2024 The National at Ave Maria Golf Tournament Results

On June 8, 31 players competed in the first major event of the Southwest Florida Amateur Players Tour 2024 season at The National Golf and Country Club at Ave Maria.  Early on, it seemed like the rain was going to drown us out, but somehow the huge storm skirted the course, and we played a rain-free round!  Highlights include: 

• Division 1:  Henry Abbott took a 3-shot lead over Michael Smith to the back nine.  They were tied through 15 holes when an untimely triple-bogey grabbed Smith on the long par 5 16^th hole.  Abbott gave one back at 17, and on 18, Smith had a putt to tie it, and narrowly missed giving Abbott his second win in a row!     
• Division 2: We had 4 players with solid front nines in the thirties, but none better than Dan Madsen’s -2 (34)!  Madsen took his 3-stroke lead to the back nine and never looked back, finishing with a personal best of 72!  Daren Green took second with an even par back nine to jump ahead of Chason Rockymore, and Nick Westbrook.   
• Division 3: Division 3 had an exciting front nine with 6 players within 5 shots of each other and Vito Penza leading the way with a 4 over 40!   The back nine saw Trevor Ganzi and Stephane Soucy tied through 14 holes and then the race was on!  Soucy proved to be the more consistent player down the stretch, beating Ganzi by 2 for his second win in a row!  Ganzi finished second with a solid performance.   
• Division 4:   Division 4 had a very tight contest mainly between three players – Matt Faubert, Stephen Leadbetter, and John Oursler who all carded 41s on the front nine.   Leadbetter started off the back with a birdie at 10 to take a 3-shot lead over both Faubert and Oursler who had unfortunate double-bogies.  Leadbetter would remain consistent on the back and beat the second-place finisher Oursler by 2.   
• Division 5: Andrew Lampert and Kenny Winters renewed their D5 duel at Winters’ home course!  They were tied after 9 holes with Dave Densieski and Rusty Lingenfelter just a few shots back!  Lingenfelter and Densieski improved on the back, but it was not enough to catch Andrew Lampert who won for the third time this season!     
• Senior Net: 9 of the 16 eligible players participated in the Senior Net contest.  Daren Green, our D2 second-place finisher won it this week with a sizzling -2!  Taking second was Stephane Soucy, our D3 winner!       

A huge thank you goes out to Duke Bowen and the entire staff at The National Golf & Country Club for their help and hospitality.   

Our next event is at Serenoa in Sarasota, and it will be on Saturday, June 15.  Remember, the more players we get, the bigger the payouts!  Sign up now for your spot to play!  Registration closes on June 10!