | SWPT | Tyler | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 17May | 2020 | 17May | |||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Wade Sahmel | 28 | 30 | 31 | 89 | $140.00 | 1 | Alan Sahmel | 31 | 30 | 31 | 92 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | Olivia Prokopova | 32 | 31 | 28 | 91 | $67.50 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 32 | 30 | 35 | 97 | $18.00 | |
| 2 | Jody Kimble | 31 | 30 | 30 | 91 | $67.50 | 2 | Trevor Lewin | 34 | 33 | 30 | 97 | $18.00 | |
| 4 | Geoff Mosk | 31 | 32 | 29 | 92 | $37.50 | 4 | Gary Plain | 35 | 32 | 32 | 99 | $18.00 | |
| 4 | Chance Marett | 32 | 29 | 31 | 92 | $37.50 | 5 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 33 | 35 | 101 | $9.00 | |
| 6 | Lee Messinger | 32 | 30 | 31 | 93 | $25.00 | 5 | Ken Stanfill | 33 | 32 | 36 | 101 | $9.00 | |
| 7 | Mason Spradlin | 32 | 32 | 30 | 94 | $20.00 | 7 | Jay Salyer | 34 | 35 | 33 | 102 | ||
| 8 | Danny Tatum | 33 | 32 | 30 | 95 | 8 | Mickey DeLucca | 39 | 36 | 31 | 106 | |||
| 8 | Tom Adair | 29 | 30 | 36 | 95 | 9 | Adam Sahmel | 40 | 35 | 33 | 108 | |||
| 10 | Brice Bergesen | 34 | 31 | 31 | 96 | |||||||||
| 10 | Jeffrey Smith | 35 | 30 | 31 | 96 | |||||||||
| 12 | Don Parker | 30 | 34 | 33 | 97 | |||||||||
| 13 | Matt Bellner | 36 | 32 | 34 | 102 |
The Southwest Putting Tour went PRIME TIME on Saturday 5/16 with a tournament starting at 7pm. This was done to allow the course to have more customer players as they are limited to 36 total players on the course. Unfortunately, due to bathroom breaks and a late rain storm, only 2 rounds were able to be completed Saturday night with the last round being played early Sunday morning. Wade Sahmel, after a short nap, continued to play well and was 1 of only 2 players that was able to shoot below a 30 the first round with a 29. The other was Geoff Mosk who was in the lead with a 28. The second round saw 4 players under 30 and they weren’t named Mosk or Sahmel, Olivia Prokopova had the low round with a 27 to get her to within 3 shots of the lead. Danny Tatum had a 28 to also pull within 3. Lee Messinger shot a 29 to pull within 1 stroke of the lead. Brice Bergesen had a 29 to tie Mosk for the lead at 59. It is always close at Tyler and this event would not be different with 6 players within 3 strokes of the lead. The players tried to play the last round but the rain quickly picked up and it was decided to restart the round the next morning. With the much improved playing conditions, score improved and it quickly became a 2 man battle with Messinger and Mosk both playing very well. Messinger started his round on hole 11 and was able to shoot a 13 on the back half of the half of the course. Mosk, starting on hole 1, shot a 13 on the front 9. Both players finished their remaining holes at 4 under allowing Mosk to squeak out a 1 stroke victory for his first win of the 2020 season.
In the APA, 3 time 2020 Winner Chris Conradi had the lead after 1 round with a 31. Just 2 strokes back were a host of players including local legend Gary Plain, multiple time SWPT Player of the Year Mike Huckaby, former APA Western open champion Mickey DeLucca, and former National Senior Champion Alan Sahmel. Plain, looking to avenge his last place finish from the tournament earlier in the day, had his best round of the day with a 29 that propelled him to a 3 stroke lead over Conradi and 4 over DeLucca and Trevor Lewin. In the last round, as has happened so many times before on Plain’s home course, Plain was able to hold off the other players and finish with a 4 stroke victory, shooting a 94. Jay Salyer, Conradi, and Huckaby all tied for 2nd at 98. It was time for a short break to repair and then on to the final event of the weekend.| SWPT | Tyler | SWPT | Tyler | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 16May/7 | 2020 | 16May/7 | |||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 28 | 31 | 27 | 86 | $140.00 | 1 | Gary Plain | 33 | 29 | 32 | 94 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | Lee Messinger | 31 | 29 | 27 | 87 | $90.00 | 2 | Jay Salyer | 35 | 33 | 30 | 98 | $18.00 | |
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 30 | 29 | 31 | 90 | $50.00 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 31 | 34 | 33 | 98 | $18.00 | |
| 3 | Danny Tatum | 33 | 28 | 29 | 90 | $50.00 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 33 | 34 | 31 | 98 | $18.00 | |
| 5 | Wade Sahmel | 29 | 32 | 31 | 92 | $30.00 | 5 | Alan Sahmel | 33 | 34 | 35 | 102 | ||
| 5 | Jeffrey Smith | 30 | 33 | 29 | 92 | $25.00 | 5 | Mickey DeLucca | 33 | 33 | 36 | 102 | ||
| 7 | Don Parker | 34 | 31 | 28 | 93 | $20.00 | 5 | Trevor Lewin | 35 | 31 | 36 | 102 | ||
| 8 | Mason Spradlin | 34 | 33 | 28 | 95 | 5 | Dwain Willett | 35 | 34 | 33 | 102 | |||
| 8 | Olivia Prokopova | 35 | 27 | 33 | 95 | |||||||||
| 10 | Chance Marett | 35 | 32 | 31 | 98 | |||||||||
| 11 | Jody Kimble | 32 | 31 | 35 | 98 | |||||||||
| 12 | Tom Adair | 34 | 34 | 31 | 99 | |||||||||
| 12 | Matt Bellner | 32 | 34 | 33 | 99 |
After 8 weeks off and 3 missed tournament weekends, the Southwest Putting Tour was the first to return to normal competition. This weekend was originally scheduled for Dallas at the Coit Road location, but due to Covid-19, that course has not yet re-opened. Kat Adair at the Tyler Putt Putt Course agreed to host the weekend and the SWPT was all set to begin play!
Weather was going to be an issue on Saturday with scattered storms projected throughout the day. We caught a break and there was only a slight drizzle at the start and at the very end of the tournament. Wade Sahmel, who drove up the morning of the event after working all night and getting next to zero sleep, did what he normally does with no sleep and was the first round leader at 27. Don Parker and Jeffrey Smith were the only other players able to break 30 shooting a 28 and 29 respectively. Sahmel slowed down a bit in round 2 with a 30 that dropped him into a first place tie with Parker at 57. Chance Marett and Geoff Mosk were just 3 strokes back at 60 with several other players shortly behind. He again played solid his last round with another 30 to finish at 87. Mosk and Marett both played well, but not quite well enough as they both finished 2 strokes back at 89. Other players to cash were Parker (90), Tom Adair (91), Jody Kimble (93), Smith (93), and Brice Bergesen (93).
In the APA, Alan Sahmel looked to make it a Sahmel Sweep. He started off the weekend with a 32 which was good for 3rd place behind Jay Salyer and Mickey DeLucca who both tied the APA low round of the day with a 31. In round 2, Chris Conradi tied the low APA score with a 31 to be at 65. That pulled him to within 1 shot of Salyer. Sahmel and DeLucca were just 2 and 3 strokes back setting up an exciting finish. Papa Sahmel tied the APA low round of the day with a 31 in the final round to be in at 67. Salyer was able to shoot a 33 which forced a tie and an 18 hole playoff. In the playoff Sahmel took an early lead and was able to hold off Salyer to collect his 1st win of the 2020 season and complete the sweep. The weather wasn’t great, but the players were more than happy to be back out on the course and among friends more than anything else
| SWPT | Tyler | SWPT | Tyler | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 16May/12 | 2020 | 16May/12 | |||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Wade Sahmel | 27 | 30 | 30 | 87 | $125.00 | 1 | Alan Sahmel | 32 | 34 | 31 | 97 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | Geoff Mosk | 33 | 27 | 29 | 89 | $65.00 | 2 | Jay Salyer | 31 | 33 | 33 | 97 | $18.00 | |
| 2 | Chance Marett | 31 | 29 | 29 | 89 | $65.00 | 3 | Chris Conradi | 34 | 31 | 35 | 100 | $18.00 | |
| 4 | Don Parker | 28 | 29 | 33 | 90 | $40.00 | 3 | Mickey DeLucca | 31 | 36 | 33 | 100 | $18.00 | |
| 5 | Tom Adair | 31 | 31 | 29 | 91 | $25.00 | 5 | Trevor Lewin | 36 | 32 | 33 | 101 | ||
| 6 | Brice Bergesen | 30 | 33 | 30 | 93 | $7.00 | 6 | Dwain Willett | 36 | 36 | 31 | 103 | ||
| 6 | Jeffrey Smith | 29 | 32 | 32 | 93 | $7.00 | 6 | Mike Huckaby | 33 | 36 | 34 | 103 | ||
| 6 | Jody Kimble | 33 | 29 | 31 | 93 | $7.00 | 8 | Gary Plain | 38 | 34 | 33 | 105 | ||
| 9 | Danny Tatum | 33 | 30 | 31 | 94 | |||||||||
| 10 | Mason Spradlin | 35 | 31 | 29 | 95 | |||||||||
| 11 | Olivia Prokopova | 33 | 32 | 33 | 98 |
The winners in Lake Charles, Danny Tatum, Chris Conradi (3), and Wade Sahmel (2)Everyone grabbed a bite to eat, washed their hands for 20 seconds, and were ready for the 3pm tournament. Wade led the PPA divison with a 24 by two over Mosk, but Mosk came back with a second round 25 and enjoyed a slim one shot lead over Wade, 51 to 52, the other players out of it four or more shots back. The two leaders, playing together, battled back and forth for 17 holes, even with the very easy 18th hole left. Geoff putted first and got a super nasty lipout, and Wade made the simple putt for the ace and another victory, 77 to 78.
After blitzing the field both tournaments on Saturday, confident Wade was ready to do it again. That did not quite happen as he shot a front nine 18 to start out and shot 33-30 his first two rounds to be in last place by seven strokes, no threepeat for Wade this weekend. Olivia was brilliant her first round with a 24 and a one shot lead over Tatum. She slipped a little the second round but was still tied at 52 with Tatum, and Mosk only one back at 53. Olivia played great the final round on the front nine, shooting an 11, then made number ten to go eight under for the round, then boom, what has happened to all of us at some tournament, the bottom fell out. She got a bad kick on hole 11, missed 12, hit what looked like a great putt on hole 13, but it came back over the hill and her deuce putt lipped out and put her in a unmakeable spot, and she had a crushing four, followed by a bogey on the easy "Y" hole number 16, and she finished the round with a 29. Danny took advantage, fired a solid 26 for a 78 and beat Mosk by two, Olivia by three. Wade, by the way, did what Wade does. In the final round he made the first eight holes, missed number nine then made 7 of the first 8 on the back and missed the easy 18th hole for a 21!!! He still came in last, to maybe be the only person to shot a final round 21 and not beat anyone.
Wade was not able to get a threepeat, could Chris Conradi do it in the APA? He was the first round leader again with a 26, one ahead of the resurgent Adam Sahmel, back playing again after missing two complete seasons with hip problems Adam is back and stroking it smooth again, so good to see him playing instead of just posting the scores. Chris continued his brilliant solid play for the last two rounds with a 27 and a 28 for a 81 and a two shot win over Adam, who cut Charles Cox by one.
Danny Tatum has been off work for a few weeks and he spearheaded the complete refurbishing of all the rails at the Lake Charles course. The course looked brilliant and really helped add to the enjoyment we all had. The original owner, Hall of Fame member Al Simpson, had a all time favorite singer, Vera Lynn, who became famous for singing the great inspiring WWII song "We'll Meet Again", when no one knew when they would see each other again. Guess we should have sang a verse of that song before we all departed to go home.
