Coyote Ridge Challenge - Recap

March Winds Continue to Howl!

Scott R Chilcutt, Carrollton, TX (March  13, 2011) The wind greeted players at the Coyote Ridge Challenge on Sunday and looked to be a key ingredient in the tournament.  Log jams on the front nine at the 4th through 6th holes appeared to be a preamble to a slow day of golf but In the end the back nine, while playing considerably harder, opened the field and the pace.  GPS monitors on the golf carts recorded early rounds at 4:30 and the last rounds at 5:12 and we thank, not only the tournament committee, but the players for those times.


48 year old, Shawn Whitaker from Lewisville took home the Tournament Champion trophy with a net one under par.  Whitaker who plays out of Coyote Ridge sat out the 2010 season with the Golf Channel Am Tour and is back with a vengeance, winning both his flight and the "side game" tournament champion award.


Results:

Championship Flight –  Bryan Walsh from Weatherford, TX hasn't played with the Am Tour since a round in 2009 at Innisbrook is now TWO for TWO on the Dallas Tour taking his 2nd win of the season over Rockwall's Andrew Morsinkhoff.  Walsh had to birdie the 18th hole to make it a one shot victory over Morsinkhoff and two strokes clear of Kevin Williams from Odessa. 

Palmer Flight – Tulsa native, now residing in Lewisville, Randy Sellers won his first tournament in only two tries  over 2010 Palmer Callaway Order of Merit Champion, Michael Edwards from Garland. Sellers shot 2 over par on the back nine to win by a stroke with Clay Johnston from Dallas finishing out the top three.

Senior Palmer Flight - Kem Albritton from RIchardson, TX took his 2nd win of the 2011 points season with a two stroke cushion over Dallas resident Jim Cochran.   Robert Palmer from Tyler started out strong with birdies on the 2nd and 4th holes but ran into trouble at the 9th and could not get it back in contention finished third. 

Hogan Flight – In the largest flight of the day, with 17 players, visiting Houston player, Steve Smith from The Woodlands fired a solid 9 over par 81 to take home his first win of the season over another visitor, Ryan Cummings from Stillawater, OK by one stroke.  Cummings slammed in an eagle two on the par 4 - 5th from 150 yards but couldn't get it back to the lead after some mid round penalty strokes.   McKinney's, MD Hudon birdied the #6 and #8 holes and finished a close third with Jason Krumbholz, aslo from McKinney rounding out the top 4.

Sarazen Flight –  After narrowly avoiding a score card disqualification, Dave Ducray from Plano finished two strokes ahead of Ryan Hise from Melissa and Lewisville's Caleb Brown tied for 2nd. Ducray birdied 11 and 17 to stay ahead of the pair and Hise also birdied the par 4-17th to knot it up with Brown.  In his second visit to the Dallas Tour, Playa Del Rey, CA player Tony Anderson finished 4th.  Anderson started off hot  and was just one under par after 8 holes but ran into trouble around the turn and couldn't make up the deficit.

Senior Sarazen Flight – In his first tournament on the tour, Azle, TX's Drew Brooks beat out Plano's, Bob Moreau and Steve Killion from Sanger.  Brooks came out of the gate strong with a birdie on the first hole and overcame a 14 on the par 5 10th to stay clear of Moreau to three strokes.

Jones Flight – Shooting 4 over par on the front with a birdie on 4th hole, Lewisville's Shawn Whitaker weathered a tough back nine to hang on to his first win of the season over Ricky Gates from Arlington.  Tied going to the 15th hole, the ever steady Gates bogied in, while Whitaker finished the final 4 holes in two over par.  Newcomer Don Freitag from rounded out the top three. 

Senior Jones Flight - Under the weather, Burnie Rodgers from Haslet recorded his third win of the season over Luis O Storm, II from Whitney by a single shot.  Rodgers would have to par the 18th hole from the 17th fairway to keep the lead.  Lantana, TX's Barry Gray would hang on to a 3rd place finish after a tough back nine.

Snead Flight – After traveling to Majors in Puerto Rico and Horseshoe Bay, Fort Worth's Doug Pritchett made the best of his return to the Dallas tour with his first win of the season.  Pritchett a multi event winner during the spring of 2010 bested Bill Hendrix from Flower Mound.  Hendrix has now finished 2nd in his 4th tournament in a row including National Championship qualification from Horseshoe Bay.  Judge Solomon from Glenn Heights rounded out the top three in only his second event on the tour.






SKINS:

Championship/Palmer:
2 -- Bryan Walsh.
1 -- Laser Lammons; Andrew Morsinkhoff; Michael Edwards; Korbin Mehaffey; Randy Sellers.
Senior Palmer:
2 -- Kem Albritton; Danny Nicholls.
1 -- Jim Cochran.
Hogan:
2 -- Ryan Cummings; Patrick Gent; Ed Dye.
1 -- Todd Barfield; Steve Smith; Ronald Martin; Gregory Stairs.
Sarazen/SR Sarzen:
2 -- Chris Gassaway.
1 -- Tony Anderson; Caleb Brown; Bert Beal; Ryan Hise.
Jones/SR Jones:
3 -- Burnie Rodgers.
2 -- Shawn Whitaker.
1 -- Ken Benjamin; Bob Eustice; Paul Festa; Ricky Gates.
Snead:
3 -- Bill Hendrix.
2 -- Scott Bundrick; Judge Solomon.
1 -- Kevin Cunningham; Douglas Pritchett; Garrett Tidman.




For a complete list of results CLICK HERE

Next up – Tribute Open, April 23rd followed by the Challenge at the Cliffs on May 14th.

For more information:

Scott R Chilcutt

Tour Director

Dallas / Fort Worth - Oklahoma

GOLF CHANNEL Amateur Tour

405.513.1467 - 972.302.9478

schilcutt@gcamtour.com

www.golfchannel.com/amateurtour