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Utah Tops Field at Gallery Invitational, Siddens-Child Beat Murphy-Hicken in Playoff
By Megan Terry
The 2016 Gallery Invitational at The Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, hosted its annual Gallery Invitational April 22-23, 2016. Multiple UGA Championship veterans represented Utah exceptionally well, including 2004 Utah State Amateur Champion Clark Rustand.
Friday’s Round 1 was played on The North Course. Ranked No. 1 in Southwest Arizona by Golf Digest and designed by John Fought and British Open Champion and 2006 Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman, The North Course played host to both the 2014 Pac-12 Men’s Golf Championships and the 2001 Tucson Open.
Round 2 on Saturday was played on The South Course, The South Course hosted the 2007 and 2008 WGC Match Play Championship where Henrik Stenson and Tiger Woods came away as Champions. It also ranked No. 88 on GolfWeek’s Best Residential Courses list and No. 25 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses.
Team Kirk Siddens and Guy Child made seven birdies and one bogey during Round 1 to gain the co-lead with Dale Facciolo and Eddie Travis at six-under-par 66. The duo expected to seal the deal after shooting 67 on Saturday with six birdies and one bogey despite windy conditions.
However, Team Patrick Murphy and Randy Hicken of Utah shot an impressive seven-under-par 65 during Round 2 to tie Siddens-Child with a two-day total of 133 and send them into a playoff on the The South Course’s Par 5 No. 1. It was Kirk Siddens who clinched the victory for the team with an easy tap-in birdie.
Brothers Clark and Eric Rustand dominated the Open Division by five strokes after carding a Round 1 70 and a Round 2 ten-under-par 62 for a two-day total of 132. Their strong finish earned them the title by five strokes over Mark Mulder and Nick Punto.
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