Pebble Creek Recap

Becker, MN - Loads of sunshine for our Spring Opener. Windy but no sign of the snow that blanketed the course just 2 weeks ago. There was one squishy hole where our intrepid player assistant Deb Alexander spent a good part of the day helping players find their embedded golf balls. 

13 new members played in their first Am Tour event along with 3 veteran members who transferred here from other Am Tour cities. A couple of those new members didn't waste any time in making their presence known.

Zack Johnson of St. Cloud grabbed his first trophy with a 78 to win by 2 in the Championship flight. He made birdie on the 2nd hole and led by 4 at the turn over Jeff Gallagher and Steve Schubert. Jeff wasn't going to let the new guy off easy as he tried to put pressure on Zach with birdies on 11 &13 but they were surrounded by bogies while Zach made pars on 10-14. A bit of a shaky finish for Zach with a double on 15 and bogies on 16 & 18 while Jeff played the last four holes in 1 over to cut the lead to just 2.

Our other first timer is David Slininger of Ham Lake. He bettered the rest of the Sarazen flight by 10 shots. He led by 4 at the turn and extended that by 6 on the back side avoiding doubles.

Robert Murphy and John Lindfors needed two extra holes after both shooting 85 in Sr. Palmer. John is a returning member after a few years off. If not for a quad on 7 Bob would have matched John on the front side. John's double on 14 gave Bob a chance. Bob made birdie on the last hole to get into the playoff. This is Bob's 2nd win of the 2018 season and 4th in his Am Tour career.

New member Bob Paulson led the Palmer flight by 2 over perennial favorite Mike Kelley after 9 holes even though he was 4 over after three. Mike French was 6 back after suffering 3 doubles. Mike Kelley and Bob both were stung by 3 doubles to come home in 45. Mike French started his back side with a birdie and limited the damage to 2 doubles to finish with 39 and card an 85 forcing a playoff with Bob. It only took one hole for the veteran Mike to collect another victory, his 1st of the season and 5th in his career.

The Hogan flight also had a new member, Bryan Poetsch of Oak Grove, take the lead on the front side even though he started with a double. He led by 3 over new member Gerrit Hooker, of Apple Valley, Anthony Hugelen and Matt Harter. Aubrey Johnson was 3 shots further back until he went on a par run on 10-13 to leap frog over Bryan, Anthony and Matt leaving him only one shot shy of Gerrit.  Anthony went 3 over for the last 5 holes to climb back into a tie with Aubrey. Anthony was declared the winner as Aubrey was unavailable for the playoff. This was Anthony's first win of the season and 5th in his career.

Dan Barrett and Steven Holland led by 2 over Steve Buan and Gary Braun in Sr. Hogan when they made the turn. Dan gave himself a bunch of breathing room going even for the next 4 holes while the others dropped at least 4 strokes. Steven made birdies on 14 and 18 to give Dan a run but fell short by 2 shots. Dan is now qualified for Sr. Nationals as this is his 3rd win of the season with more than 20 wins in his 13 years on the Am Tour

In Sr. Sarazen both Ed Favorite and Warren Ferber turned in 44. Warren shot a solid 43 on the back but was left in the dust by Ed after only one blemish on the card with a double on 16 to come home in 38 and win by 5. Ed has won twice this season and 13 times since 2009.

The closest contest of the day was in Sr. Jones. Our visiting buddy from IL, Keith Mavity, and Big Mike Burgett matched cards on the front with new member James Becker, of Plymouth, only one shot back. James grabbed the lead at 14 but gave it back and more on 15 & 16. Keith and Mike struggled a bit with the last 2 holes while James played those in 1 over. It wasn't enough to overcome Keith however who hangs on for the win by 1 over both Mike and James.

Todd Klocke obviously benefited from the short drive to Becker from St. Cloud as he held a slim one shot lead over Mike Miller in Sr. Snead after 9 holes. Mike, fresh off his Major win in AR last weekend, took the lead on 12. Todd got back into the lead with a pair of pars on 14 & 15 and extended that by another shot in the final 3 holes. Todd has won twice this season and more than 20 times in his long career on the Am Tour.

3 players were tied for Low Net at 68. After a 2 level scorecard playoff the new award goes to Dean Dubreuil of Balmerton, Ontario, Canada.

Closest to the pin awards went to Jason Rhoades and Mike Burgett. 

Our next event is Loggers Trail on Sunday. 

Thanks as always to my angels Deb, Val and Mary.