Seven Decades with a PPA Victory
Brice Bergesen picked up where he left off Saturday and raced out to an early lead with a 26. Including his final 2 rounds on Saturday, he had now shot a 74, in his last 3 rounds, which if shot in a single event would break the 3 round tournament record on the course of 75. He was followed closely by Jeffrey Smith and Don Parker who were only 1 stroke back. Brice stayed hot in round 2 by shooting a 27 and had built up a 3 stroke lead. Several players were bunched up from 56-59 but it wouldn’t matter if Brice kept playing the way he was. Brice was in the 1st group on this day and had his worst round since round 1 the previous day, a 31 that opened the door for other players to catch him. Joe Lea shot a 29 his last round to come up 1 stroke short. Geoff Mosk finished with a 26 to also come up 1 stroke short. Jeffrey Smith needed an ace on his 54th and final hole to tie Brice and he made it forcing an 18 hole playoff. In the playoff the wind played havoc with the players shots and neither could get any momentum going. Brice eventually survived and won the playoff with a score of 34 to sweep the weekend.
In the APA there was a major comeback. Adam Sahmel played in his 1st event since playing early in the year in Lake Charles where he was able to play from his Wheelchair. Today there would be no playing from his Chair. Instead Adam had figured out how to play from his knees. In one of the most inspiring performances there has ever been on a Putt Putt Course, Adam was able to make it thru all 3 rounds. Not only did he make it thru, but he shot a 99 which got him into the money! He was breathing very hard the last round and fought thru the pain to Finish. The rest of the APA Players had better watch out for Adam as he works to be able to play more as he will be a force to recon with. In the Sunday Tournament Dwain was able to sweep the weekend. He started off slowly with a score of 32 but finished with scores of 28-27 to come in at 87. Alan Sahmel fell just 1 stroke shy of catching Dwain and finished with a fine score of 88. Other players finishing under 100 and getting into the money were Steven Yancey (98) and Chris Conradi (99). Overall it was a great weekend with some outstanding performances. We will do it again in 2 weeks in Lake Charles and we hope to see everyone there.
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Brice Bergesen | 26 | 27 | 31 | 84 | $120.00 | 1 | Dwain Willett | 32 | 28 | 27 | 87 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 27 | 30 | 27 | 84 | $75.00 | 2 | Alan Sahmel | 30 | 28 | 30 | 88 | $18.00 | |
| 3 | Joe Lea | 29 | 27 | 29 | 85 | $40.00 | 3 | Steven Yancey | 34 | 34 | 30 | 98 | $18.00 | |
| 3 | Geoff Mosk | 30 | 29 | 26 | 85 | $40.00 | 4 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 35 | 31 | 99 | $18.00 | |
| 5 | Don Parker | 27 | 30 | 29 | 86 | $20.00 | 4 | Adam Sahmel | 32 | 33 | 34 | 99 | $18.00 | |
| 6 | Lee Messinger | 30 | 29 | 29 | 88 | 6 | Ken Stanfill | 36 | 30 | 34 | 100 | |||
| 7 | John Kropinak | 30 | 29 | 30 | 89 | 7 | Trevor Lewin | 37 | 32 | 36 | 105 | |||
| 8 | Wade Sahmel | 31 | 30 | 33 | 94 | 7 | Jack Ramsey | 34 | 39 | 32 | 105 | |||
| 9 | Danny Tatum | 30 | 31 | 34 | 95 | 7 | Mickey DeLucca | 35 | 32 | 38 | 105 | |||
| 10 | Olivia Prokopova | 34 | 34 | 30 | 98 | 10 | David Greenup | 41 | 43 | 41 | 125 |
As is always the case at Webster, the weather was perfect to start the SWPT season and 18 players came out on Saturday February 29th to end their winters and get the 2020 putting season going. 10 years ago when Brice Bergesen won his first event of the year he became the first player to win a PPA event in 6 different decades. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it in a seventh decade and his first round score of 32 made it unlikely it would happen on this day with leaders Wade Sahmel and 2014 National Champion Jeffrey Smith tied at 28. Only 1 player in the pro field had a worse opening round than Brice. Wade continued his good play with another 28 in his 2nd round to have a 1 stroke lead over John Kropinak and 2 strokes over Joe Lea. Brice, playing in the last group was an afterthought, and few saw that he shot a 23 his 2nd round to vault into the lead at 55, until they had finished their 3rd rounds. Kropinak had another Solid last round of 27 and was the leader in the clubhouse while the rest of the players waited for Brice to finish. With 7 holes to go Brice only needed 1 ace to win. Being the Hall of Famer he is he kept his foot on the gas to finish the last round at 25 and win by 4 becoming the first player to win a PPA event in an amazing 7 decades. This is an amazing feat that will likely never be duplicated.
In the APA division Dwain Willett was returning to play for the first time in quite a while after battling some medical issues of his own. There haven’t been in weekly tournaments in Webster this year with the course closing at 5pm during the week so Dwain hadn’t had any practice. The 3 time APA Champion showed that practice is overrated and scored 28-28 his first 2 rounds to take a commanding lead of 5 strokes over Chris Conradi. Jack Ramsey and Trevor Lewin were able to stay close after one round with fine scores of 30 but could not keep up with Willett the rest of the way. Lewin did have another 30 his last round that allowed him to pull into a 2nd place tie with Conradi but Willett, playing in the last group of the day with Brice, strolled in with a 33 to win by 6 strokes. It was a great day for 2 long time Houston players as they both easily defended their home course.
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Brice Bergesen | 32 | 23 | 25 | 80 | $115.00 | 1 | Dwain Willett | 28 | 28 | 33 | 89 | $36.00 | |
| 2 | John Kropinak | 30 | 27 | 27 | 84 | $70.00 | 2 | Trevor Lewin | 30 | 35 | 30 | 95 | $13.00 | |
| 3 | Wade Sahmel | 28 | 28 | 29 | 85 | $35.00 | 3 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 28 | 34 | 95 | $13.00 | |
| 4 | Joe Lea | 29 | 29 | 31 | 89 | $10.00 | 4 | Steven Yancey | 33 | 32 | 30 | 95 | $13.00 | |
| 5 | Olivia Prokopova | 29 | 30 | 27 | 86 | $10.00 | 5 | Alan Sahmel | 32 | 31 | 34 | 97 | $13.00 | |
| 6 | Geoff Mosk | 32 | 31 | 27 | 90 | 6 | Ken Stanfill | 32 | 30 | 38 | 100 | |||
| 7 | Jeffrey Smith | 28 | 32 | 31 | 91 | 7 | Jack Ramsey | 30 | 37 | 37 | 104 | |||
| 8 | Lee Messinger | 32 | 33 | 27 | 92 | 8 | David Greenup | 40 | 39 | 35 | 114 | |||
| 9 | Danny Tatum | 33 | 29 | 31 | 93 | 9 | Mickey DeLucca | 37 | 42 | 40 | 119 |
| PPA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Money | Money | Money | ||||
| Final Stats | Avg | Points | Index | won | Won | Winnings | Tm | Spots | Wins | |
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 28.67 | 820.0 | -0.86 | $1,039.00 | $250.00 | $1,289.00 | 22 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 28.60 | 793.0 | -1.13 | $780.00 | $450.00 | $1,230.00 | 15 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 29.15 | 654.0 | -0.58 | $892.00 | $250.00 | $1,142.00 | 19 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Lee Messinger | 28.99 | 596.0 | -0.57 | $607.00 | $250.00 | $857.00 | 19 | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | Wade Sahmel | 27.17 | 475.0 | -1.29 | $680.00 | $250.00 | $930.00 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Joe Lea | 27.29 | 389.0 | -1.01 | $430.00 | $200.00 | $630.00 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | Don Parker | 29.54 | 301.0 | 0.14 | $319.00 | $200.00 | $519.00 | 18 | 4 | |
| 7 | Mason Spradlin | 30.59 | 301.0 | 0.85 | $91.00 | $380.00 | $471.00 | 18 | 4 | |
| 9 | Tom Adair | 30.31 | 238.0 | 0.34 | $210.00 | $200.00 | $410.00 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 10 | Danny Tatum | 30.69 | 185.0 | 1.56 | $30.00 | $310.00 | $340.00 | 12 | 4 | |
| 11 | Rainey Statum | 25.33 | 131.0 | -2.10 | $55.00 | $220.00 | $275.00 | 2 | 2 | |
| 12 | Jon Drexler | 24.67 | 91.0 | -2.8 | $80.00 | $70.00 | $150.00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | John Kropinak | 29.69 | 72.0 | 0.74 | $70.00 | $70.00 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 13 | Rudy Cuellar | 32.79 | 72.0 | 2.45 | $200.00 | $200.00 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 15 | Matt Bellner | 32.40 | 58.0 | 2.65 | $200.00 | $200.00 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 16 | Gary Reed | 31.00 | 25.0 | -1 | $36.00 | $36.00 | 1 | |||
| 17 | Joel Woodall | 32.67 | 13.0 | 1.75 | $0.00 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 18 | Cliff Matthews | $0.00 | ||||||||
| 19 | Byron Kirby | $0.00 | ||||||||
| 20 | Jeff McDonald | $0.00 |
| APA | Stroke | POY | ASA | Season | Finals | Total | ||||
| Final Stats | Avg | Points | Index | Money | Money | Money | Tm | Spots | Wins | |
| 1 | Mike Huckaby | 30.80 | 889.0 | -1.84 | $312.00 | $65.00 | $377.00 | 18 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Chris Conradi | 31.87 | 698.0 | -0.53 | $223.00 | $40.00 | $263.00 | 20 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Steven Yancey | 32.43 | 539.0 | -0.93 | $191.00 | $50.00 | $241.00 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Terry Simpson | 27.64 | 508.0 | -2.43 | $91.00 | $85.00 | $176.00 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Charles Cox | 29.00 | 468.0 | -1.81 | $130.00 | $40.00 | $170.00 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | Gary Plain | 31.79 | 380.0 | -0.84 | $91.00 | $40.00 | $131.00 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | James Kile | 31.36 | 293.0 | -1.11 | $71.00 | $50.00 | $121.00 | 5 | 4 | |
| 8 | Alan Sahmel | 29.32 | 269.0 | -2.09 | $104.00 | $104.00 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
| 9 | Greg Simpson | 29.57 | 267.0 | -1.01 | $104.00 | $30.00 | $134.00 | 7 | 4 | 1 |
| 10 | Trevor Lewin | 33.03 | 250.0 | 0.08 | $72.00 | $30.00 | $102.00 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| 11 | Mickey DeLucca | 34.30 | 213.0 | 1.92 | $75.00 | $30.00 | $105.00 | 20 | 4 | 1 |
| 12 | Jay Salyer | 34.82 | 188.0 | 1.52 | $62.00 | $30.00 | $92.00 | 12 | 4 | |
| 13 | Jerry Medina | 33.33 | 171.0 | -0.33 | $89.00 | $30.00 | $119.00 | 7 | 4 | |
| 14 | Ken Stanfill | 33.26 | 146.0 | 0.68 | $46.00 | $46.00 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 15 | Charles Tarbell | 31.13 | 116.0 | 0.21 | $65.00 | $40.00 | $105.00 | 5 | 3 | |
| 16 | Jack Ramsey | 36.08 | 107.0 | 2.94 | $7.00 | $30.00 | $37.00 | 12 | 4 | |
| 17 | Dwain Willett | 33.00 | 59.0 | 0.77 | $13.00 | $13.00 | 2 | |||
| 18 | Tommy Phillips | 30.45 | 58.0 | 0.37 | $13.00 | $5.00 | $18.00 | 2 | 2 | |
| 19 | Adam Sahmel | 31.10 | 29.0 | 1.13 | $0.00 | 3 | ||||
| 20 | Chris Stewart | 33.29 | 22.0 | 0.54 | $0.00 | 2 | ||||
| 21 | Johnathan Huffer | 35.00 | 13.0 | 2.40 | $0.00 | 2 | ||||
| 22 | Aaron Armstrong | 38.00 | 6.0 | 4.45 | 1 |
|
SWPT--PPA |
L S C |
|||||||||||
|
2019 |
10-11Aug |
|||||||||||
|
1 |
Wade Sahmel |
26 |
25 |
25 |
22 |
23 |
25 |
27 |
27 |
200 |
$240.00 |
1 |
|
2 |
Geoff Mosk |
28 |
25 |
23 |
29 |
26 |
25 |
26 |
25 |
207 |
$140.00 |
|
|
3 |
Brice Bergesen |
26 |
28 |
26 |
31 |
27 |
25 |
27 |
23 |
213 |
$80.00 |
|
|
4 |
Joe Lea |
28 |
30 |
24 |
28 |
26 |
23 |
27 |
31 |
217 |
$60.00 |
1 |
|
5 |
Don Parker |
26 |
30 |
24 |
26 |
30 |
29 |
31 |
25 |
221 |
$40.00 |
|
|
6 |
Jeffrey Smith |
29 |
28 |
28 |
29 |
25 |
30 |
28 |
28 |
225 |
||
|
7 |
Lee Messinger |
30 |
25 |
31 |
29 |
26 |
33 |
28 |
25 |
227 |
||
|
8 |
Tom Adair |
32 |
28 |
26 |
32 |
31 |
32 |
28 |
30 |
239 |
||
|
9 |
Danny Tatum |
32 |
35 |
32 |
37 |
27 |
27 |
34 |
27 |
251 |
1 |
|
|
10 |
Rudy Cuellar |
31 |
29 |
33 |
