Tribute to the Scoring - Dallas Tour Championship

Scott R Chilcutt, The Colony, TX (August 25, 2013)  The fifteenth 2013 Dallas Tour event on the schedule culminated at the Tour Championship held at The Tribute Golf Club on Sunday with a scoring frenzy.  The Tribute "Born in Scotland, Built in America" is a links style layout that pays homage to the legendary courses in Scotland set on the banks of Lewisville Lake.
 
Light and hot summer winds played in line with the course set up to seemingly bring the course to it's knees. Fast and firm fairways helped those that could keep it on line and out of the thick native areas use short and lofted clubs, to soft, receptive greens where low scores were there to be had.  Nine eagles and an astounding 300 birdies were carded in the two rounds with 24 of the 110 players recording five birdies or more during the championship.



RESULTS:
 

Championship Flight:  First time player, Dan Dickens of Coppell, TX completed his round on Saturday with a bang, recording a championship low round of -5 / 67 on four birdies and two eagles.  Dickens would falter on Sunday and finished T8 in the seventeen player field.  Tied in the second spot after the first day at one under par and playing in the second to last group, Hideaway, TX member Scott Blackshear kept a streak of six first round birdies going, adding seven on the final round for a tournament high thirteen birdies on the weekend.  The - 4 total gave Blackshear his fourth win on tour and third of the year, three strokes clear of runner up Greg Richard of Denton, TX.   One player short of splitting the Senior Championship Flight, Richard took home the low Senior Flight winner's trophy to go with his July Tarrant County Open @ Sky Creek Ranch win.  Midland, TX player Terry Rice took three strokes off his first day finish to round out the top three and securing his back to back Player of the Year award in the Championship Flight.

 

Palmer Flight:   Going into the weekend in second place in the Order Of Merit Points,  Dallas, TX resident, Cameron Kirkpatrick played his way into the Point Championship and an inevitable promotion to the Championship Flight.  Kirpatrick, finished the weekend with nine birdies, second overall, after playing his first round in + 2 and came away with a two stroke victory over a pair tied up in the second spot for his third win on tour, all coming in the 2013 points year. Off course friends and on course rivals,  Ben Burney of Amarillo, TX and  Dallas, TX standout Ivan Zweig shared the runner up honors.  Burney (yellow ball to some) carded four birdies on the final round, taking three strokes off his first round to tie it up with Zweig.  Promoted on August 1st, Greg Hawkins of Argyle, TX lead most of the season in the Hogan Flight with four wins, including two Major Championships, finished in fifth with a final round +1 - 73.

Senior Palmer Flight:  With Points Champion Sean Fenton of Fort Worth, TX out for the weekend on military duties, two invaders from outside the Dallas Tour grabbed the top two spots.  Oklahoma Tour member, Curt Howard of Sapulpa, OK started the final day two strokes out of the lead and finished with a bang, taking nine strokes off his first day finish to end with a +3 on 36 holes.  Howard carded four birdies on the final round for his sixth win on tour this season.   Daniel Desilets, playing out of the Palm Spring Tour, a winner at last weeks Hill Country Tour Championship fell four strokes shy of making it a double with Michael Fee of Mansfield, TX rounding out the top three.  Fee with a runner up finish at the Arlington Championship @ Tierra Verde added to his third, third place finish on the year.

Hogan Flight:   Cody Wright of Dallas, TX, playing an abreviated schedule,  matched his first round total, + 6 on the final day to become a first time winner on Tour.  Three strokes back, the pair of Nancy Geihl of Grand Prairie, TX and Lawton, OK Jeffrey Banner shared the runner up finish. Fourth Place finisher, Cory Welch, recently relocated to the MetroPlex, took home the Hogan Flight Champion award.

Senior Hogan Flight:  Three weeks after a promotion to the Hogan Flight, Wichita Falls, TX member Derek Drake proved the move valid with his fifth win on tour and second of the year. Drake and his four birdies on the weekend left a two stroke edge over Denver Roden of Irving, TX with a trio of players finishing out the top three.  Phillip Holt of Haslet, TX, Argyle, TX Paul Burleson and Bud Surber of Edmond, OK finished in the show position.  With the win, Derek Drake took home the Flight Champion, Hogan Flight Points leader award presented by KML Financial.   

Sarazen Flight:  Coming into the final weekend, Dave Ducray of Plano, TX and Dallas, TX player Melvin Wilson III shared the points lead for Player of the Year.  Ducray lead the pair by a single stroke after the Saturday round and would end up the Tour Championship winner after matching Wilson on the final round.  Scott Lane of Plano, TX took two strokes off his Saturday finish to end the tournament in the third position.

Senior Sarazen:  Hill Country Tour player Michael Brewer of Austin, TX, in his first year on tour,  made the trip north and worked the early morning tee time on Saturday to a +3 - 75.  Sleeping on the huge lead, Brewer slid, but only into an extra hole sudden death playoff with Lewisville, TX member Mark Donohue.  On the first playoff hole, Brewer picked up his first win on tour and first time in the top three.  Dale McFarland of Crowley, TX rounded out the top three and Bob Moreau of Rockwall, TX jumped into the Points Championship lead with his fourth place finish.

Jones Flight:   Little Elm, TX player Garrett Tidman made it his sixth win on tour and second of the year with a five stroke advantage.  With the win, Tidman brought the Tour Flight Championship points to within 65, but couldn't overcome the advantage that Nick Easen of Keller, TX had built.  Oklahoma Tour member Gary Chrisman of Yukon, OK and Euless, TX player Vaughn Jackson shared the runner up finish. In his first event on tour, NBA veteran and 2007 San Antonio Spurs NBA Champion, Michael Finley took twelve strokes off his first day total to finish in the fourth spot.

Senior Jones Flight: Playing in his 20th event and 25th round on tour in 2013, Euless, TX member Tom Stockton picked up his second win on tour. Stockton started the final round tied in the first place spot, five strokes back and took five strokes off his first day total to win the event and Player of the Year Points Championship in the Senior Jones Flight.  Trophy vendor, Ron Hardy of Lewisville, TX took twelve strokes off his Saturday round to finish out the event in the runner up spot with first round leader Keith Bruce of Gordonville, TX rounding out the top three.

Snead Flight:  Larry Tolson of Fairview, TX played his way into a promotion on his second win on the season, winning the Snead Flight Player of the Year Points Championship.  Tolson, a winner at the Red River Shootout at WinStar Resort Major finished the event one stroke clear of  Luis Dayer of North Richland Hills, TX in the second spot with Oklahoma Tour member Rick Henthorn from Yukon, OK rounding out the top three.   Don Freitag won the Player of the Year in the Snead Flight with Doyle Fleming taking the Senior Snead honors.



NEXT UP:
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - September 22nd to September 25th. SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - September 28th to September 25th.


For More Information:

Scott R Chilcutt - Tour Director
Dallas / Fort Worth Tour - Hill Country Tour - Oklahoma Tour
GOLF CHANNEL Amateur Tour
405.513.1467 - 972.302.9478
schilcutt@gcamtour.com