Bel Meadow Golf Tournament Results

Perfect weather smiled upon Bel Meadow Golf Club as the Amateur Players Tour: West Virginia made their debut at the Robert Trent Jones Senior designed golf course. Greats like Jack, Sam, and Arnold have all played at one time or another at Bel Meadow. It was a great day for golf to walk in the footsteps of legends. 

Reigning division 1 champion Jerod Ewing got off to a very disappointing start to his 2022 campaign with a +14 finish at The Greenbrier. Jared Taylor in his WV debut at The Greenbrier came home second. WV tour newcomer making his season debut Frank Hewitt was looking to add his name to the mix of contenders for the D1 championship. These top flighted players battled close all day long, with Jerod taking a 2 shot lead over Frank at the turn. Jared Taylor made his run on the back 9, but 5 birdies on the day propelled Jerod Ewing to his first win of the season, with an Even round 72 on his first time ever seeing the course. Frank came home 2nd and Jared Taylor finished 3rd, 3 off the pace.  

In a missed opportunity for a side bet where the losers had to change their first name, Brandon Thompson, Brandon Preece, and Brandon McKinney all took the course to battle for “Brandon” bragging rights and a D2 trophy. Defending D2 champion Brandon Thompson enjoyed a smooth front 9, where he took a 5 shot lead into the difficult back 9. Thompson open the back with a 9 on the par 5 10th, followed by another on the par 5 13th. Preece birdied the par 3 14th to make things interesting coming down the stretch. A double bogey on the 17th however derailed the comeback bid and gave Brandon Thompson his 1st win of the 2022 campaign by 1 stroke.  

In the best battle of the day, Craig Jackson, Matt Robinson, Karen Rainey, Bryan Preece, and Dave Shepperd all took the course to see who would prevail. Karen set the number, and then had to wait to see if Matt, Craig, or Dave would fall back to her. Lack of cell service prevented that group from keeping live scoring, so it came down to the group finishing to total the cards up. Dave faltered late, and it was the 1 birdie on the day for Matt that gave him the 1 shot victory over Craig Jackson, to get his first win of the 2022 season and begin defending his 2021 D3 championship.  

At The Greenbrier, Sean Graham was able to outlast Michael Heitz in a playoff to open the season with a D4 victory. Today, it was Michael’s turn to outlast Sean. Michael took a 4 shot victory over local tour play Matt McGee on an ideal day for golf. Matt battled. But 2 costly doubles on the back knocked him out of contention for the win. The friendly rivalry between Sean and Michael will have round 3 in 2 weeks at Wheeling Country Club where both have been asked to play together again for bragging rights. 

Defending D5 champion Kevin Long battled head to head against Charles Belcher to see who would bring home the Sterling Cut Glass APT glass plate. Kevin took a 3 shot lead at the turn. Kevin survived some difficult holes on the back 9, as he was able to pull away and win by 12 shots.  

Congratulations to all of our champions and thanks to everyone who came out to play at Bel Meadow. Thanks to our sponsor, Southern Communications and 105.9 WTNJ for sponsoring today’s event. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event, Friday May 6th at Wheeling Country Club. That same weekend, is the annual 2 day tournament at Oglebay Resort Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th.