34 |
33 |
31 |
30 |
31 |
252 |
|
SWPT--APA |
L S C |
|||||||||||
|
2019 |
10-11Aug |
|||||||||||
|
1 |
Terry Simpson |
29 |
26 |
25 |
27 |
31 |
27 |
27 |
28 |
220 |
$52.00 |
1 |
|
2 |
Charles Cox |
27 |
26 |
30 |
25 |
33 |
31 |
25 |
26 |
223 |
$26.00 |
1 |
|
3 |
Greg Simpson |
26 |
30 |
28 |
31 |
28 |
32 |
30 |
27 |
232 |
$26.00 |
1 |
|
4 |
Chris Conradi |
34 |
28 |
26 |
28 |
29 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
235 |
$26.00 |
|
|
5 |
Charles Tarbell |
30 |
29 |
30 |
27 |
32 |
32 |
30 |
27 |
237 |
$26.00 |
1 |
|
6 |
James Kile |
31 |
35 |
28 |
30 |
27 |
29 |
26 |
32 |
238 |
1 |
|
|
7 |
Ken Stanfill |
32 |
31 |
30 |
31 |
32 |
30 |
32 |
28 |
246 |
||
|
8 |
Tommy Phillips |
27 |
31 |
30 |
28 |
35 |
37 |
29 |
31 |
248 |
1 |
|
|
9 |
Mickey DeLucca |
34 |
36 |
32 |
32 |
34 |
33 |
34 |
32 |
267 |
||
|
10 |
Jack Ramsey |
47 |
36 |
38 |
39 |
30 |
37 |
36 |
32 |
295 |
1 |
20 players came to Lake Charles to compete in the 2019 Louisiana State Championship. The SWPT Championship will be held on this course in just 4 weeks so this was a good test to see where players stand. Many, such as Jeffrey Smith, Joe Lea, Lee Messinger, Geoff Mosk, Chris Conradi, James Kile, Jack Ramsey, Danny Tatum, Tom Adair, and Tommy Phillips, came in a day early to get plenty of practice. Some others that have played the course several times like Charles Cox, Charles Tarbell, Brice Bergesen, Mickey DeLucca, and Don Parker, came in early Saturday morning to make sure the shots they had played before were still working. Then there is Wade Sahmel, who was out late the night before and overslept in Houston. He picked up his brother Adam Sahmel and left Houston after 9am, arriving at the course with just a few minutes to spare before tee time. He was able to make it as far as hole 11 hitting a practice shot on each hole. Then he went out and shot a 26 his first round to be tied with Bergesen and Parker. In round 2 Sahmel again tied for the low round of 25 with Mosk. This gave Sahmel a 2 stroke lead over Mosk and 3 over Bergesen. In round 3 practice finally started to pay off for Mosk as he was 14 under heading into hole 18 and had taken the lead from Sahmel. Then Mosk bogeyed 18 hitting the cheese on the right to fall back into a tie with Sahmel. Bergesen and Lea were just 4 more strokes back and well within striking distance of Sahmel. It was a very hot day and many of the players started to fade a bit. Mosk made 2 bogeys in round 4 on his way to a 29. Bergesen made his last 2 holes to get to 31. Don Parker made a move with a 26 to get him to 3rd place, but the story of the round was Sahmel who shot a 22 to give him a 7 stroke lead after day 1 over Mosk.
In the APA most expected a battle between Terry Simpson and Charles Cox. Sharkey has won this event multiple times and Terry won the AL just two years ago on this course, Terry and Cox did not disappoint but not before course owner Greg Simpson, the defending APA Louisiana State Champion, took the first round lead with a 26 with Tommy Phillips and Cox just 1 stroke back at 27. Terry played strong all day and followed his first round 29 with rounds of 26, 25, and 27 to be in at 107 after day one. Cox was just a stroke back at 108, as those two separated themselves from the field after day one.
Day 2. It’s always nice to tee off early on Sunday, especially during the summer when it’s hot. The 10am tee time gave the players to get in a few rounds before it got too hot outside. It was still pretty unbearable during the final round but such is to be expected on the SWPT from May to October. Wade Sahmel came out as hot as the weather was the day before with a 1st round 23 to extend his lead to 10 strokes with 3 rounds to go. The next closest players were Joe Lea and Don Parker who were 15 back of the leader. Wade kept his foot on the pedal as he made his first 10 holes of round 6 and only made one deuce the entire round. The deuce was on 17 where he hit the lip on the right side of the hole while playing a back door shot. The lip out threw his ball to the left where he had a 6 inch deuce putt. He would not have been shooting for an 18 on the next hole had he made it because he also had 3 bogeys, living up to his bogeyman name he gained while making 5 bogeys at the WAGM in Sweden in June. It was the only 25 with 3 bogeys anyone could remember. Thanks to the bogeys Mosk stayed just 10 back while Joe Lea closed to within 13. The battle was really now for second place as Wade coasted in with 2 27’s his last 2 rounds. Mosk closed with a 26 and 25 and did at one point get within 5 strokes of the lead before finishing in second place, 7 strokes behind Sahmel at 207. Bergesen, Sahmel, and Mosk all tied for the low score for day 2 at 102. Bergesen’s excellent play, while it broke his streak of 5 second place finishes, did move him up to 3rd place. All pro players that did not have 4 spots earned a spot for the tour championship that will be played on this course in 4 weeks.
In the APA we expected a shootout between Terry and Cox but both players had disappointing first rounds at 31 and 33. Greg seized the opportunity and shot a 28 which moved him to within 5 strokes of the lead. Terry played better after that with rounds of 27, 27, and 28. Cox always plays well at Lake Charles but had a second below average round for him with a 31 in round 6. This had him 7 strokes down with just 2 rounds to play and only 1 stroke ahead of Greg for 3rd. Cox showed what a great player he is by shaking off the 2 sub-par rounds and shooting a 25 for round 7 to get it back to a 5 stroke lead. He then followed that up with the APA low score of the round, a 26, But it was to little to late as Terry held on for a 3 stroke win and the APA Louisiana State Champion title. All players that played and did not have 4 spots earned a spot for the tour championship.
In 2 weeks we will play “The Brice” at Webster. This is the second year of the event that honors Hall of Famer, defending Senior National Champion, Runner up at last year’s Nationals, and longtime SWPT player, Brice Bergesen. We hope to see all of the SWPT players out there to celebrate Brice, and to beat him!The Sahmel Squeegee
16 players came out on August 25th to celebrate Brice and play in the tournament named in his honor. Brice next year expects to become the 1st player, and probably the only one the PPA will ever see, to win a PPA event in 7 different decades. He is still going strong and not showing any signs of slowing down. This was also the last event before the Tour Championship weekend that will occur in Lake Charles in 2 short weeks. The Brice is the only event on the SWPT that is played on 2 different courses over 2 different days. This apparently scared off a few players. In the Pro division Wade continued to employ his strategy of showing up late and getting as little practice as possible. Again it worked as Wade made his first 9 holes on his way to an almost course record tying 22. Geoff Mosk, after a poor front 9 of 15 his first round, made 21 of his next 28 holes and thought for sure he would be in the lead but he was still down 3 to Wade. As in Lake Charles at the Louisiana State Championship Wade and Mosk had put some distance between them and the rest of the field. The weather had been reasonably cool for this time of year meaning it was only in the mid 80’s and did briefly rain during the first round. As the day went on the clouds cleared, the temps rose, and the 2 leaders scores went up with them. Brice Bergesen was able to adjust and shot 25-28 his third and fourth rounds of the day to pull within just 6 strokes of the lead and was only 3 back of Mosk for second.
In the APA Charles Tarbell came out hot and was leading with a 29 after his first round. It was expected that Mike Huckaby would be in contention and in round 2 he took charge with an excellent score of 26 to take the lead. Several players were still close by and Huckaby would need to keep up his good play to maintain the lead and he did. Huckaby shot a 28 his third round but was outdone by Alan Sahmel who shot the low APA round of the event with a 25. Alan’s great round brought him to within 1 stroke of Huckaby for the lead. After the 4th and final round of the day Huckaby and Alan were tied at 117. Charles Cox, who considers this course his home away from home, was still within striking distance just 6 strokes back with 4 rounds to play the next day on the other Webster course.
On Day 2 of the Brice, the early weather looked great if not a little warm. Ken Stanfill who had played the day before was not feeling well and went home to Waco. The players all hoep he is feeling better. The customer course is not played as often by the players and the scores reflected it. Bergesen continued to gain ground on the leaders with a 28. He was now just 1 stroke back of Mosk for second and 5 back of Wade for the lead. Bergesen shot a 2nd 28 in round 6 to gain another stroke on Wade but lost a stroke to Mosk. Wade was in at 166 after taking a bogey on hole 18. Mosk was 2 strokes back at 168 and Bergesen just 2 more back at 170. In the APA Alan got off to a slow start and was only able to shoot a 35. Huckaby had the low APA score of the round with a 32 and opened up a 3 stroke lead on Alan. In the second round Alan came out hotter than a depot stove as he made 7 of the first 8 in route to an 11 on the front 9. When the round was over he had gone from 3 down to 6 up on Huckaby and appeared to have a commanding lead. All of the APA players and the first group of PPA players were able to start their 7th rounds before it began to rain. At first it was a light sprinkle that the players played thru. Then it became a heavy downpour and play was halted. Although the rain stopped about 20 minutes later, the course was very wet and there was standing water on 6 holes that made them unplayable. Course owner Jim Saxe was about to blow off the course and try to blow away the water when there started to be considerable thunder in the area and impending storms moving in. The Tour Director made the tough decision to call the tournament at 12:45 due to the radar showing strong storms coming in. The Sahmels, Alan and Wade, were declared the winners on the 2019 “The Brice” tournament. As players collected their belongings and left, at 1:01 PM the strong storms did indeed hit.
We look forward to seeing everyone in 2 weeks in Lake Charles for the final SWPT weekend of the year.
On Sunday the players were happy to get the tournament started at 10 am to beat the heat. Speaking of heat, Jeffrey Smith started off hot just as he did on Saturday. His 27 first round and 26 second round had him out to a 4 stroke lead at the half way point and he would not look back. He closed with two 31s, which was good enough for a 7 stroke win over Brice Bergesen who finished second for what feels like the 25th time this year. Brice has seemingly become Mr. Runner-up since his second place finish at nationals last year. His consistent good play is what we have all come to expect from the Hall of Famer.
In the APA, Player of the Year points leader Mike Huckaby jumped out to an early lead with a first round 28. Close on his heels was Chris Conradi with a 29. The two remained just one stroke apart after two rounds, but this time Conradi had the one stroke lead. James Kile made a run the last round with a 29, but Conradi was able to hold of both Kile and Huckaby to claim the victory with a score of 91.
Longview is always a favorite stop on the SWPT as the course plays tough but fair and there is always a stop at Pizza King!
