Friday, July 23, 2010
Murphy Wins UGA Senior Amateur by one Stroke; Simkins Takes Super Senior Title Easily

The final pairing of the Utah State Senior Amateur tournament at The Homestead started with Bill Probst and Mike Hacker at four under par and Patrick Murphy and Craig Gardner at one under par.

 

At the par five first hole Gardner birdied and ‘took cover’ while watching the others implode all around him. Probst bogeyed, Murphy double bogeyed, and Hacker posted a quad (four over).

 

Hacker squandered his four shot savings account on one ugly hole. Murphy chunked out a double without any penalty strokes and commented, “Yup, I hit all seven of them.” Probst lost one stroke to par, but had to feel pretty good walking off with a bogey as the solitary leader and gaining ground on two of the contenders.

 

The tone of the day gained some calm on the par three second hole with Murphy lacing a five iron over the pin and making a 30-foot downhill putt for a birdie, and the other three walked off with steadying pars.

 

At the end of the four-hour drama that unfolded, Patrick Murphy, who was five behind Probst at the turn, made a pressure packed downhill 12-foot par putt on the final hole to win the tournament by one stroke.

 

Probst opened the door for Murphy’s victory by hitting it in the water on three consecutive holes, 15, 16, and 17. Very uncharacteristic of him, Probst bogeyed five holes on the back nine without a birdie, while Murphy overtook him with three birdies and only one bogey on the back.

 

Probst and Jeff Powers shared second place and finished one shot back of Murphy. Powers played in the group in front of the leaders and shot the best round of the final day, a 70. It was the first tournament as a senior for Jeff Powers.

 

“It was very competitive out there,” Murphy said. “After that poor start I played three under par the rest of the way and I hit it pretty solid.”

 

In the Super Senior Division (65 and over) Al Simkins had little competition and coasted to an almost flawless two under par nine-stroke victory over Dennis Wood.

 

Age division winners were Patrick Murphy (50-54), Bill Probst (55-59), Brent Marriott (60-64), Al Simkins (65-69), Mel Roberts (70-74), and Dick Peacock (75 and over).

 

The tournament was played in ideal weather conditions and The Homestead Golf Course proved a worthy test and was in outstanding tournament caliber condition.

(The UGA offers a remarkable service with its Blue Golf tournament scoring system. The hole-by-hole scores of all players for both days and other interesting statistics regarding every player in the field can be seen by clicking on the underlined name of the player. Anyone not aware of this service should take the time to clock on their own name. No, you can’t delete it. It’s there for all to see!)

 

Senior Division (50-64) (Blue Tees)

142- Patrick Murphy, 71-71

143- Jeff Powars, 73-70; Bill Probst, 68-75

144- Mike Hacker, 68-76

145- Rob Bachman, 72-73

146- Kevin Pyle, 75-71; Steven Smith, 71-75

147- Rick Lloyd, 75-72; 74-73; Paul Cannon, Craig Gardner, 71-76

148- Steve Borget, 75-73

149- Mike Weiler, 71-78

150- Brent Marriott, 79-71

151- Todd Barker, 80-81; Corey Carter, 79-72; Mike Green,76-75;  Bob Feilner,75-76; Mark Madsen, 72-79

152- Kurt Bernhisel, 78-74; David Johnson, 77-75; Karl Avant, 78-74; Kerry Miller, 77-75; David Fischer, 76-76; Gary Stewart, 73-79

153- Dan Parkinson,76-77; Doug Marriott, 74-79

154- Eldon Richter, 76-78; Brent Fenstermaker, 77-77; Thom Wright, 77-77

155- Richard Dibblee81-74;  Tom Jones, 79-76; Patrick Bergin, 78-77

158- Paul Klug, 82-76

159- Jesse Needles, 81-78; Steve Watts, 80-79;  Gordon Bowen, 80-79; Lester Perry, 76-83

160- Ron Vaclavik, 81-79

161- Scott Smith, 82-79; Brent Bryson, 77-84

162- Eric Anderson, 82-80

163- Keith Olson, 85-78; John Porter, 80-83

164- Chuck Epson,84-80, Bevan Killpack, 88-76

166- Michael Smith, 80-86

168- Nelson Deason, 79-89

169- Jose Lopez, 79-90; Charles Richards, 86-83

171- Don Peterson, 83-88

173- John Taylor, 88-85

174- Scott Robison, 84-90

175- Scott Blair, 83-92; Doug Bennion, 86-89; Stephen Pierce, 87-88

176- Jon Muir, 85-91; Lee Garner, 94-82

177- Rick Anderson, 94-83; Ron Clark, 93-84

178- Gus Stribakos, 88-90

179- Dan Riddle, 92-87

180- Greg Clowers, 91-89; Kyle Miller, 89-91

181- Jay Brummer, 94-87

182- Stat Berger, 90-92

185- Kerry Coop, 84-101

188- Jim Baker, 91-97

189- Jae Ju Junn, 95-94; James Fleming, 88-101

192- Gary Nordquist, 93-99

196- Richard Miller, 95-101

200- Barry Jessen, 104-96

206- Lance French, 105-101

211- Jerry Petersen, 110-101

WD- Bill Pizza, Gary Rose, Michael Ho

 

Super Senior Division (65 and over) (White Tees)

142- Allen Simkins, 72-70

151- Dennis Wood, 75-76

152- Dave Hedderman, 75-77

153- Dick Peacock,79-74; Bill Scott, 80-73; Kent Peterson, 75-78

156- Richard Cropper, 78-78

157- Merrill Bingham,81-76;  Mel Roberts, 80-77

158- Peter Leth, 78-80; Dave Hansen, 79-79

159- Jerry Habeck, 84-75; Mike Hepworth, 80-79

160- Jim Jensen, 79-81

164- Jeff Campbell, 84-80

166- Neil Carrigan, 83-83

172- Greg Fraser, 89-83

175- Doug Swendsen, 88-87

176- Ralph Aardema, 87-89

178- Stewart Owen, 89-89

183- Dan Johnson, 89-94

184- Joe Watts, 96-88

192- Don Elliott, 102-90

237- Gaylin Robbins, 120-117

WD- Dennis Jones, Bob Motzkus

 

Age Division Winners

50-54- Patrick Murphy, 71-71-142

55-59- Bill Probst, 68-75- 143

60-64- Brent Marriott, 79-71-150

65-69- Al Simkins, 72-70-140

70-74- Mel Roberts, 70-77-147

75 plus- Dick Peacock, 79-74-153