Greensboro, NC (March 5, 2011) - 103 Tour members showed up to play The Championship Course at Bryan Park today. Not too many of those guys played a lot of golf this winter as was evidenced by the modest scoring exhibited today in the regular season "kick-off" event for the Senior Amateur Tour in the Triad and Raleigh/Pinehurst regions. But while the scoring was not low, the competition was very high as 3 of the 4 flights were decided in playoffs, while the 4th had the top 3 finishers separated by a single stroke.
Although he was not aware of it at the time, Greensboro's Dan Whalen needed to hole his putt from off the green on his last hole of regulation play in the B Flight to force a playoff with Tour newcomer Jim Alford of Zebulon. That's exactly what Whalen did, sinking the 35 footer to tie Alford with a pair of 80s. Whalen then took the first playoff hole with a par to secure the victory.
Another Greensboro golfer, Mike Daniels, won his playoff for the top spot in the A Flight in style, with a birdie on their second extra hole to edge Cary's Ed Gregory. Both finished regulation play with 78s. "Mike knows this course like the back-of-his-hand" stated Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck, I wasn't surprised to see him do well today".
James Eatmon of Sims and Greensboro's Charles Gunn both shot 90 which topped all C Flight competitors. Eatmon was declared the flight winner. It was his first Tour victory in 3 years of Tour play. "James has been improving greatly and has come close a few times before, so it was really nice to see him break through today" said Hallenbeck.
In Championship Flight competition, Cary's David Williams edged a pair of golfers by a single stroke with a 76. Brodie Baker of Clemmons took 2nd in a card-playoff over Greensboro's John Franklin. Williams was the most consistent of the Championship players, as only one other flight member managed to break 40 on both the front and back sides.
Any amateur golfer over 50 interested in getting information about competing in a Senior Tour event can contact Hallenbeck at 336-495-6556, or by email at behgolf@aol.com.
THE SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF TOUR
BRYAN PARK (CHAMPIONSHIP) EVENT
TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (6,423 yards)
David Williams, Cary 76
Brodie Baker, Clemmons 77
John Franklin, Greensboro 77
Steve Lambert, Summerfield 78
Randy Coppedge, Greensboro 78
Rick Luzar, Pinehurst 78
A FLIGHT (6,023 yards)
Mike Daniels, Greensboro 78
Ed Gregory, Cary 78
John East, Rockingham 79
Sam Patterson, Greensboro 79
Steve Smith, Pinehurst 79
B FLIGHT (6,023 yards)
Dan Whalen, Greensboro 80
Jim Alford, Zebulon 80
Ron Vanderklok, Advance 81
David Baker, Madison 82
Dexter Barbee, Burlington 83
Raymond Newman, Danville, VA 83
C FLIGHT (6,023 yards)
James Eatmon, Sims 90
Charles Gunn, Greensboro 90
John Hall, Raleigh 93
Mike Hunter, Greensboro 93
Richard Payne, Kernersville 94