Searching For a Pot of Gold - St Paddy's Day Championship

Scott R Chilcutt, Thackerville, OK (March 17, 2018)  WinStar Golf Club, part of the WinStar World Casino and Resort complex, along the Red River, has been a mainstay, over the past few years on the National Schedule as a Major Championship venue.  Due to course scheduling issues, and close vicinity to the DFW MetroPlex, the course hosted the St Paddy's Day Championship, part of the Texas Tour schedule on the DFW Tour.

Beautiful, warm temperatures, greeted many players for Friday practice rounds, but switched, with the northerly winds overnight, to start the Saturday, with cool cloudy breezes.  Course maintenance schedules got us closer to fairway scalping than we would have preferred, that left hard and fast short grasses, but smooth greens helped keep the scores down.

The winner of the Feherty's Troops First Foundation 50/50 raffle, took home $560, bringing the Texas Tour events total to $4,770 contributed to the Foundation in 2018.

RESULTS:

Championship Flight:  Down three strokes making the turn, Willie Roach of Bedford, TX, carded three birdies coming to the clubhouse, to go with one on the front to force a playoff with Granbury, TX, member Keith McKelvy.  Back to the par 5 - 1st for the sudden death, McKelvy, bettered his first time at the hole by two strokes to force even more holes, where Roach would ultimately pick up his first win, in his first attempt on tour, at the par 4 - 3rd.  One stroke back of the pair, Michael Barr of Lewisville, TX, and Rockwall, TX, first-time player Tim Brooks, shared the third place finish.

Palmer Flight:  Chase Day, of Little Elm, TX, and Murphy, TX, player Dallas Webster, finished knotted up in the top spot after regulation to force extra holes.  And more holes, the pair got, where finally Day would pick up the win on the fifth playoff hole for his first Championship on Tour.  John Sells of Crowley, TX, with a birdie on the par 4 -3rd, finish two strokes back of the pair for the third-place honors.

Senior Palmer Flight: Second-year tour player, Keith Johnson of Bedford, TX, took a one-stroke lead making the turn and never looked back after a birdie on the par 4 - 10th.  Johnson, finished his first win on tour, two strokes clear of Trophy Club, TX, member Jalil Daneshfar.  Daneshfar, with a birdie, right out of the gate, on the par 5 - 1st, finished one stroke clear of Tim Bush of Granbury, TX.

Hogan Flight:  Off the tour since 2016, Rowlett, TX, player Michael Schmidt, with a self-reported 40+ putts on the round, picked up his first Championship on tour.  Schmidt, one stroke back making the turn, birdied the par 5 - 15th to round grab the win, one stroke clear of John Hickman of Richardson, TX.  Hickman, with three birdies on his round, including his first hole of the day, cleared a trio of third-place finishers, by two strokes.  Bill Nay of Plano, TX, along with Fort Worth, TX, member Jeff Workman, both carding a birdie on the round, shared the third place honors with Jack Minze, of Abilene, TX.

Senior Hogan Flight:  Garland, TX, member Stephen Lamb, starting the day on the par 4 - 10th, with par, cleared the front nine, two strokes ahead of the field.  First-time tour player Chris Hill of Coppell, TX, with the help of a birdie on the par 4 - 3rd, tied up the top spot finishing the round for extra playoff holes.  Back to the par 4 - 10th for the sudden death the pair would match each other until the third hole of the playoff the, par 4 - 12th where Hill would take the Championship.  Dave Hanson, of Granbury, TX, with four birdies on his round, finished just one stroke out of the playoff after a double on the par 5 - 9th.

Sarazen Flight:  Traveling Abilene, TX, tour player Judy Harris, picked up her fifth win on tour and second of the points season. Harris a winner at Squaw Valley in November, finished three strokes clear of Michael Hill of Greenville, TX.  Hill, using a birdie on the par 4 - 16th, stayed clear of third-place finisher, Preston Moxley, of Dallas, TX, by two-strokes.

Senior Sarazen Flight:   Darren Bufton of Bedford, TX, not scheduled to play before the Tour Handicap revision on April, 2nd played his way into a flight promotion on Saturday.   Bufton, with a +7 on the day, picked up his second win of the season, including a Major Championship win in Houston in February, recording his fifteenth win on tour.  Three-strokes back, Dallas, TX, player Rodney Wren, with a birdie on the par 4 - 6th grabbed the runner-up spot, one stroke clear of Buddy Williams of Fort Worth, TX, with a birdie of his own on the par 5 - 15th, rounding out the top three.

