The Fianna Hills Open

Saturday, November 17, 2012
Players from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas compete for the Fianna Hills Open title!  Arkansas took two trophies, Oklahoma took one, Missouri took one, and Texas took one.

Fort Smith, AR - What started as a chilly morning culminated in perfect Arkansas River Valley weather.  Overnight temperatures dipped low enough to make the already fast greens at the Fianna Hills Country Club even a little more firm!  If that wasn't enough, the changing fall colors made golf balls difficult to find.  Read on to see how the battles shaped up.

Flight Winners:  

Michael Dryer

Championship Flight  (0-3.9) – One of the largest fields for the Championship Flight in Arkansas AM Tour history yielded some great matches.  Matthew McKown of Van Buren, AR responded with heart to what could have been a devastating opening quad with six birdies!  Of all the players in contention, Michael Dryer of Bella Vista, AR had the fewest birdies with only one.  Dryer, however, had only 3 blemishes on his card - and they were only bogeys.  McKown was leading with two holes left to play but stumbled.  Steady play (14 pars) and ''a little luck'' (finding a tee shot after hitting two provisionals) are what Dryer credits to his victory.  Even par on the back nine was crucial! One trophy for Arkansas.

Roland Lewis

Palmer Flight (4.0-7.9) – Roland Lewis  of Tulsa, OK played well enough on the front nine to  survive a string of bogeys on the back nine which gave Chris Blankenship of Stigler OK a chance to get close! A three over par front nine gave Lewis the cushion he needed to hold off Blankenship's five over par back nine.  Statistically, the two played a very close match - an equal amount of pars and near equal amount of bogeys.  It was the 'others' that cost Blankenship a run to the title.  It was an Oklahoma all the way kind of day in the Palmer flight - one trophy for Oklahoma.

Bill Matthews

Hogan Flight (8.0-11.9) – Can you say ''déjà' vu all over again?''  When Bill Matthews of Houston, TX finished his round, he didn't think an 83 would hold up.  Since there were 13 players in the field, he'd have to wait for awhile to learn that he was going to be in a playoff - again - with Pat Weaver of Germantown, TN.  It was a replay of the finish of the Red River shootout at Winstar in June of 2012 when Matthews and Weaver tied after two days and Weaver won in a sudden death playoff.  It tok “three career shots” in his round to get him there, and Matthews was not going to squander the opportunity.  After two holes, Texas would walk away with a trophy and Matthews would have his revenge.

Matt Howard

Sarazen Flight (12.0-15.9) –   With four holes left, it was anybody's tournament.  Kirby Rogers of Muldrow, OK held a one stroke lead over Steve Rutherford of Bella Vista, AR.  Matthew Howard of Bentonville was four strokes out, but finishing strong only one over par let him come back for his first win on the AM Tour.  Sinking a couple of long par putts kept him in it and proved to be the difference.  Two trophies for Arkansas.  

Dean Anderson

Jones Flight (16.0-19.9) – Most golfers have the 'if only for one hole' story, but for Craig Merrill of Roland, AR, it was that one hole that may have kept him from a chance for victory.  Dean Alexander of Appleton City, MO did, however, earned his first victory on the AM Tour with a couple of birdies on the front nine.  Alexander said he played conservatively by hitting lots of irons off the tee and not 'going for' par 5's when he could have.  Since the greens were so fast, he felt that laying up would be a winning strategy.  It proved to be a four point strategy and he brings a trophy home to Missouri.

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For a complete list of results and pictures visit our GCAT Facebook Page or go to the  results site or go to our  Picasa web site .

For more information about the GCAT of Arkansas:
Paul C. Gomez
Arkansas Director, Golf Channel AM Tour
917-553-3814
pgomez@GCAmTour.com

Tribute to Payne Stewart

Sunday, November 3, 2012
Fast greens and ominous hazards result in challenging conditions!