The Southwest putting tour made its annual stop to one of the best playing courses on the tour in Longview, Texas. The course was in great shape and the players looked forward to a competitive weekend. It was also playing very well and some thought the winning score could be in the low 80’s. The course had other thoughts. Only three pros were able to break 30 in the first round with Jeffrey Smith leading the way with a 28. Brice Bergesen and Don Parker were just one stroke back at 29. The front nine was playing much easier than the back nine. Only one pro was able to shoot a score below 15 on the backside all day and it was Geoff Mosk in round two on his way to a 27. It brought him into a three-way tie for first with Bergesen and Smith at 58 heading into the final round. Smith was the last of the three contenders to tee off the last round and he torched the front nine and was seven under after 10 holes. Bergesen and Mosk were almost done with their rounds and Smith knew he could play even the rest of the way and still win. Longview is a course that can make you pay if you hit a bad put, so Smith played it safe the rest of the way and deuced in to win by a stroke. Bergesen held on to second, a place he seems to finish in almost every recent tournament. The spots went to Rudy Cuellar and Matt Bellner.
In the APA Mike Huckaby said that he thought it would take a score of 95 to win. After round one his prediction was looking good as James Kile and Mickey Delucca were tied at 31 with several other players close behind. A few more 31s were fired in round two and now Gary Plain was tied James Kile after two at 63. They had a four stroke lead over their next closest competitors. Huckaby’s prediction proved true as both Kile and Plain finished at 95 and were headed to a playoff. In the playoff, Plain was able to outlast Kile and win by a single stroke to claim his third victory of the year. The Spots went to Lewin, Stanfill, Medina, and Kile.
Lee Messinger and Chris Conradi Sweep Arlington Weekend
PPA Pro Lee Messinger APA Chri Conradi
| SWPT | Arling | SWPT | Arling | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 14July | 2019 | 14July | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lee Messinger | 28 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 117 | $100.00 | 1 | Chris Conradi | 30 | 29 | 33 | 30 | 122 | $26.00 | ||||
| 2 | Brice Bergesen | 28 | 30 | 32 | 28 | 118 | $60.00 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 32 | 28 | 36 | 28 | 124 | $13.00 | ||||
| 3 | Geoff Mosk | 31 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 120 | $35.00 | 3 | Jerry Medina | 33 | 29 | 31 | 35 | 128 | $13.00 | 1 | |||
| 4 | Don Parker | 28 | 28 | 33 | 32 | 121 | $20.00 | 4 | Trevor Lewin | 30 | 30 | 37 | 34 | 131 | $13.00 | 1 | |||
| 5 | Mason Spradlin | 32 | 31 | 34 | 32 | 129 | 5 | Steven Yancey | 32 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 132 | $13.00 | |||||
| 5 | Danny Tatum | 34 | 28 | 32 | 35 | 129 | 1 | 6 | Jay Salyer | 30 | 33 | 35 | 40 | 138 | 1 | ||||
| 7 | Tom Adair | 34 | 31 | 32 | 34 | 131 | 7 | Ken Stanfill | 37 | 35 | 32 | 35 | 139 | ||||||
| 8 | Rudy Cuellar | 32 | 33 | 32 | 35 | 132 | 1 | 8 | Mickey DeLucca | 38 | 37 | 33 | 34 | 142 | |||||
| 9 | Aaron Armstrong | 40 | 39 | 38 | 35 | 152 |
Players were out early to the wonderfully landscaped Arlington Putt Putt course on Sunday morning. Some of which had attended the Astros vs Rangers baseball game the night before that the Astros won in 11 innings. Lee Messinger looked to win his second tournament of the year and he got off to another good start by shooting a 28. He was tied for first with Brice Bergesen and Don Parker. Messinger continued his good play with a 29 in round two, but for the first time all weekend, he found himself behind. Parker had a one stroke lead after two rounds. In the third round, Messinger had his third consecutive round in the 20’s with a 29. As some other players faltered a bit, Messinger had a three stroke lead heading into the final round over Bergesen and Parker. Messinger was never seriously challenged the last round. The battle for second place got interesting though with Bergesen, Parker, and Mosk all tied with nine holes to go. Mosk was able to build up a two stroke lead with seven holes to go, but then Bergesen made 6 of the last 7, with his only miss being a bogey on hole 14. It wasn’t the first time a hot finish by Bergesen allowed him to pass Mosk! It also got him to within one stroke of Messinger, who was able to play a layup shot on 18 to secure the victory.
In the APA, Saturday’s winner Chris Conradi continued playing well and was tied with Trevor Lewin and Jay Salyer at 30. It remained tight after two rounds with Conradi in at 59, just one stroke ahead of Lewin and Mike Huckaby. In round three, it became a two player race with Conradi in at 92 and Jerry Medina just a stroke back at 93. All day Conradi was able to hold off all challengers and the fourth round it would be no different. Conradi finished strong with a 30 which was enough to hold off a furious charge by Huckaby, who had a last round 28 to get within two. It was a great weekend for both Messinger and Conradi as they were able to sweep the weekend’s events on their home courses. The SWPT will visit Longview in two weeks as we draw closer to the tour championship to be held in Lake Charles in just 8 weeks.
Don Parker, Brice Bergesen win PPA Skins
| SWPT | Arling | SWPT | Arling | ||||||||||||
| 2019 | 13July | 2019 | 13July | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Lee Messinger | 28 | 30 | 32 | 90 | $27.00 | 1 | Chris Conradi | 29 | 33 | 34 | 96 | $15.00 | ||
| 2 | Geoff Mosk | 32 | 30 | 30 | 92 | $54.00 | 2 | Trevor Lewin | 34 | 31 | 35 | 100 | $21.00 | ||
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 29 | 30 | 34 | 93 | $72.00 | 3 | Jay Salyer | 34 | 35 | 32 | 101 | $3.00 | ||
| 3 | Gary Reed | 30 | 31 | 32 | 93 | $36.00 | 3 | Steven Yancey | 32 | 33 | 36 | 101 | $33.00 | ||
| 5 | Don Parker | 30 | 32 | 33 | 95 | $99.00 | 5 | James Kile | 34 | 34 | 35 | 103 | $6.00 | ||
| 6 | Mason Spradlin | 30 | 34 | 32 | 96 | $36.00 | 5 | Jerry Medina | 35 | 35 | 33 | 103 | $30.00 | ||
| 6 | Danny Tatum | 31 | 32 | 33 | 96 | 1 | 7 | Mickey DeLucca | 38 | 33 | 36 | 107 | |||
| 8 | Tom Adair | 32 | 33 | 32 | 97 | 1 | |||||||||
| 9 | Rudy Cuellar | 38 | 37 | 36 | 111 | 1 |
Coming into the tournaments in Arlington it was noticed that it had been quite some time since Lee Messinger had gone this far into the season without a win. The pro players knew it would be difficult to beat Lee on his home course. This proved to be true as Messinger took a one stroke lead in the first round with a 28. In round two, Messinger continued to have a one stroke lead over Brice Bergesen as they were the only players with scores under 60. In the last round Bergesen got off to a slow start and didn’t get his first ace until the back nine. Groff Mosk made a bit of a run and was able to get up to second place, but Messinger was just too much on his home course and he took home his first win of the year.
The 54-hole tournament was a official SWPT event, but as far as prize money goes it was the qualifier for the Skins Game that followed. The top six players in the PPA and the top six players in the APA played a 18-hole skins game, in two threesomes. The winners in the PPA were Don Parker with 11 skins and Brice Bergesen with 8 skins in the other group. In the APA, Steven Yancey won his group with 11 skins and Jerry Medina won his group with 10 skins. It was a different wrinkle and all enjoyed it, except the 54-hole qualifier winners, Lee Messinger and Chris Conradi, who won far less money in the Skins Game than they would have in the 54-hole qualifier.
In the APA there were seven players, six of which were from the metroplex area; meaning it was anyone’s tournament to win. Chris Conradi came out hot with a first round score of 29 that gave him a three stroke lead. Conradi kept the pressure on the other players and was the only amateur to finish under 100 with a 96. Trevor Lewis shot a 100 which was good for second place, closely followed by Jay Sayler and Steven Yancey.
PPA winner Jeffrey Smith and APA winner Mike Huckaby
16 players came out to the more than 60 year old Waco Putt Putt to play in the 4th Mike Baldoza Texas Open. The Texas open dates back to the early 90s but was given the Mike Baldoza name in 2016 after the passing of Hall of Famer and top 10 player of all time in the minds of most, after his passing on 12/31/2015.Winning this event is something that every player on tour hopes to accomplish. In the Pro division on Saturday June 8th Brice Bergesen came out hot with a 26. Only Lee Messinger was also able to shot below a 30 with a 29 of his own. The course has very few of what the players call auto holes and getting to or below 30 is not an easy task. In the second round only one player was abler to break 30. 2104 national champion Jeffrey Smith with a 28. He trailed Bergesen by one. Don Parker, who always seems to play well at this course, sat just two strokes back at 60. Smith continued his hot shooting with a 26 of his own in round 3. This opened up his lead to thee over Bergesen and 10 over Parker. The Texas open had quickly become a two horse race and would remain so for the rest of the event. Both Smith and Bergesen continued to pull away from the field with 29s their last round as they prepared for the next day’s battle to determine the winner of the 2019 event.
In the APA James Kile came out to play in his first event of the 2019 season. He had a first round of 32 which was good for second place behind APA points leader Mike Huckaby who shot a 31 of his own. Only four of the nine APA players were able to get their scores below par on the difficult course where just about any hole can be bogeyed with the smallest mistake. In round two, Kile had the low APA round of the day with a 29 and opened up a three stroke lead on Huckaby 61-64. In 3rd and still in striking distance was Chris Conradi who had two solid rounds of 33 to be just five strokes back. The heat was a factor as all of the players struggled in round three with Steven Yancey having the low round of a 32. Kile continued to hold his lead of three strokes over Huckaby with those two being the only players under 100 after three rounds. In the fourth and final round of the day Kile got off to a slow start only shooting one under on the front to see his lead shrink to two strokes. But then Kile finished with a flurry shooting a 12 on the back side while Huckaby struggled with a 19. Kile had opened up a seemingly insurmountable nine stoke lead heading into Sunday as it appeared he would win his first Baldoza.
Mike Baldoza Texas Open day 2.
As expected, Jeffrey Smith and Brice Bergesen were never seriously challenged during the final four rounds on day two, although it wasn't because they didn't try to let everyone else back in the tournament. Both players shot 65 their first two rounds, but no player other than Bergesen was able to get within nine strokes of the leader. With just two rounds to go, Bergesen remained three strokes behind Smith. Knowing if he could catch a bit of a hot streak, he would have a chance at the win. In the 7th round, Smith opened the door with a 17 on the front. Bergesen was unable to capitalize and also shot a 17 to remain three strokes back. Smith followed with a 14 on the back and when Bergesen had a 17 on the back, the lead was 6 heading into the 8th and final round. Bergesen did his best to put pressure on Smith and shot his best round of the day with a 29. It would not be enough as Smith cruised in with a 31 to claim his second Mike Baldoza in three years. A spot for the tour championship was awarded to Rudy Cuellar who made his first tournament appearance of 2019 in this event.
