2025 APT Lone-Star Shootout Results

This weekend, the Amateur Players Tour returned to Texas for the APT Lone-Star Shootout at the beautiful Pine Dunes Golf Course.  Pine Dunes is a beautiful course, that offers a simplistic layout with no houses or even hole signs that allows the golfer to truly escape into a fun and challenging round of golf.  Preceded by a Folds of Honor Friday Fourball tournament, the APT Lone-Star Shootout was a great weekend for the sold-out 120 player field to tee it up from all over the country in the great state of Texas.

In Division 1, Davis Grindle (Dallas/Fort Worth) got off to a hot start and a sizeable lead after shooting and impressive 1-under 71 on Saturday.  Going into Sunday, the field would be chasing Grindle, as his nearest chaser Taylor Gossett (Oklahoma City) at 4-shots back at 75.  As often happens, it proves to be difficult to sleep on a lead at a National Major, and chasers would come from multiple groups to challenge for the title.  Craig Forrest (Dallas/Fort Worth) took advantage of the risk-reward par-5 18^th by making an eagle to post first and put himself in position to win the title.  None of the final group could take advantage of the par-5 finishing hole, giving Forrest the win and his first major championship on the APT.  Finishing in a 3-way tie for 2^nd were Davis Grindle, Andrew Morsnikoff (Dallas/Fort Worth) and Doug Cristina (Florida Gulf Coast).

In Division 2, we had a shootout on our hands as the top-4 finishers were separated by just one stroke.  Andree Tucker (Birmingham) took advantage, firing the low-round of the day, a 75 to earn his way into a 3-way playoff with Greg Otto (Denver), and Ronnie Averett (Florida Gulf Coast). The first playoff hole is a short, dogleg-left par four and Averett was first to hit into the green, firing it right at the flag and having the ball settle just two feet from the hole for birdie.  Otto preceded to miss the green, and after a monster drive, Tucker missed the green getting too aggressive to the tucked pin placement.  It appeared that all was lost, until Otto provided some drama on Sunday afternoon with a chip-in to put the pressure back on Averett.  Tucker narrowly missed chipping in on top of Otto but was eliminated with a par.  Averett sank the tap-in birdie to move to the second playoff hole.  Otto and Averett exchanged pars on 2,3 and 4 before heading back to #1 for the first playoff hole.  Averett capitalized, making birdie again to secure the title.  Greg Otto and Andree Tucker finished tied for 2^nd place, while Elisha Payne (Arkansas) finished in solo 4^th just one stroke behind at +14.

In Division 3, Arkansas’ Rob Luter jumped out to an early lead on Saturday with an 80 that saw him take a 2-shot lead over Paul Stanton (Kansas City) and a 3-shot cushion over Greg Pammer (Central PA).  Those 3 would separate from the field on Sunday, as Stanton  and Luter would trade 82’s to finish 1-2.  Rob Luter is the Division 3 Champion at +18, followed by Paul Stanton, who finished at +20.  Greg Pammer finished in solo 3^rd at +26, while Bill Debobes (Metro New York) and Travis Bufford (Oklahoma City) rounded out the top-5 at +30.

In Division 4, Memphis’ Darrel Ervin  and Birmingham’s Tom Leonard squared off trading a pair of impressive 84’s to open the event on Saturday.  They were trailed closely by Mark Helms (Dallas/Fort Worth), who was just 2 shots back heading into Sunday.  Tom Leonard backed up his first round 84 with a second round 83 to earn a 3-shot victory over Mark Helms, who shot an 84 to move up into solo 2^nd at +26.  Darrel Ervin finished in solo 3^rd at +29, while Ron LaMorte (Charlotte) finished in 4^th position at +34.  David Eslinger (Tulsa) finished with a birdie on the 18^th hole to jump into solo 5^th at +34.

In Division 5, Joe Smolira (Nashville) shot a 91 on Saturday to hold onto a 1-shot lead over Garye LaFevers (Phoenix) heading into the final round.  A 97 was good enough to earn a 3-shot win for Smolira, who earned his first victory on his recovery from injury.  Michael Becker (Dallas/Fort Worth) shot the low-round of the day on Sunday, a 95 that would vault him into solo 2^nd, just 3-shots back at +47.  3^rd place would go to Garye LaFevers, who finished at +51.  Andrew Wright (Denver)finished in 4^th place at +54, while Tim Harbin (Birmingham) and Eddie Haynes (Houston) finished in a tie for 5^th at +55.

The Open Net competition would end in a tie, as Andree Tucker (Birmingham) and Matt Fegley (Northern California) would both finish at 1-over par.  Tucker made a big move on Sunday, shooting 3-under net to earn a tie for the championship.  Nicholas Crouse (Iowa) finished in 3^rd place at +2, while Richard Michalsky (Houston) and Andrew Morsnikoff (Dallas/Fort Worth) rounded out the top-5 at +4.

In the Senior Net competition, Rob Luter (Arkansas) emerged victorious shooting 6-under for the 2-day event.  Ronnie Averett (Florida Gulf Coast) and Darrel Ervin (Memphis) finished in a tie for 2^nd at 3-under par.  Rounding out the top-5 were Paul Stanton (Kansas City), Joe Smolira (Nashville) and Ray Medina (Houston) at even-par.  Finishing in the top-10 in a 4-way tie for 7^th were Alvin Miles (Houston), Bill Debobes (Metro New York), Travis Bufford (Oklahoma City) and Steve Minder (St. Louis) at 2-over par.

The Worldwide Golf Par 3 & Par 5 Challenge continued at the APT Lone-Star Shootout at Pine Dunes Golf Course.  The Par 3 Challenge is a divisional event within the tournament contested on all of the par-3’s during the event where the cumulative score wins.  The Par 5 challenge is contested within your division on all of the par-5’s within an event.  All of the money paid in gets paid back to the players in the form of Worldwide Golf Gift Cards, redeemable at any of Worldwide Golf’s retail brands or online locations.  At Pine Dunes, $2,440 was paid out in the optional Par 3/Par 5 Challenges.  The total prize pool paid out was over $12,500 plus divisional skins and super skins.