Little Mill Country Club, located in the pinelands near Marlton, NJ, was the venue for the GOLFWEEK Amateur Tour (Philly Metro) Local Finals on Saturday August 16th, 2017. Thirty-six tour members competed under changing skies, with a sudden heavy storm late in the day. Little Mill Country Club is a private 27-hole golf and country club designed by Garrett J. Renn and opened in 1967. This well-manicured course features tight driving areas, thick rough, and small greens, with water in play on several holes. Our tournament course was the RED Nine to the WHITE Nine.

In the Championship Flight, Alex Hargaden (77, 38-39) and Steve Barry (83, 38-45) enjoyed a close match over the front-nine, with Hargaden pulling away early in the back-nine to secure the title. The CHAMP Flight played BLACK Tees at 6,744 yards.

The A Flight victory went to Fred Backhus (74, 34-40) who shot the lowest round of the day from the BLACK tees. Carl Handwerk (86, 41-45) was a distant second, and John Freymuller (87, 44-43) was another stroke-back in 3^rd position.  The A Flight also played BLACK Tees at 6,744 yards.

In the B Flight, Rich Mariner (82, 41-41) and Lou Parducci (84, 41-43) battled each other all day in a very close match, with Mariner holding on for victory by two-strokes.  John DiValentino (85, 41-44) was another stroke-back in 3^rd position. The B Flight played from BLUE Tees at 6,451 yards.

The C Flight winner was Lynn Bigelow (72, 42-30) by one-stroke over Don Sivertsen (73, 43-30) in a rain shortened 15-hole tournament. This was Bigelow’s third title of the 2017 season.  Art Laney (74, 43-31) and Dave Neder (74, 43-31) were both another stroke-back; a match-of-cards determined Laney’s 3^rd place finish. The C Flight played WHITE Tees at 6,181 yards.

In the D Flight, Fred Hering (81, 47-34) claimed the title by one-stroke over Sean Matthews (82, 51-31) in a rain shortened 15-hole tournament.  John Stevens (83, 49-34) and Rob Kerr (83, 48-35) were both another stroke-back; Stevens took 3^rd place on a match-of-cards.  The D Flight also played WHITE Tees at 6,181 yards.

Special thanks to Head Golf Professional George Frake and his staff at Little Mill for treating our players as “members for the day” and allowing us to play the Local Finals at their great private course.

The GOLFWEEK Amateur Tour (Philly Metro) 2017 season has come to an end. We would like to congratulate our 2017 Flight Champions:

CHAMP Flight – Alex Hargaden
A Flight – Carl Handwerk
B Flight – Rich Mariner
C Flight – Lynn Bigelow
D Flight – John Stevens

The 2017 season has been another fantastic adventure on our local tour. Looking forward to seeing you “on tour” in 2018!  As always, thank you for playing on the GOLFWEEK Amateur Tour.

Super Skins & CTP  09-16-17

Hole #1 - Rich Mariner  (Birdie "3")
Hole #3 - Rob Kerr  (Birdie "2")
Hole #8 - Fred Backhus  (Birdie "3")
Hole #9 - Adam Hansen  (Birdie "2")
Hole #10 - Alex Hargaden (Birdie "3")
Hole #11 - Fred Backhus  (Birdie "2")
Hole #13 -  Alex Hargaden  (Birdie "4")

Super Skins paid $45.00 each

Hole #3 - Rob Kerr  4' 4"
Hole #6 - Ed Gilbert  5' 4"
Hole #9 - Adam Hansen  7' 4"
Hole #11 - Not Returned (donated)
Hole #17 - Not Returned (donated)

CTP paid $32.00 each