In the APA it had appeared that James Kile would walk home with the win after a very impressive showing in day one. A few of the other players thought differently. Kile came out of the gate strong with a 32. Only Jay Salyer was able to gain any ground on Kile as he maintained his nine stroke lead with three rounds remaining. In round six, Kile finally fell victim to the course and struggled, shooting a 35. This opened the door for Huckaby and Salyer to close the gap a bit and they did, five and seven back respectively. These were the only three APA players to be under 200 for six rounds. In round seven, Kile again struggled. From holes 10 to 13, Huckaby gained five strokes on Kile and at the end of the round the lead was down to a single stroke over Huckaby and just three over Salyer. Steven Yancey was also able to get within six strokes of the lead. In the Final round of the event, while not in contention, Mickey Delucca shot his low round of the event and tied the overall low score in the APA with an outstanding 29. Among the leaders. Salyer ran into trouble early and was not able to get anything going his final round. Huckaby, playing in the group just behind Kile, watched as Kile took a four on hole eight as he got stuck with difficult deuce and bogey putts where he had to putt over cracks. His double bogey left the door open for Huckaby and he would not let this chance pass him by. Huckaby had a one stroke lead with nine holes to go and he was able to hold on for a one stroke victory. Huckaby has been the dominant player on the APA tour this year and has built up a nearly insurmountable lead on Player of the Year points. He will look to build on that lead at our next event on his home course in Arlington in July. Each APA player in the tournament that did not already have 4 spots received a spot for the tour championship to be held in Lake Charles in September.
| PPA | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Jeffrey Smith | 31 | 28 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 241 | $180 | |
| 2 | Brice Bergesen | 26 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 34 | 34 | 29 | 245 | $120 | |
| 3 | Lee Messenger | 29 | 35 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 251 | $ 60 | |
| 4 | Don Parker | 30 | 30 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 29 | 35 | 30 | 253 | $ 20 | |
| 4 | Geoff Mosk | 31 | 35 | 34 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 29 | 31 | 253 | $ 20 | |
| 6 | Mason Spradlin | 35 | 33 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 33 | 34 | 259 | ||
| 7 | Rudy Cuellar | 32 | 37 | 36 | 36 | 30 | 32 | 29 | 35 | 267 | ||
| APA | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Mike Huckaby | 31 | 33 | 35 | 35 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 260 | $ 52 | |
| 2 | James Kile | 32 | 29 | 35 | 29 | 32 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 261 | $ 26 | |
| 3 | Jay Salyer | 36 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 39 | 269 | $ 26 | |
| 4 | Steven Yancey | 34 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 36 | 270 | $ 26 | |
| 5 | Jerry Medina | 40 | 33 | 34 | 37 | 32 | 30 | 32 | 35 | 273 | $ 26 | |
| 6 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 33 | 35 | 34 | 39 | 30 | 34 | 38 | 276 | ||
| 7 | Ken Stanfill | 36 | 35 | 34 | 40 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 32 | 287 | ||
| 8 | Mickey DeLucca | 41 | 42 | 37 | 42 | 33 | 36 | 44 | 29 | 304 | ||
| 9 | Jack Ramsey | 40 | 51 | 46 | 42 | 36 | 41 | 35 | 39 | 330 | ||
The SWPT did not play at Abilene in 2018 so the players were excited to go back and relearn the course and all that played on Saturday were there on Friday getting in some much needed practice. Some of the players went to a local Buffalo Wild Wings Friday night to watch the Astros beat the Red Sox. Overnight there were some very heavy storms including a tornado that cause some damages to homes and other buildings less than a mile away from the course. Luckily the course and all of the players were ok save for Lee and Mike’s hotel losing power for a few hours. With everyone being safe the players teed it up and started at 12:15.
In round 1 in the Pro division, Wade Sahmel shot a 25 which was much better than anyone expected the low round to be. As great as his round was, it was only one better than both Brice Bergesen and Geoff Mosk. For Mosk, the 26 he shot was much better than any practice round he had. In round 2, Lee Messinger was the only player able to shoot better than 31. His 29 was good for a 2 round score of 59 that tied him for 3rd place with Bergesen. In second was Mosk at 57, and still leading was Sahmel at 56. In the last round, Bergesen made a move shooting the low round of 29 but with just three holes to go, it appeared it would come down to Mosk and Sahmel. Mosk was six under after 10 holes and even with Sahmel as he prepared to play hole 16. Sahmel played a difficult but good ace shot where he hit is ball into the small opening where the hole is. There is some risk in that if you push or pull it just a hair you miss the opening and will have a difficult deuce putt. Sahmel pushed his putt just a touch and caught the corner of the opening causing the ball to kick to the right and curl behind the triangle obstacle leaving him a close to impossible deuce putt. He missed and all Mosk had to do was not Bogey to win the tournaments. Bergesen commented to Sahmel that he could play the hole 1000 times and not have that happen again. Mosk played it safe up to hole 16 and maintained his 1 stroke lead until hole 16 where his ace putt, playing the more conservative left rail into the obstacle shot, caught the corner of the triangle leaving him a longer but still very makeable deuce putt. His putt made a 90 degree lip around the hole and Mosk tapped in for a three. He then missed the next two holes and there was a 3-way tie for 1st. In the Playoff Mosk started slowly and was never a factor. Sahmel stared hot and built up a three stroke lead going into the back-9. Bergesen was able to make some holes and put pressure on Sahmel but it looked like Sahmel would pull it out with 3 holes to go. Again playing hole 16 Sahmel did the same thing he did the last round of the tournament (a previously thought 1 in 1000 shot) and again bogeyed the hole, allowing Bergesen to pick up his 3rd win of the season.
In the APA, Chris Conradi was the only player in the top 9 APA POY standings to not have a win. He was determined to change that and came out strong with a 28 that was good for a three stroke lead over Mike Huckaby and four over Jay Sayler. Unlike the players in the Pro Division, Conradi was able to match his 1st round score in the second round to be in at 56 which was good for a five stroke lead. Huckaby, playing the same shot Sahmel was playing in the pro division, went 3 for 3 on hole 16. This helped him to shoot a 29 his last round to put a little pressure on Conradi. It was to no avail though as Conradi was the model of consistency and shot a 30 his last round to finish the event at 86 to win the APA division as well as beat all of the pro’s. It was a great 1st, and probably not the last, win for Conradi for the 2019 season.
| SWPT 2019 | Abilene | May 19 | ||||||||||||||
| PPA | Noon | APA | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Brice Bergesen | 26 | 33 | 29 | 88 | $ 80 | 1 | Chris Conradi | 28 | 28 | 30 | 86 | $26 | |||
| 2 | Wade Sahmel | 25 | 31 | 32 | 88 | $ 40 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 31 | 30 | 29 | 90 | $13 | |||
| 2 | Geoffrey Mosk | 26 | 31 | 31 | 88 | $ 30 | 3 | Jay Sayler | 32 | 38 | 34 | 104 | ||||
| 4 | Lee Messinger | 30 | 29 | 32 | 91 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Mason Spradlin | 32 | 33 | 31 | 96 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Joel Woodall | 32 | 34 | 34 | 100 | |||||||||||
After the playoff in the pro division, the players were right back to it to compete in the second event of the day. The carpets had continued to get dryer as the day went on and the players were not adjusting well and the higher scores proved it. Geoff Mosk, fresh off his disappointing playoff performance, was able to come out of the gate hot and shoot the low round of the second event with a 28. No other pro would have a round in the 20’s during the second tournament. Four of the other five players were within three strokes of the lead, as the players headed to round 2 where again the scores were all tight. Wade Sahmel and Mosk were the leaders at 60, but just one stroke back was their playing partner Brice Bergesen. Just two strokes back was Lee Messinger, who won both events the last time tournaments were played here in 2017. Joel Woodall was also within striking distance at 64. The three leaders were playing in the lead group and with seven holes to go were all tied up. Messinger was still within striking distance, but would need to shoot a 13 on the back to catch the leaders. Bergesen had a perfect Back 9 with all 2’s to finish tied for 3rd with Messinger. Sahmel lagged his ace putt on 13 and had to 2 bank in his deuce putt to stay even with Mosk. He then hit the right brick on 15 and had to make a long deuce to stay one back of Mosk. Mosk played it safe coming down the stretch and had a 1 stroke lead going into the last hole. Sahmel calmly made his ace and we had our second playoff of the day. In the playoff Sahmel got out to a lead and didn’t look back as he shot a 29 to win for the second time this year. It was the 8th round that Sahmel and Mosk had played on the day (2 3 round events and 2 playoff rounds) and they were both ready for the long drive home back to Houston after a great day of Putting.
In the APA Division, Mike Huckaby jumped out to an early 8 stroke lead with an opening round of 29 and never looked back. He played solid the last 2 rounds with scores of 32 and 32 as he tried to match Chris Conradi’s earlier accomplishment of beating the pro’s as well. His 93 came up just two strokes short of the PPA winning scores, but was good for an 11 stroke victory in the APA and was his third win of the year. The win also increased his lead in the POY standings to 127 points over Chris Conradi.
| SWPT 2019 | Abilene | May 19 | ||||||||||||||
| PPA | 3:00 PM | APA | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wade Sahmel | 30 | 30 | 31 | 91 | $ 80 | 1 | Mike Huckaby | 29 | 32 | 32 | 93 | $26 | |||
| 2 | Geoffrey Mosk | 28 | 32 | 31 | 91 | $ 50 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 38 | 33 | 33 | 104 | $13 | |||
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 31 | 30 | 32 | 93 | $ 15 | 3 | Jay Sayler | 37 | 39 | 34 | 110 | ||||
| 3 | Lee Messinger | 31 | 31 | 31 | 93 | $ 15 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Joel Woodall | 31 | 33 | 32 | 96 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Mason Spradlin | 36 | 31 | 31 | 98 | |||||||||||
Tom Adair (PPA) and Steven Yancey (APA)
The weather could not have been better on Cinco de Mayo for the final tournament of the weekend in Tyler Texas. The scores in the Pro division continued to get lower as the conditions got better. Geoff Mosk and Mason Spradlin, playing in the same group, got off to hot starts by both shooting 12’s on the back on their way to a pair of 26s. Just 1 stroke back was one of the previous days winners, Tom Adair. 2 other players, Jeff Smith and Brice Bergesen were just 2 strokes off the pace. The score at Tyler are usually tight and it is normally difficult to run away with a tournament. This would hold true on this day. Tom stayed hot and shot a 26 of his own in round 2 to be in at 53. Also in a 53 was fellow Tyler local Spradlin. Mosk stayed close by with a 29 to be in at 55 just 2 strokes back. Adair continued to pour it on in round 3 with another 26 but he was only able to extend his lead to 3 over Mosk and Mason heading into the 4th and Final round. Adair was playing in the group just ahead of Spradlin and Mosk so it was easy to tell just where everyone stood. Adair had a solid front 9 and was able to increase his lead to 4 over Mosk and 5 over Spradlin with 9 holes to go. It’s difficult to stay hot at Tyler and Adair left the door open on the back 9 for Mosk and Spradlin to come back. Mosk was able to close the gap to just 2 strokes with 3 holes to go and Mason was just one more stroke back. Adair deuced in so Mosk and Spradlin had a chance to tie or win but it was not to be. Mosk hit a poor putt on 16, made 17, but was not able to make 18 for the tie. Adair won his second tournament of the weekend with a 4 round score of 109. Mosk finished at 110 and Spradlin at 111. It was a good finish to a great weekend. The spots for the tour championship went to Adair, Spradlin, and Smith.
