Tournament Champions
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The Amateur Players Tour continued its tradition of kicking off the 2025 calendar year at the Worldwide Golf Disney Season Kickoff, contested at the Palm and Magnolia courses located within Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Both the Palm and Magnolia courses have plenty of history, having hosted the PGA Tour for over 40 years, with past champions including some of the greatest to ever play the game including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Payne Stewart and others. While the country was experiencing an unprecedented winter storm that, the APT was teeing it up at two former PGA Tour Venues.
In Division 1, Robert Zyskowski (Southwest Florida) made the short trip to Orlando and played steady in tough conditions, firing back-to-back 76’s to finish at +9 and earn a 2-shot victory. John Todd (St. Louis) started his 2025 campaign in a tie for 2nd place with John Carras (Phoenix) at +11. Tyler Sipes finished in 4th place at +13 after a good comeback during Thursday’s final round.
In Division 2, Travis Wartluft (Charlotte) continued his torrid pace to start the 2025 season after being named the 2024 GlobalGolf.com National Player of the Year, playing 2 solid rounds to finish at +11 and earn a 5-shot victory. Rocky Dare (New Jersey/Philadelphia) finished at 16-over to take solo 2nd honors, while Mike Lingenfelter (St. Louis) finished in solo 3rd at +19. Don Manuel (Birmingham) finished in 4th place at +20, while Kent Van Cleve (St. Louis) rounded out the top-5 at +22.
In Division 3, it would take the full 36 holes as Scott Gennusa (Kansas City) was searching for his first major victory and Dave Baxmeyer (St. Louis) was attempting to go back-to-back to kick off the year at Disney. Gennusa ultimately would hold on to a one-shot lead to earn the victory and all the benefits associated with becoming a National Major champion. Dave Baxmeyer got the year off to a great start, with a solo 2nd place finish at +27 and Iceman Clark (Memphis) took home 3rd place honors at +28. Peter Allen (St. Louis) and Chad West (Iowa) finished in a tie for 4th at +30. Bill Debobes (Metro New York), Ande Jones (Nashville) and Justin Bennett (Kansas City) finished in a tie for 6th at +31.
In Division 4, Tom Leonard (Birmingham) got off to a hot start on Wednesday, carrying him to a 2-shot victory at +31 over John Sans (Metro New York), who finished in solo 2nd at +33. Daniel Henris (Carolina East) made the biggest move of the day during Thursday’s final round, firing an 85 to move up into solo 3rd at +34. Olumide Akingbemi (Atlanta) got off to a good start in his 2025 campaign, finishing in solo 4th at +36, while JD Lee (Myrtle Beach), Thomas Gibson (Charlotte) and Bob Koch (Iowa) finished in a tie for 5th at +39.
In Division 5, 36 holes would not be enough to decide a champion as Travis Shively (Myrtle Beach) and Chuck Aiello (Metro New York) would be tied at +58. Shively looked to be in serious trouble on the 1st playoff hole, but he holed a difficult putt from just off the green for par to extend the playoff to the second hole. A par on the 2nd playoff hole would be enough to secure the victory. Ray Pazornick (Myrtle Beach) and Ricky Compton (Myrtle Beach) finished in a tie for 3rd place just one-shot behind in the most competitive division of the event.
Scott Gennusa (Kansas City) won the open division at +2, edging fellow Kansas City member Justin Bennett who finished in solo 2nd at +3. John Sans (Metro New York) finished in solo 3rd at +4, while Olumide Akingbemi (Atlanta) finished in solo 4th at +7.
Travis Wartluft (Charlotte) won the Senior Net title at 1-under par, the only player in either net competition to break par for the two day event. Peter Allen (St. Louis) finished in 2nd at +2, Tom Leonard (Birmingham) was 3rd at +3, while Chad West (Iowa) and JD Lee (Myrtle Beach) finished in a tie for 4th at +4.