Jones Flight:  McKinney, TX, member Ray Tyczki, picked up his second win in as many attempts after winning the Major Championship at TPC Sawgrass in January.  Tyczki, with a birdie on the par 4 -4th.  Garrett Tidman of Little Elm, TX, finished the round, five stroke back with the help of a birdie on the par 5 - 15th for the runner-up finish with Frisco, TX, member Srinivas Pokunur rounding out the top three.

Snead Flight:  Zane Latham of Valley View, TX, made the most of a birdie on the par 3 - 11th to pick up his sixth win tour and second of the season.  First-time  Mansfield, TX, player Daniel Lawrence, finished in the runner-up spot, four strokes back, with Jason Jenniges of Weatherford, TX, one stroke back.








SKINS:  

Giant SKINS:  ($90/each)  1 -- Bill Nay, Plano, TX; Michael Irvine, Fort Worth, TX; Thomas Wellman, Lago Vista, TX; Jeff Bankard, Dallas, TX; Michael Hicks, Edmond, OK; Dave Hanson, Granbury, TX.

Championship / Palmer:  ($52/each)  2 -- Willie Roach, Bedford, TX. 1 -- Jeff Bankard, Dallas, TX; Mike Rogers, Fort Worth, Texas; Keith McKelvy, Granbury, TX.

Senior Palmer:  ($15/each)  3 -- Michael Irvine, Fort Worth, TX. 2 -- Jalil Daneshfar, Trophy Club, TX. 1 -- Sven Bock, Richardson, TX; Michael Foster, Catoosa, OK.

Hogan:  ($30/each)  3 -- John Hickman, Richardson, TX. 1 -- Kyle Akins, Heartland, TX; Jack Minze, Abilene, TX; Bill Nay, Plano, TX.

Senior Hogan / Sarazen:  ($50/each)  3 -- Dave Hanson, Granbury, TX. 1 -- Michael Hicks, Edmond, OK; Stephen Lamb, Garland, TX; Stan Wilson, Jones, OK.

Senior Sarazen:  ($106/each)  1 -- Rodney Wren, Dallas, TX; Buddy Williams, Fort Worth, TX; Thomas Wellman, Lago Vista, TX.

Jones / Snead:  ($20/each)  4 -- Ray Tyczki, McKinney, TX. 3 -- Mike Lee, Dallas, TX. 2 -- Zane Latham, Valley View, TX; Garrett Tidman, Little Elm, TX; Jason Jenniges, Weatherford, TX.


CLOSEST TO THE HOLE:

$135/each:  #5 - Stan Wilson - 2' 8";  #8 -  Michael Graham - 8';  #11 - Bernie Rodgers - 2' 7 1/2";  #17 - James Pace - 5' 2".


NEXT UP:

Dallas Tour -  Sold out and closed for entries, we venture back to a special event at The Dye Classic @ Stonebridge Ranch on Monday, March 26th.   

April events start along I-35W in Burleson for the Battle Of Burleson, at Hidden Creek Golf Club on April 7th.  Registrations close on Friday, March 30th at 11:59 PM CST.   

Hill Country Tour -  Sunday, April 8th, the Tour goes back to River Crossing Golf Club for the Spring Branch Classic.  Entries close on Friday, March 30th, 2018 at 11:59 PM CST.

Houston Tour -  Back to Cypress Lakes on March 24th for the Cypress Open, the event is closed and sold out.  

The schedule includes a special, two events in three days, beginning in Galveston on Saturday, April, 14th at Moody Gardens for the Galveston Island Championship.  This tournament is a consistent sell-out so don't wait for the deadline on Friday, April 6th.   The tour then moves a few miles north for the first visit to Sugar Creek Country Club, for the Sugar Land Championship, on Monday, April 16th.  The event registration also closes on Friday, April 6th.



Major Championships Open for Registration - (Majors that will be included in the 2018 Texas Tour Flight Champion year-end awards)

NW Arkansas Open at Bellavista - April 21st and 22nd.  Spots available.

Texas Open at Horseshoe Bay - June 23-24th. Spots available.

Hill Country Classic at La Cantera - July 7th and 8th.  Spots available.

Texas Classic at Barton Creek - July 28th - 29th.  Spots available.

For More Information:

Scott R Chilcutt

Director - Texas Tours

Dallas  Tour - Hill Country Tour  - Houston Tour

GOLF CHANNEL Amateur Tour

405.513.1467

schilcutt@gcamtour.com