In the APA Gary Plain looked to complete the weekend sweep on this beautiful Sunday. After 1 round 8 of the 11 players were between 30 and 32 and it would remain tight throughout the day. After 2 rounds Chris Conradi took the lead at 59. Ken Stanfill continued his fine play with a 29 to be in at 60 after 2 rounds. Plain was in at 62 and many other players were still close by. In the 3rd round Steven Yancey had his best round of the weekend with a 27 to pull within 1 stroke of Conradi and Plain who shot a 31 and 28 respectively. Stanfill remained close at 93. Mike Huckaby was in at 94 just 4 strokes back with Mickey Delucca at 94. All of the top 6 players still had a chance to win heading into the last round. Yancey stayed hot and was able to overtake Plain and Conradi by shooting a 29 to finish at 121. Both Plain and Conradi had chances to beat or tie Yancey down the stretch but their putts were just a bit off and Yancey was able to claim his second win of the year. When the dust had all settled 5 players finished within 4 strokes of each other making it one of the most exciting finishes of the year. Spots went to Yancey, Plain, and Delucca.
| SWPT - Tyler - May 5, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tom Adair | 27 | 26 | 26 | 30 | 109 | $100.00 | 1 | 1 | Steven Yancey | 31 | 34 | 27 | 29 | 121 | $ 26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Geoff Mosk | 26 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 110 | $65.00 | 2 | Gary Plain | 31 | 31 | 28 | 32 | 122 | $ 13.00 | |||
| 3 | Mason Spradlin | 26 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 111 | $35.00 | 1 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 30 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 122 | $ 13.00 | ||
| 4 | Don Parker | 31 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 114 | $ 10.00 | 4 | Mike Huckaby | 31 | 33 | 30 | 29 | 123 | $ 13.00 | |||
| 4 | Jeffrey Smith | 28 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 114 | $ 10.00 | 1 | 5 | Mickey DeLucca | 32 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 125 | $ 13.00 | 1 | |
| 6 | Brice Bergesen | 28 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 116 | 6 | Ken Stanfill | 31 | 29 | 33 | 36 | 129 | $ 13.00 | ||||
| 7 | Danny Tatum | 30 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 125 | 7 | Trevor Lewin | 31 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 130 | 1 | ||||
| 8 | Matt Bellner | 29 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 125 | 8 | Chris Stewary | 34 | 30 | 35 | 33 | 132 | |||||
| 9 | Jay Salyer | 34 | 33 | 37 | 32 | 136 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Jonathan Huffner | 37 | 31 | 35 | 37 | 140 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Jack Ramsey | 32 | 34 | 35 | 41 | 142 | ||||||||||||
Tyler Doubleheader Always is a Favorite Stop
APA winner Gary Plain, PPA winners Tom Adair and Brice Bergesen
The SWPT made its annual stop to Tyler Texas on the weekend on May 4th and 5th. Tyler has a strong weekly tournament program that a few years ago brought Mason Spradlin to the tour. This year we had 2 new APA members, Chris Stewart and Jonathan Huffer, and a Chase Fields played in the open division Saturday along with Scott Myers, who due to some medical issues is taking a year off from the tour. We are always happy to see new members and welcome the players to the SWPT.
There were overnight rains before the evening of May 3rd into the early morning hours so the course was damp as players arrived to get practice. As the day went on the course dried out and it ended up being a beautiful day. Tyler has very strong local players and it would not be easy for outsiders to win. In the pro division Mason Spradlin proved this theory true by shooting a 27 to lead by 1 over Brice Bergesen and 2 over Geoff Mosk. The Tyler course can be finnicky and it is difficult to shoot low rounds consistently. In round 2 Mason stumbled to a clean 34 as his putts were just a bit off on just about every hole. This left the door open for Bergesen to take the lead and he did with a 27 to lead by 4 over Mosk and Adair. The rest of the field waited and hoped Bergesen would stumble and give others a chance to catch up but Bergesen kept the pedal to the medal and Finished with an 83 that was good for a 4 stroke victory over Mosk and 5 over Adair. Spots for the tour championship went to Bergesen, Adair, and Spradlin.
In the APA local player Gary Plain is always difficult to beat on his home course. This day would be no different as he had the low APA round of the day to start the tournament with a 27. Plain and Mike Huckaby were the only 2 players to break 30 in the first round as Huckaby shot a 29. In round 2 Chris Conradi got into the mix with a 28 to pull within 1 stroke of Plain who was at 60. Huckaby was at 63 and no other player was below 64. It was a battle down to the very end to see who would win the days first event. Conradi shot a very solid 30, but Plain was just to much as he rallied to shoot a 29 to finish at 89 and win by 2. The spots for the tour championship went to Plain, Conradi, and Stanfill.
| SWPT - Tyler - May 4, 2019, 12 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Brice Bergesen | 28 | 27 | 28 | 83 | $80.00 | 1 | 1 | Gary Plain | 27 | 33 | 29 | 89 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Geoff Mosk | 29 | 30 | 28 | 87 | $50.00 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 28 | 30 | 91 | $13.00 | |||
| 3 | Tom Adair | 30 | 29 | 29 | 88 | $30.00 | 1 | 3 | Mike Huckaby | 29 | 34 | 30 | 93 | $13.00 | ||
| 4 | Don Parker | 30 | 32 | 29 | 91 | 4 | Jack Ramsay | 33 | 31 | 32 | 96 | $7.00 | ||||
| 4 | Mason Spradlin | 27 | 34 | 30 | 91 | 1 | 4 | Ken Stanfill | 34 | 31 | 31 | 96 | $7.00 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Danny Tatum | 31 | 31 | 30 | 92 | 6 | Mickey DeLucca | 34 | 32 | 33 | 99 | |||||
| 7 | Steve Yancey | 36 | 34 | 30 | 100 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Jay Salyer | 35 | 41 | 33 | 109 | |||||||||||
| Open | ||||||||||||||||
| Chase Fields | 33 | 28 | 36 | 97 | ||||||||||||
| SWPT - Tyler - May 4, 2019, 3 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tom Adair | 28 | 24 | 30 | 82 | $80.00 | 1 | 1 | Gary Plain | 34 | 29 | 29 | 92 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Brice Bergesen | 28 | 30 | 27 | 85 | $50.00 | 1 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 32 | 35 | 30 | 97 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Geoff Mosk | 29 | 30 | 29 | 88 | $30.00 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 32 | 35 | 30 | 97 | $13.00 | |||
| 4 | Mason Spradlin | 29 | 31 | 29 | 89 | 1 | 4 | Ken Stanfill | 28 | 35 | 35 | 98 | $13.00 | 1 | ||
| 5 | Danny Tatum | 31 | 31 | 29 | 91 | 5 | Steve Yancey | 34 | 35 | 31 | 100 | $13.00 | ||||
| 6 | Don Parker | 27 | 30 | 35 | 92 | 5 | Jay Salyer | 32 | 35 | 33 | 100 | |||||
| 6 | Matt Bellner | 33 | 29 | 30 | 92 | 7 | Chris Stewart | 32 | 35 | 34 | 101 | |||||
| 8 | Mickey DeLucca | 36 | 34 | 33 | 103 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Jack Ramsay | 38 | 34 | 33 | 105 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Jonathan Huffner | 34 | 37 | 35 | 106 | |||||||||||
| Open | ||||||||||||||||
| Scott Myers | 32 | 29 | 32 | 93 | $10.00 | |||||||||||
| Chase Fields | 32 | 34 | 32 | 98 | ||||||||||||
In the 3pm tournament the course had dried out as the pros looked to score better and they did for the most part. 5 of the 7 players were below 30 in round 1 with Don Parker, who always seems to play well in Tyler, leading with a 27. Tom Adair and Brice Bergesen were just 1 stroke back at 28 while Geoff Mosk and Mason Spradlin were just 2 back at 29. In round 2 Adair went on a phenomenal run. After missing hole 6 he only missed hole 1 additional hole until he reached 17 and that was hole 10. It was the kind of run that can, and usually does, propel a player to victory. It gave Adair a 5 stroke lead over Parker and 6 over Bergesen. Adair walked the proverbial dog in the last round to finish at 82. Bergesen tried to keep pressure on Adair by shooting a 27 of his own but it was not enough as he finished 3 strokes back. Spots for the tour championship went to Adair, Bergesen, and Spradlin.
In the APA it was much of the same as the earlier tournament except that Plain got off to a slow start with a 34. He then closed with consecutive 29s to put pressure on the rest of the field. Stanfill was the only player under 30 in round 1 with a 28 which was good for a 4 stroke lead over several players. In the second round, Plains 29 was not only the only score under 30 in the APA, it was the only score under 34. This allowed Plain to take a sizeable lead over the rest of the field. Plain didn’t let up as he also had the lowest score the last round to win by 5 over Conradi. Interestingly enough, the same 3 players, Plain, Conradi, and Huckaby in the APA and Adair, Bergesen and Mosk in the PPA, finished in the top 3 spots in both of the days events.
In the late tournament, the 3 Houston Pros were determined to not let the Dallas group sweep the day. Brice Bergesen had the low round with a 26 followed closely by defending tour champion Don Parker and Geoff “Groff” Mosk who were just oee stroke back. Groff fell off the pace in round 2 when he played holes 15-17 in four over. Bergesen continued to lead with a score of 55. Parker remained one back. Jeffrey Smith and Lee Messinger shot rounds of 26 and 27 respectively to get back in the hunt. Bergesen, Smith, and Messinger were all playing in the lead group so they knew what it would take to beat each other. Parker has a good front but stumbled on the back and it looked like Bergesen would get the win by being 3 up with 2 to go. He then missed his deuce from on top of the hill which left a difficult bogey putt, but he took his time and made the 3 to keep the pressure on Smith. Smith now needed to make 17 and 18 and hope Bergesen missed 18 to tie, and that is exactly what happened. Bergesen will tell you he has not had much luck in playoffs over the last 10 or so years and it looked like that was going to change with him being two up heading into the last hole. He tried to lay up but hit his putt to hard and it came down the hill leaving a testy little died for the win. Bergesen again took his time and calmly drained the putt to seal his first win of the 2019 season. Spots went to Bergesen, Bellner, and Kropinak.
Trevor Lewin and Steven Yancey came out hot in the second APA event of the day by both shooting a 28. That was god enough for a four stroke lead over Mike Huckaby. Both the leaders had tough second rounds while Huckaby and Chris Conradi both broke 30 and all 4 players were within 2 strokes of each other with 1 round to go. Lewin has a solid 30 his last round and it looked like he would complete the daily double but Huckaby came in 1 stroke better to tie Lewin at 92 so we headed to another playoff. This time though Huckaby was to much for Lewin to handle and Huckaby became the first player this year to win 2 APA events.
| SWPT - Coit Rd - April 20, 2019, 2 pm | |||||||||||||||||
| PPA | APA | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Brice Bergesen | 26 | 29 | 31 | 86 | $90.00 | 1 | Mike Huckaby | 32 | 31 | 29 | 92 | $26.00 | ||||
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 33 | 26 | 27 | 86 | $60.00 | 2 | Trevor Lewin | 28 | 34 | 30 | 92 | $13.00 | ||||
| 3 | Lee Messinger | 31 | 27 | 29 | 87 | $30.00 | 3 | Steven Yancey | 28 | 34 | 33 | 95 | $13.00 | ||||
| 4 | Don Parker | 27 | 29 | 32 | 88 | $10.00 | 4 | Chris Conradi | 36 | 29 | 33 | 98 | |||||
| 5 | Geoff Mosk | 27 | 35 | 31 | 93 | 5 | Jerry Medina | 34 | 37 | 36 | 107 | ||||||
| 6 | Matt Bellner | 31 | 34 | 30 | 95 | 6 | Mickey DeLucca | 33 | 37 | 42 | 112 | ||||||
| 7 | John Kropinak | 35 | 32 | 29 | 96 | ||||||||||||
The weather could not have been better on Saturday April 20th at the beautiful Adventure Landing course in Dallas as the Southwest Putting Tour made its annual stop in Dallas. It is a “local” course to Jeffrey Smith and Lee Messinger and most expected them to play very well and probably win. As expected, both players played well the first round, but it was Brice Bergesen that was the leader after one round with a 26. Messinger and Smith were two and four strokes back, respectively. The course can be a bit finicky and putting three really good rounds together is tough, as Bergesen found out in round two. His 32 had him at a second round score of 58, which was good for a tie for second place with Messinger. Smith had the best round of the tournament with a 25 to give him a three stroke lead at 55. No one else was closer than five strokes off the pace and it was clearly a three man race. Messinger came out hot on the front nine and when Smith was only able to shoot two under, he found himself in the lead with just nine holes to play. The players all agree that the front nine is easier to score on than the back. But Smith, knowing he needed a strong finish to get his first win of the year, was determined to keep Messinger within striking distance. Smith shot an unbelievable 10 on the back nine, only missing hole 12; which he had made the previous 2 rounds. With Messinger struggling to make aces, Smith’s total of 81 was good for a 4 stroke victory and his first win of the 2019 season. Bergesen was able to hang on to 3rd place and claim a spot, along with John Kropinak.
