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The Orlando Amateur Players Tour headed to Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, October 18th for a premier amateur golf tournament. A sold-out field of 24 players competed across five divisions, with two net games running alongside, in the latest of the chapter’s Orlando amateur golf tournaments. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.
Eagle Creek plays to a par of 73 over its 18 holes, a routing built around five par 5s, and the extra length did not translate into easy scoring. The par-4 1st was the sternest hole on the property, playing nearly a shot and a half over par and failing to surrender a single birdie all day. The par-5 13th was the most cooperative of the long holes, giving up five birdies to a field of 24.
Division 1 produced the finish of the day. Andrew Colvin of Orlando, Florida closed with a birdie at the par-5 18th to win with a 5-over 78, one clear of Leon Yang. Colvin had been behind for most of the back nine — two adrift of Yang’s pace through twelve holes and still one down with three to play — before a 1-under closing stretch flipped it. He went out in 5-over 41 and came home in even-par 37, with 12 pars on the card and that lone birdie arriving exactly when it was needed. Yang, also of Orlando, turned in 2-over 38 with birdies at the par-4 3rd and the par-5 9th before signing for a 6-over 79.
In Division 2, Jose Santiago of Orlando posted the low round of the day, a 1-over 74 built on a single bogey and 14 pars. He turned in 1-over 37 and matched it with an even-par 37 coming home, picking up birdies at the par-5 13th and the par-5 18th. Chason Rockymore, visiting from the Florida Southwest chapter and playing out of Nokomis, Florida, took the more eventful route to a 2-over 75 — five birdies, at the 2nd, 4th, 9th, 13th and 17th, against three bogeys — and finished a stroke back. He had trailed by three through fifteen before a 2-under closing six holes very nearly caught Santiago.
Division 3 could not be separated over 18 holes. Charles (Barry) Hauser of Orlando and Pat Cronin, in from the Central Pennsylvania chapter and a resident of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, both signed for 12-over 85, three clear of the rest of the division, and the title was decided in sudden death. Hauser had led the way for most of the afternoon, two ahead of Cronin after six holes and three up through twelve, before Cronin trimmed the deficit again over the closing stretch to force the tie. Five players in the division finished within seven shots of the number.
Phoenix Jagger of Orlando controlled Division 4 from the front, shooting 11-over 84 for a three-shot win. Paul Pimentel of Winter Garden, Florida kept it honest nearly all the way, sitting a single stroke back after six holes and again with three to play, but Jagger’s par-4 2nd birdie and a seven-par card held up as Pimentel closed in 7-over 44 for an 87.
Division 5 also went to extra holes, with David Densieski of Viera, Florida and Jeffrey Evans of Cocoa, Florida tied at 22-over 95, eight strokes clear of the next player in the division. Densieski made up the ground on the second nine: he was four behind Evans’ pace at the turn and three back through fifteen, then came home in 5-over 42 after an outward 53, with an even-par run across the last three holes. Evans had been the one setting the standard early, two ahead after six holes.
Santiago made it a two-trophy afternoon in the Mid-Am Net, where his net 2-under 71 was the only sub-par number in the game and good for a seven-shot win over Andy Garrett of Lakeland, Florida at net 5-over 78. Santiago led that race from the opening holes and extended it the whole way in.
The Senior Net was the tightest contest on the board, with five players finishing within two shots of the lead. Bruce Myers of South Charleston, West Virginia came out on top at net 1-over 74, a single stroke ahead of Allen Moore of Winter Haven, Florida and Pimentel, who tied at net 2-over 75 to round out the money positions. Moore had been ahead of Myers’ pace through fifteen holes; Myers simply finished the stronger. Pimentel’s runner-up net number made it two second-place finishes on the day for the Winter Garden player.
Next up in the Orlando chapter — The Race Against Daylight on Sunday, November 1st. Space is limited and registration closes October 25th. The Nightfall Nine Par 3 Event at Legends Walk follows on December 5th, with registration closing November 28th. Proudly growing the game in Orlando.
