The Hilton Head-Savannah Tour held its second tournament of the season, first tournament not counting the Westin Ice Breaker Open, at the Robert Trent Jones course on Palmetto Dunes this past Saturday. The course was in great shape and despite the wind the temperature still approached the mid to high 60’s. A total of 32 golfers took to the course in a quest to get their season started off on the right foot.
Mark English was the solo Championship flight player at the tournament. Mark is a newcomer to the tour and said that he really enjoyed the tournament and couldn’t wait to play again. Playing from the back tees Mark was able to fire a solid round of 80 on the day. Now you may think 80 is just an "ok" score from a champ flight player but you have to take into account that Mark didn’t hit driver at all, all day. Why? Because he didn’t carry one. Mark teed off with a 4-wood all day. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Mark also was the only player to birdie hole number one which scored him a skin and super skin on the day. Congrats Mark and we will see you at Savannah Quarters.
The A flight was our second biggest flight today with 10 players in the flight. Of those 10 golfers, 6 were new to the tour this year. With so many new faces in the flight, it was bound to be a shootout. Which it was. With scores ranging from 76 to 88 it was a tight race all day long. But in the end it was a familiar face standing up with the trophy. Mike Peters was able to hold off the rest of the field to secure his first win of the season. This proves once again that Mike is the player to beat in the A flight this year. Finishing second was John Langhorne with a solid 78 on the day.
The biggest flight of the day was the B flight with 11 players, 4 newcomers to the tour. Even though I want to saw there was a battle for the top spot in this flight, if I did I would be lying. Doug Hudock came to the Robert Trent Jones course ready to play and it was evident with his very solid round of 80 on the day. The real battle was for second and third place. Larry Lee carded an 86 on the day to hold off Joe McDonie by one stroke to secure second place. All three of the placers today played well and can be proud of their rounds.
The C flight had a solid group of 6 golfers playing today. What started out as a nice battle turned into a solid win for Kipp Neikirk. Kipp used a very consistent swing and great up and downs to secure a 4 stroke victory over Todd Garrett (84 to 88). Kipp was also the only player to birdie the difficult number 6 and wrap up a flight skin and super skin on the day. Rounding out the top three was Gerard Mahieu.
Four strong players made up the D flight. Lee Sanders battled all round long with George Story for the top spot. As the players walked off the 18th green it was a two stroke victory for Lee Sanders (90) over George Story (92). Lee was also the only one to birdie #16 on the day, allowing him to walk away with a flight skin and a super skin on the day. Peter Pagliaruli takes home third place while Sean Coughlin finishes fourth.
One of the great things about the round today was the camaraderie that was evident after the round. Most of the golfers in the tournament stuck around after they finished playing to talk and socialize with one another. It is this type of friendship that makes our tour so much better than any other tour. We thank each and every golfer that plays in our tournaments, recommends our tour to other golfers and sticks around to have some fun after the round.
Our next tournament will be Feb. 11th at Savannah Quarters. If you want to play, please sign up early so that we can get the numbers to the course. I look forward to seeing everyone out there on the links!