Winter Fourball at OCN Results

The Amateur Players Tour returned to Orange County National with a sold-out field this weekend for the second Winter FourBall.  Spectacular conditions on the vaunted Panther Lake and Crooked Cat courses both delighted and challenged the field of 64 two-man teams.  With 128 players the tournament committee was able to divide the field into four balanced flights based on the combined index of both teammates prior to commencement of play.  Two champions, both gross and net, were crowned in each of the four flights, and Priority Exemptions were handed out for the APT FourBall North American Championship that will be contested at Bandon Dunes Resort in November.

In Flight 4 first-time major winners, Rick Johnson of Decatur, IL and Eric Seibert of Charlotte, NC followed up a first round gross round of 80 on the Panther Lake course with a steady gross 85 on the tougher Crooked Cat in cooler, windier conditions.  Their solid inward nine was just enough to hold off the hard-charging brother duo of Jason and Tim Harbin from the Birmingham Chapter.  Columbus Chapter Owner, Adam Kohler, and girlfriend, Nadine LaRoche, carded seven net birdies and a net eagle on their way to a final round net 69 and the Net Championship in Flight 4.

Paul McGee of the Nashville Chapter and Brian Vance of the Iowa Tri-State Chapter played complimentary golf all weekend despite having little experience playing together coming into the event.  The pair posted twenty-five pars and two gross birdies to comfortably win the Flight 3 Gross championship by four strokes.  Carolina Triad’s Warren Hackler and Charleston Chapter’s Joseph Jones kept the pressure on the leaders, but they could not close the gap in the gross competition.  Fortunately for them McGee and Vance could not win both the gross and net championship, so Hackler and Jones’ five-under net 67 was good enough to take home the net prize in Flight 3.

Kansas City Chapter Owner, Jake Englebrake, paired up with APT co-owner, Jody Barrett, in Flight 2.  The pair got off to a great start on the Panther Lake course on Saturday with five birdies to post a 2-over 74 and lead the way in the flight.  Donnie Hasen of the Charlotte chapter was on the waiting list as late as midday on Friday before the first round.  Marcus Wirth of the Nashville Chapter unexpectedly lost his partner just a day before the opening round.  The makeshift team of Hasen and Wirth made the most of the opportunity with a birdie free opening round of 77 which was good enough to put them in the final pairing with Englebrake and Barrett.  With the leaders doing battle head-to-head, the duo of Steve Reigle (Nashville) and Cliff Austin (Kansas City) went to work in the group behind in the final round.  Austin fired a 1-under 35 on his own ball in their outward nine while Reigle came in with the support on the final nine for a team gross Even par 72.  The outstanding round was good enough for Reigle and Austin to claim the gross championship by 2 shots over Englebrake and Barrett who held on for the net championship.

Tyler Fieser of the St. Louis Chapter became the first APT Major Champion to defend his title as he and partner, Harry Willsher of Ellisville, MO went wire-to-wire in the gross division of Flight 1.  The pair carded five birdies in their opening round en route to their 2-under 70 on the Panther Lake course.  They followed it up with five more birdies in tougher conditions on the more difficult Crooked Cat course for a final round 4-under 68 and a 5 stroke victory in the gross division.  Central Illinois Chapter Owner, Todd Manning, and Crofton, Maryland’s Gary Carpenter, Jr., followed up their opening 1-over-par 73 with an excellent 2-under 70, good enough for 2nd place in the gross division.  Meanwhile, the net division had its own wire-to-wire winners as Northern California Chapter Owner Matt Fegley and his member, Ony Velez, posted ten net birdies and two net eagles for a two-day total of 11-under par and a two-stroke victory over J Combs and Park Williams of the Carolina Triad Chapter.

Next up for Major Season will be the APT Stableford Championship at the Talamore Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina on February 20-21, 2022.  Registration is open at www.amateurplayerstour.com.