In the APA we have had seven different winners in seven different tournaments. There were four players hoping to make that trend continue, including two new members to the tour, Jerry Medina and Jay Salyer. Chris Conradi had the first round low score with a 30. The winner of the last event at Longview Greens, Mickey Delucca, was just one stroke back at 31. Trevor Lewin, who was looking for his first win of the year on the course just a few miles from his home, was still in the hunt at 33. Mike Huckaby improved by 12 strokes in his second round shooting a fine 27. Medina has a 5 stroke improvement to shoot a 29. However, Conradi continued to lead at 61 with Trevor just three strokes back. No one could get much going the last round and Lewin’s 33 was enough to catch Conradi to tie for the win at 97. This sealed the deal for an 8th winner in 8 tournaments. In the playoff Lewin was just a little bit better as he outlasted Conradi to claim a win on his home turf. Spots for the tour championship went to Lewin, Conradi, and Medina.
| SWPT - Coit Rd - April 20, 2019, 12 pm | ||||||||||||||||||
| PPA | APA | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Jeffrey Smith | 30 | 25 | 26 | 81 | $80.00 | 1 | Trevor Lewin | 33 | 31 | 33 | 97 | $26.00 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Lee Messinger | 28 | 30 | 27 | 85 | $50.00 | 2 | Chris Conradi | 30 | 31 | 36 | 97 | $13.00 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | Brice Bergesen | 26 | 32 | 31 | 89 | $30.00 | 1 | 3 | Mike Huckaby | 39 | 27 | 32 | 98 | $13.00 | ||||
| 4 | Geoff Mosk | 32 | 28 | 32 | 92 | 4 | Jerry Medina | 34 | 29 | 36 | 99 | 1 | ||||||
| 5 | John Kropinak | 31 | 31 | 31 | 93 | 5 | Steven Yancey | 39 | 33 | 33 | 105 | |||||||
| 6 | Don Parker | 33 | 31 | 29 | 93 | 1 | 6 | Jay Salyer | 40 | 37 | 34 | 111 | ||||||
| 7 | Mickey DeLucca | 31 | 36 | 52 | 119 | |||||||||||||
| Longview Greens | ||||||||||||
| April 7, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| SWPT | Montgom | SWPT | Montgom | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 7Apr'19 | 2019 | 7Apr'19 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 36 | 29 | 32 | 97 | $70.00 | 1 | Mickey DeLucca | 43 | 38 | 38 | 119 | $26.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Lee Messinger | 37 | 34 | 31 | 102 | $40.00 | 2 | Alan Sahmel | 46 | 42 | 33 | 121 | ||||
| 3 | Jeffrey Smith | 32 | 33 | 39 | 104 | $20.00 | 1 | |||||||||
| 4 | Don Parker | 38 | 36 | 35 | 109 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Mason Spradlin | 43 | 44 | 36 | 123 | 1 |
A few players got together after the first days tournament to eat, watch some NCAA Basketball, and enjoy each other’s company. They all agreed that another 92 would not be shot and hoped that the rain would stay away. Amazingly, the rain did stay away and the tournament was played in very comfortable conditions. There were some overnight showers that had the course a little wet but there were not any spots on the course with anything close to standing water. There was only some slight dampness of the carpet that did not affect play much at all. Jeffrey Smith got out to great start shooting a 15 on the front 9. He was the only player able to break 18. His lead grew to as much as 6 before Geoff Mosk, Lee Messinger, and Don Parker were able to get a little closer before the end of the round. Smith held a 4 stroke lead over Mosk, 32 to 36, with Messinger just 1 more stroke back, and Parker 1 behind that. Smith had another solid round his second round with a 33 but Mosk was able to tie the course record with a 29, including a 13 on the front. This had Smith and Mosk tied after 2 rounds just as they were the day before, but this time at 65. Messinger was in third place at 71. The course can turn on you in a hurry and that is what happened to Smith the third round. Mosk continued his good play and shot a solid 32 that was good enough for a 5 stroke win over second place finisher Messinger. Smith held on to 3rd place. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Smith and Mason Spradlin.
In the APA Mickey DeLucca was determined to play better and challenge Alan Sahmel for the victory and after the first round DeLucca had the lead 43-46. In the second round DeLucca improved to shoot his best score of the weekend, a 38, and extend his lead over Sahmel to 7 strokes. Sahmel, the reigning APA Senior National Champion showed what a great player he is by putting pressure on DeLucca the last round. After 9 holes Sahmel had cut the lead to just 3 strokes. He continued to put on pressure by shooting a 16 his last 9 holes for a third round score of 33. Mickey was up for the challenge and thought he had secured the win after making the boot hole, number 15. He encountered some trouble coming down the stretch but was able to hold on for the win 119-121. It was DeLucca’s first win on the SWPT since 2015 and we are all very happy for him. DeLucca also picked up his second spot for the tour championship to be played at his home course in Lake Charles in September.
| Longview Greens | ||||||||||||
| April 6, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| SWPT | Montgom | SWPT | Montgom | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 6Apr'19 | 2019 | 6Apr'19 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 33 | 29 | 30 | 92 | $90.00 | 1 | Alan Sahmel | 38 | 40 | 38 | 116 | $26.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Lee Messinger | 32 | 31 | 32 | 95 | $60.00 | 1 | 2 | Mickey DeLucca | 49 | 45 | 45 | 139 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Jeffrey Smith | 33 | 29 | 37 | 99 | $30.00 | 1 | |||||||||
| 4 | Brice Bergesen | 35 | 35 | 35 | 105 | $10.00 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Rainey Statum | 37 | 35 | 33 | 105 | $10.00 | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | Mason Spradlin | 37 | 34 | 35 | 106 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Don Parker | 34 | 38 | 39 | 111 |
Nine players showed up on Saturday April 6th to play the lovely Longview Greens Mini Golf course in Magnolia Texas just off of Lake Conroe. The weekend weather did not look promising which kept some players at home. It is a beautiful course that offers different challenges from what most players are used to. Shooting under 36 every round is a challenge for even the best of players but it is a challenge that the players enjoy. In the Pro division Mason Spradlin led off the tournament as the defending champion. All 7 pros shot between 32 and 37 with Lee Messinger being the leader. Just 1 back were Jeff Smith and Geoff Mosk but everyone was still close enough to win. Hole 5 is affectionately known as the Stetson hole as the hole looks like a giant Cowboy hat with a tunnel in the middle. If you get your ball in the tunnel it is an ace. If you miss you are almost certainly looking at a 3 or worse. It can be very difficult to shoot under 18 on the front 9 unless you make this hole. In round one only 2 players were able to shoot under 18 on the front 9. In the second round, 3 players were able to break 18 on the front 9 and those players separated themselves from the field. Smith and Mosk set the course record both shooting 29s and Messinger had a 31. They were in a 62, 62, and 63 respectively. Brice Bergesen was the next closest player at 70. In the last round Mosk was able to keep the momentum going and shot a 15 on the front side. Smith had a tough front, missing the Stetson hole and was 4 back. Messinger was 3 back with 9 holes left to play. Messinger made 5 holes coming down the stretch but it was not enough as Mosk prevailed shooting a 32 his last round for a three round total of 92. Messinger finished second at 95 and Smith in third at 99. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Messinger, Smith and Rainey Statum.
In the APA it was a 2 man race between Alan Sahmel and a rejuvenated Mickey DeLucca. It was the first time either player had played the course. DeLucca had some struggles and Sahmel was able to jump out to a 11 stroke lead after the first round. DeLucca played a little better in the second round but Sahmel was still able to pull away even more. Sahmel played consistently over all 3 rounds and was able to win the event with a score of 116. DeLucca had learned a few lessons along the way and was looking forward to the next day’s event knowing he had a chance to win for the first time in a few years.
Lake Charles Weekend Winners
Charles "Sharky" Cox, Greg Simpson, Wade Sahmel, Geoff Mosk
| SWPT | LC | SWPT | LC | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 17Mar'19 | 2019 | 17Mar19 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 24 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 98 | $80.00 | 1 | Charles Cox | 25 | 28 | 24 | 27 | 104 | $26.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 26 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 100 | $50.00 | 1 | 2 | Alan Sahmel | 30 | 28 | 26 | 26 | 110 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Lee Messinger | 30 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 107 | $20.00 | 1 | 3 | Greg Simpson | 25 | 31 | 29 | 29 | 114 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 4 | Don Parker | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 111 | 1 | 4 | Mike Huckaby | 30 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 115 | $13.00 | |||
| 5 | Mason Spradlin | 29 | 25 | 30 | 29 | 113 | 5 | Charles Tarbell | 32 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 118 | $13.00 | ||||
| 6 | Wade Sahmel | 31 | 25 | 32 | 28 | 116 | 6 | Mickey DeLucca | 30 | 31 | 29 | 30 | 120 | |||||
| 7 | Adam Sahmel | 32 | 27 | 32 | 36 | 127 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 30 | 34 | 32 | 129 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Jack Ramsey | 36 | 32 | 31 | 34 | 133 |
It was a little bit cooler on Sunday but there was no threat of rain as the players got ready for a 10 am tee time for the four round event. Geoff Mosk once again started off hot by shooting a 1st round 24, which was good for a two shot lead over 2014 National Champion Jeffrey Smith. The defending Al and Tour Champion Don Parker was just three strokes back. In round two, almost everyone was hot. Mason Spradlin and Wade Sahmel had the low rounds with 25s; three other players had a 26. Mosk held on to his two stroke lead over Smith at 50-52. In Round three, Mosk missed hole one, but recovered to make his next eight for a ten on the front nine. Lee Messinger also shot a 10 on the front nine to remain within striking distance. Mosk finished with a 24 and was able to increase his lead to three over Smith; with no other player closer than seven strokes. Mosk was in the lead group and came out hot again shooting an 11 on the front nine. Not to be outdone Smith missed hole one and then made the next 8 to close the gap to two strokes. Mosk made 10 and 11 while Smith missed them both behind him. Mosk had a 4 stroke lead with seven holes to go. Not forgetting the lesson he learned yesterday when Messinger made seven of the last eight to chase him down, Mosk stayed moderately aggressive and made three more aces down the stretch to win 98-100 over Smith. Messinger shot a 26 his last round to hang on to 3rd place over Parker. The spots went to Smith, Messinger, and Parker.
n the APA it is rare that a weekend of tournaments will go by in Lake Charles without Charles “Sharkey” Cox winning an event. Cox came out hot with a 1st round 25. Not to be out done, the winner of the 3pm even the day before Greg Simpson also shot a 25. No other player was able to break 30 in the first round. Both players cooled off a bit in round two with Cox shooting a 28 and Simpson with a 31. The Sahmels, Adam and Alan came in with great scores of 27 and 28 respectively to stay in the hunt as well. Any doubt about Cox being able to get his 1st win of the year were put to bed when Cox shot the low APA round of the day with a 24 in round three. He extended his lead over Alan, who had a round of 26 of his own, to seven strokes. Alan stayed hot the last round shooting another 26 to put some pressure on Cox, but Sharkey knows his home course as well as anyone and coasted in with a 27 and a six stroke victory. The spots in the APA went to Cox, Alan Sahmel, and Simpson.