Branson, MO - The greens were immaculate and lightning fast, rolling at a 13!  Add to that two of the hardest opening holes anywhere, the true winner was the Payne Stewart golf course!  Holes #1, #2, and #17 all played 2.66 strokes above par on average!  Only one hole, the short par 4 #13 played even par across the entire field.  Read on to see how each flight performed.

Flight Winners:

Jared Jordan

Championship Flight (0-3.9) – The three championship flight scored 8 over par on the first hole and 8 over on the next par 3.  A rough first nine was going to reward whoever could settle down and score.  After starting with a triple-bogey on the first hole, Jared Jordan of Rolla, MO finished the last six holes of the course only two over to win his first event on the AM Tour.

Don Karl

Palmer Flight (4.0-7.9) – It was back and forth all day between Don Karl of Lees Summit, MO and Wayne Baldwin of Russellville, AR.  A birdie on the difficult par 3 by Karl and a double by Baldwin on thee same hole.  A birdie by Baldwin on the difficult #17 wasn't enough to recover and Karl pulled away with a victory by 3. 

Chad Schuschmann

Hogan Flight (8.0-11.9) – It looked like Michael Quesenberry of Wentzville, MO was going to recover from a shaky start by making nine pars in a row from #8 to #16.  Chad Schuchmann also scattered eight pars throughout his round with one birdie.  The two most important ones were the finishing two which gave him the three stroke margin which surpassed Quesenberry's faltering finish.  Schuchmann's final score of 84 was the low round of the day and was good for his second victory in a row.  Schuchmann said the key to his victory was his ability to “get up and down” well all day long.

Matthew Holden

Sarazen Flight (12.0-15.9) –  Nathan Holden of Raymore, MO shot his consistent 80's kind of round by staying focused and thinking only about one hole at a time.  It proved to be the correct strategy as he won his first event on the AM Tour.  Holden never carded anything more than a double bogey.  An 86 was enough to beat the field by seven strokes.  Matthew Howard of Bentonville, AR played well enough to finish 2nd among the ten Hogans.  It was his best finish in two tries.

Mitchell Gustin

Jones Flight (16.0-19.9) – Eight pars and a birdie gave Mitchell Gustin of Story City, IA his a first place finish in the field of seven.  With only one "other" on his card, Gustin was eight strokes better than his nearest competitor, Dean Alexander of Appleton City, MO.  Gustin's scoring average was just better than bogey golf which is an excellent performance considering the difficulty of the golf course.

Eric Thomas

Snead Flight (20.0 +) – Eric Thomas of Bonner Springs, KS said that good shot placement below the hole was key to his success on Saturday.  Having twice as many pars as anyone else in his flight was also a good strategy.  Even at 5800 yards didn't make the difficult course less challenging.  It was his his first win in 13 tries on the AM Tour.  Congratulations, Mr. Thomas!






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Giant Skins

You may remember that we intended to pay out both flight skins and giant skins.  It was well intentioned, however, when I paid out the flight skins I used the spreadsheet with the payout based on $20 flight skins.  Meaning that the flight skins paid out assuming a $20 per player pot not a $15 per player pot leaving no money left for a giant skins payout.  So, just for information, here's how the seven giant skins earned would have been awarded (one to each flight, by the way):

•  Chris Smith (Snead), birdie on #1
• Kirby Rogers (Sarazen), birdie on # 4
• Chad Schuchmann (Hogan), birdie on # 9
• Mitchell Gustin (Jones), birdie on # 12
• Michael Dryer (Championship), birdie on # 15
• Don Karl (Palmer), birdie on # 16
• Wayne Baldwin (Palmer), birdie on #17

For a complete list of results and pictures visit our GCAT Facebook Page or go to the  results site or go to our  Picasa web site .

For more information about the GCAT of Arkansas:
Paul C. Gomez
Arkansas Director, Golf Channel AM Tour
917-553-3814
pgomez@GCAmTour.com