The Charleston Tour ventured out to Charleston National in
Mount Pleasant on Jul 2 for the Stars and Stripes Open. The weather cooperated and the course was in
outstanding shape, the greens, fully recovered from the aeration in early June
rolled true.
The Championship Flight as always was hotly contested. Jack Ellis as always played a solid round of
golf, starting off we an even par 36 on the front nine and seemed to be
cruising but Reed Johnson caught fire on the back nine with 4 birdies to fire a
3 under par 33 on the back to beat Jack by a single shot. The flight always seems to come down to the
last hole.
In the A flight, Scott Kennedy and Sean Kenneck put on a
show. Scott fired a front nine round of
34 and also seemed to be on cruise control with par after par. His lone bogie on the back nine almost cost
him the outright lead but he bounced back with a birdie on 17 to get back to 2
under and then he had a tricky par put on the par 3 eighteenth hole, all which
would be needed as Sean came on strong and birdied the last two holes of his
round to close the gap to 1. This is the
first time I have ever seen two A flight players under par in the same event,
congratulations to both oy you.
The B flight had a first-time winner and also had two
players make Eagles on Par 4’s!! Philip
Cala who fired a one over par 37 on the front started leaking oil on the back,
allowing others to come within striking distance. His four bogies on the first six holes on the
back nine left him tied for the lead with Rick Dilsworth. He had a little more into 16 than he would
have liked but when his second shot landed in the bottom of the cup after a
bounce it proved to be the exact number he needed. Philip gained a two-shot lead back and held
on to fire a smooth round of 77 for his first victory of the year! Rick Dilsworth was once again in the hunt and
his very nice round of 79 put him in solo second place. I also wanted to mention Tyler Martin here as
well, Tyler had the other Eagle on the par 4 15th hole. Congrats to you two, that’s an amazing feat.
The C Flight had an awesome battle as four golfers finished
within 2 shots of each other. Tom Brady
came to the par three 18th hole needing a par to secure the victory
but the dangerous tee shot on 18 took the victory away, much like the
Philadelphia Eagles did to the other Tom Brady a few years ago! Paul Gregorius, Sean Metzger and Julie
Johnson all had a shot at the victory.
The final three holes determined the winner and, in the end, it was Paul
who posted the 83 took home the title.
Sean and Julie both birdied hole 16 to gain momentum but hole 17 was
trouble for Julie and Sean came close to making a tying birdie but could not.
The D flight was another Cleve Johnson show. Cleve fired an
86 for a five-shot victory over Mike Miller who has been on fire lately. Cleve has been playing steady golf all year
and has a slight lead in Player Of The year competition.
Our Next event is Lake Lure, please sign up early so we will
be able to determine if we will be doing a shotgun or tee times. TIm