We’d like to thank Greg Simpson and the wonderful employees of the Lake Charles Putt Putt for putting on a great tournament weekend. The course is always in great shape and the hospitality could not be better. We will be back in August for the Louisiana State Championship and September for the SWPT Championship.
| SWPT | LC | SWPT | LC | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 16Mar-3 | 2019 | 16Mar-3 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Geoff Mosk | 24 | 26 | 28 | 78 | $90.00 | 1 | 1 | Greg Simpson | 24 | 28 | 28 | 80 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Lee Messinger | 26 | 29 | 23 | 78 | $60.00 | 1 | 2 | Alan Sahmel | 23 | 27 | 32 | 82 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Don Parker | 29 | 26 | 26 | 81 | $30.00 | 1 | 3 | Charles Cox | 28 | 30 | 27 | 85 | $13.00 | ||
| 4 | Wade Sahmel | 27 | 32 | 23 | 82 | $20.00 | 3 | Mike Huckaby | 30 | 27 | 28 | 85 | $13.00 | 1 | ||
| 5 | Jeffrey Smith | 30 | 28 | 26 | 84 | 5 | Mickey DeLucca | 31 | 31 | 30 | 92 | $5.00 | ||||
| 6 | Mason Spradlin | 29 | 30 | 32 | 91 | 6 | Adam Sahmel | 32 | 32 | 29 | 93 | |||||
| 7 | Danny Tatum | 31 | 31 | 31 | 93 | 7 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 30 | 31 | 94 | |||||
| 7 | Charles Tarbell | 27 | 32 | 35 | 94 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Jack Ramsey | 41 | 34 | 36 | 111 |
After a quick snack and a little practice the players were back out on the course at 3pm to start the second event of the weekend. Wade Sahmel finally cooled of a little and shot a 27 his 1st round which was good for 3rd. Lee Messinger was just two strokes back of Geoff Mosk, who shot a 1st round score of 24. Mosk extended his lead in round two shooting a 26 which had him five strokes ahead of both Messinger and Don Parker. It looked like it was going to be another run away win in the second tournament, especially after Mosk shot a 12 on the front nine to hold a five stroke lead over Messinger with just 9 holes to go. Mosk then made hole 10 to get the lead back to 6 and was ready to coast in for his 1st win of the year. But Mosk would only make one more ace the rest of the way while is playing partner, Messinger was making the seven of the last eight to shoot a 23. Mosk needed only to make hole 17 or 18 to close out the win but both putts just barely missed and we were heading to our first playoff of the year. In the playoff Mosk made the 1st six holes and had a two stroke lead after the front nine, 11-13. Knowing what had just happened the round before, Mosk had to keep applying pressure, but neither player was able to get it really going on the back nine. After Mosk made hole 16, he was 10 under and held a three stroke lead with two holes to go. He played it safe the last two, while Messinger made the last two and Mosk held on for a stroke victory. Don Parker hung on to 3rd place and Sahmel also shot a 23 his last round to get the crumb at 82.
In the APA Greg Simpson came out hot shooting a 24 which he felt confident would win him low round money. Just a few minutes after he finished, Alan Sahmel came in with a 23 to cut him by one. Those were the two lowest APA rounds of the day and the two were in for a battle. In round 2, Sahmel again had the low round, this time with a 27 that he shared with Mike Huckaby. It extended his lead over Simpson to two strokes heading into the final round. No other plater was within five strokes of the lead. Simpson was playing a few groups in front of Sahmel and knew he needed to apply some pressure. He shot a final round 28 and didn’t think it would be enough to chase down Sahmel, but sometimes putts just don’t want to drop and that was the type of round Sahmel had as he came in at 32 his final round and fell to 2nd place. It wrapped up an APA day 1, a Simpson bothers sweep with Terry and Greg winning both tournaments. The spots went to Simpson, Sahmel, and Huckaby.
| SWPT | LC | SWPT | LC | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | 16Mar-12 | 2019 | 16Mar-12 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Wade Sahmel | 25 | 24 | 23 | 72 | $100.00 | 1 | 1 | Terry Simpson | 26 | 28 | 27 | 81 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Jeffrey Smith | 26 | 26 | 25 | 77 | $50.00 | 1 | 2 | Charles Cox | 27 | 29 | 28 | 84 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Geoff Mosk | 28 | 26 | 25 | 79 | $30.00 | 1 | 3 | Mike Huckaby | 30 | 27 | 29 | 86 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 4 | Lee Messinger | 28 | 28 | 26 | 82 | $20.00 | 4 | Greg Simpson | 29 | 30 | 29 | 88 | $13.00 | |||
| 5 | Don Parker | 28 | 27 | 29 | 84 | 5 | Mickey DeLucca | 28 | 35 | 26 | 89 | $5.00 | ||||
| 5 | Mason Spradlin | 28 | 29 | 27 | 84 | 5 | Alan Sahmel | 31 | 29 | 29 | 89 | $5.00 | ||||
| 7 | Danny Tatum | 26 | 32 | 28 | 86 | 7 | Adam Sahmel | 27 | 33 | 31 | 91 | |||||
| 7 | Brice Bergesen | 29 | 30 | 27 | 86 | 8 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 31 | 31 | 95 | |||||
| 9 | Jack Ramsey | 34 | 41 | 33 | 108 |
Seventeen players came out to the beautiful Lake Charles course on March 16th to play in the Noon event. We are still seeing some unseasonable cool weather and many players wore long sleeve shirts and/or light jackets to stay warm. The course is always in great shape and the players looked forward to three competitive tournaments. In the Pro division, Wade Sahmel was using his new Euro Putter in preparation for the World Adventure Golf Masters where he will be playing for team USA in Sweden in three months. He took little time to adjust and shot the rounds low score of 25 to open the event. No player was more than 4 strokes back, with Jeffrey Smith and Danny Tatum being the closest at 26. Sahmel again shot the low round in round two with a 24. This increased his lead to three shots over Smith and five shots over Geoffrey Mosk, who both had score of 26. Sahmel continued to pour it on as he completed the trifecta by shooting a 23 his final round, which was again the lowest score of the round. His score of 72 was good for a five stroke victory over Smith and seven over Mosk. The qualifying spots for the tour championship went to Sahmel, Smith, and Mosk. There was little drama in the pro division to start the weekend but things were just getting started.
In the APA, Charles Cox who is always in contention at Lake Charles, said to his playing partner that he was playing for a spot in the first event and to win the other two because Terry Simpson was playing in only the 1st event of the weekend and had been playing very well. Cox was not wrong and Simpson was the leader after one round after shooting a 26. Adam Sahmel and Cox were both just one strike back at 27. It should be noted that Sahmel was playing in his 1st event in well over a year while sitting in his wheelchair and, as usual, playing one-handed. It was a joy and a pleasure to have him back out on the course competing in the game we all love. In round two, Simpson continued to lead after shooting a 28. He increased his lead on Cox to two strokes and led Mike Huckaby by three. Huckaby had the low round of 27 in round two. Simpson stayed consistent and shot another fine round of 27 in the 3rd round, which was more than enough to stay ahead of Cox to get the win. Huckaby was able to hang on to 3rd place, which had the spots for the tour championship going to Simpson, Cox, and Huckaby. It should also be noted that Mickey Delucca shot a 26 his last round, which is the lowest score he could remember shooting since having surgery on his foot several years ago. He had a problem with the yips and late last year at the recommendation of some friends switched to putting left handed. He has played better since making the switch and we hope this is a sign of good things to come from our good friend Mickey.
Record setting PPA winner Joe Lea, 8-stroke APA winner Steven Yancey
Conditions for Sunday had called for scattered rain starting about 10 am when the tournament was supposed to start but the players were blessed in that it did not rain at all. A cold front did come thru making the temperatures colder and there was some wind but over all the conditions were pretty good, especially if your name was Joe Lea. Lea tied the course record, shared by Joe Shirey and Geoff Mosk, with a 21 his opening round only missing holes 2, 12, and 16. This gave him a 4 stroke lead over Mosk, who shot a 25 with a bogey of his own. Mosk thought he would have gained some ground with a 26 in round 2 but instead he fell further behind as Lea shot a 23 missing 3 of his last 4 holes. Lea’s 44 tied a first 2 round SWPT record set by Brice Bergesen at Lake Charles back in 2012 when he shot a 22 in each of his 1st 2 rounds. Lea had a 7 stroke lead after two rounds on Mosk, and 10 over Don Parker. Joe finally cooled off in round 3 as the weather also started to cool, with a 27, but it was still the best round anyone was able to shoot. Lea was at 71 after 3 rounds and held a 12 stroke lead. It was all but over with the only remaining battle being for 2nd place. Mosk was at 83 with no less than 5 players within 2 strokes of him. In the last round Lea cruised in with a 29 to finish with a 4 round score of 100 (44 under par). Mosk and Lee Messinger had the rounds low scores of 26 to allow them to finish in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Jeffrey Smith came in 4th with the crumb going to Parker. It was a dominating weekend for Joe Lea as he played 7 rounds in 179 shots (73 under par).
In the APA Steve Yancey bounced back from a disappointing 1st tournament with a 1st round 27. It was the only score in the APA under 31. Things got much tighter in round 2 as day 1 winner, Mike Huckaby, shot a 27 of his own to pull within 1 stroke of Yancey. Jack Ramsey also had his best round of the weekend, a 29 to be in at 64 and 7 strokes off the pace. Yancey played solid the last two rounds with scores of 29 in each. Chris Conradi also played well the last 2 rounds with scores of 29 and 30 that allowed him to move up to 3rd place. Huckaby was not able to keep up with Yancey but did hang on for second place to finish the weekend with a 1st and 2nd place finish. Ken Stanfill came in 4th to get the final reimbursement money. Yancey’s total of 115 was good for an 8 stroke win as he picks up where he left off last year when he won 4 tournaments.
We will play 3 tournaments in Lake Charles in 2 weeks and look forward to weather that will hopefully be a little warmer.
| SWPT | Webster | SWPT | Webster | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 3 Mar '19 | 2019 | 3 Mar '19 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Joe Lea | 21 | 23 | 27 | 29 | 100 | $110.00 | 1 | 1 | Steven Yancey | 27 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 115 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Geoff Mosk | 25 | 26 | 32 | 26 | 109 | $65.00 | 1 | 2 | Mike Huckaby | 31 | 27 | 32 | 33 | 123 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Lee Messinger | 27 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 110 | $35.00 | 1 | 3 | Chris Conradi | 31 | 37 | 29 | 30 | 127 | $13.00 | 1 | |
| 4 | Jeffrey Smith | 28 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 112 | $25.00 | 4 | Ken Stanfill | 32 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 128 | $13.00 | |||
| 5 | Don Parker | 26 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 114 | $20.00 | 5 | Greg Simpson | 34 | 35 | 29 | 32 | 130 | ||||
| 6 | Danny Tatum | 28 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 116 | 6 | Trevor Lewin | 31 | 31 | 34 | 35 | 131 | |||||
| 7 | John Kropinak | 30 | 25 | 30 | 32 | 117 | 7 | Jack Ramsey | 34 | 29 | 32 | 38 | 133 | |||||
| 7 | Mason Spradlin | 31 | 24 | 30 | 32 | 117 | 8 | Dwain Willett | 37 | 36 | 29 | 36 | 138 | |||||
| 9 | Brice Bergesen | 33 | 31 | 28 | 30 | 122 | 9 | Mickey DeLucca | 34 | 39 | 32 | 39 | 144 |
| SWPT | Webster | SWPT | Webster | |||||||||||||
| PPA-2019 | 2 Mar '19 | APA-2019 | 2 Mar '19 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Joe Lea | 24 | 26 | 29 | 79 | $120.00 | 1 | 1 | Mike Huckaby | 31 | 28 | 27 | 86 | $26.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | John Kropinak | 28 | 22 | 30 | 80 | $70.00 | 2 | Dwain Willett | 32 | 33 | 28 | 93 | $13.00 | |||
| 3 | Wade Sahmel | 29 | 27 | 25 | 81 | $40.00 | 3 | Chris Conradi | 33 | 31 | 30 | 94 | $13.00 | |||
| 4 | Danny Tatum | 27 | 30 | 25 | 82 | $30.00 | 3 | Ken Stanfill | 28 | 36 | 30 | 94 | $13.00 | |||
| 5 | Jeffrey Smith | 27 | 30 | 27 | 84 | $20.00 | 5 | Greg Simpson | 33 | 30 | 32 | 95 | $13.00 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Geoff Mosk | 28 | 30 | 28 | 86 | 1 | 6 | Trevor Lewin | 30 | 36 | 30 | 96 | ||||
| 6 | Lee Messinger | 30 | 29 | 27 | 86 | 7 | Alan Sahmel | 31 | 36 | 31 | 98 | 1 | ||||
| 8 | Don Parker | 33 | 30 | 25 | 88 | 1 | 8 | Mickey DeLucca | 32 | 32 | 35 | 99 | ||||
| 9 | Mason Spradlin | 27 | 30 | 32 | 89 | 9 | Steven Yancey | 38 | 32 | 31 | 101 | |||||
| 10 | Brice Bergesen | 35 | 28 | 27 | 90 | 9 | Jack Ramsey | 34 | 34 | 33 | 101 |
