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Team USA is set for 2015
This past weekend amateur golfers from across the glob participated in their home countries National Championship to decide the 5 players who will represent their country to participate in the 21st World Amateur Golfers Championship to be held in Beleck Turkey November 29 to December 5.
Here in the US the National Championship was held in the beautiful Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania at the historic Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort. Players across the US with handicaps ranging from +2 to 25 fittingly of a USA National Championship they played the "Red" course, White course, Blue course and the Jack Nicklaus signature course of Great Bear.
In the Flight Plus to 5, 2012 National Champion Oscar Rafols and John Duval lead the way with both shooting a net +4 over par to have a slight lead over Lynn Cormier and 2014 National Champion Van Stemple who finished at Net +5 over par on the "Red to Blue" course on day one of the 54 hole, 3 day Championship. On day two at Great Bear Country Club Lynn Cormier jumped from 3rd to 1st with a net +3 over par putting him at net +8 for the tournament and a one stroke lead over John Duval's +9 net over par. "Lynn played great and was a joy to watch" Duval said after the round, However to start of on day 3 Lynn did not have is mojo and fell out of contention by the front nine. Van Stemple who was three strokes back entering the final round came storming back and by the time the round was over it a appeared that the Duval and Stemple were headed into a sudden death playoff. However like the true champion he is, he informed the competitors that he shoot a 6 on hole 17 and not the 5 his marker thought he shoot giving John Duval a one stoke victory finishing with a +13 net over par.
In Flight 6 to 10, 2011 National Champion Mark Thomas and 2013 National Champion Tyler Mason lead the way after round one. Both finished at net even par for a one stroke lead. 2015 National Order of Merit Champion Logan Bryant and Jim Smith stormed ahead onto the leaderboard after round two finishing with a net +5 after two rounds but Jim Smith was assessed a one stroke penalty for slow play dropping him to 2nd place one stroke back with 18 holes to go. It appeared Bryant had it in the bag after nine holes shooting net -1under par and built a 5 stroke lead over the field, however he fell apart on the back nine shooting a net +9 over par opening the door. Jim Smith and Robert Karshner took the invitation and walk through. Robert who started the final round 4 strokes back back shot a net -2 under par to put him at +7 over par for a three day total while Jim Smith shot a net +1 over par to also finish with three day total of +7 over par. Smith had a 12 foot par put on 18 for the win but just missed forcing the playoff.
Both Players who happen to be the only players in the field from Ohio squared off on the 1st tee of the White course which was a par 5. Karshner had the early advantage placing his drive in the center of the fairway with the opportunity to reach in two, while Smith pulled his drive left into the ruff. Forced to lay up, Smith safely was on the green in three with a 12 foot put for birdie. Karshner played aggressive and went for the green in two but pulled his approach left leaving him 20 feet from the green pin high in the green side ruff. Which appeared to be a simple chip shoot, Karshner slid his wedge underneath his ball advancing it only 10 feet, leaving him lying three still off the green. Karchner then collected himself and stuck his chip just inches from the hole for a tap in par. Smith again had a 12 foot put for the win but read to much brake and two putted for his par forcing another playoff hole. Hole two was a 185 yard par three which was set up to force the players to shape their shot from right to left. With the tee boxes on the left behid a huge blooming tree and the pin placed behind the tree, Karshner who still had honors played it safe by playing his ball safely on the middle of the green avoiding the tree and the front left side bunker. Smith blocked his shot preventing the ball to draw and landed in the right side bunker. As a result Smith Bogied the hole to Robert's par giving Robert the victory.
In flight 11 to 15 Maryland's John Nesbitt took a commanding lead after day one shooting a net even par giving him a 4 stroke lead into day two over 2014 National Champion John DePalma, Jonathan Freeman and Mitch Winston. Day two at Great Bear John DePalma and also 2014 National Champion Mike Scarpuzzi who also took 2nd at the 20th World Amateur Golfers Championship in South Africa fought thier way into the final pairing for the final round with John Nesbitt. Both DePalma and Nesbitt where tied for first with Scarpuzzi just one stroke back. However this years champion did not come from the final pairing, DePalma shot a net +13 over par to finish in 2nd with a three day total of net +19 over par, Nesbitt shot a net +16 to finish with a 3 day total of +Net +22 and a tie for 5th while Scarpuzzi had to with draw after 15 holes suffering from back spasms.
The day belonged to New York's Jonathan Freeman, Jonathan came from 9 stokes back and in 6th place by shooting a net -5 under par on the final round giving him a 9 stroke victory. Jonathan shot gross nine hole scores of 50-41, 48-48, 37-44. The the gross 37 on the front nine for a net -6 of the final round won the event for Jonathan. After 9 holes he had pulled into a tie for the lead with Michael Scarpuzzi and erased his 9 stroke deficit. Scarpuzzi however despite a valant effort was not able to fight for the win on the back nine due to back spasms, After starting the back with a Triple, Triple, double his body just could not hold up. Jonathan coasted in with a net +2 over par on the back nine to win.
In Flight 16 to 20 Marvin Shavers the 2012 National Champion lead the way after round one in his pursuit to be the only USA two time time National Champion. Marvin shot a Net +2 over par to take a one stroke lead over fellow 2012 National Champion Adam Holewinski and California's Ty Jacob. However Ty was not so accommodating to Marvin's quest after day two. Ty took a two stroke lead over Marvin by shooting a net +5 over par to Marvin's net +8 over par. However Ty who had been so consistent the first two rounds shooting gross nine hole scores of 47-46, 47-47, became consistent in the wrong direction shoot a 52-52 on the final round. This open the door for Marvin who shot his best 9 hole score of 42 on the front nine for a net -2 under par. This gave Marvin a 7 stroke lead with 9 holes to go. Even though he finished net +5 on the back nine, this was good enough for a 7 stroke victory and the title of 1st USA 2 time National Champion.
In Flight 21 to 25 Romanian born Carmen Holewinski ran away from the field from day one. in the first round she shot a net -1 under par to give her a 7 stoke lead over Kenneth Blalock. On day two she shot a net -3 under par to extend her lead to 19 strokes. Day three to put the nail in her competitors coffins she shot another net -3 under par for a three day total of net -7 and a 30 stoke victory. Her dominance broke several WAGT records:
Lowest winning score in WAGT history
Largest margin of victory in WAGT histroy
Her optional side game winnings of $3,187.00 is the largest one event payout on WAGT history
Over the past 5 years and 25 National Champions Carmen becomes the 2nd player to win with a score below net par and joins 2013 flight 4 national champion Rich McDaniel as the only two players to be promoted to next flight.
Carmen victory is the result to her "American" Ideal of hard work pays off. Her journey was not easy and took several years to get her game where it is today. This year is the first year that her handicap fell below the max of 25 to give her a competing chance at Nationals, but that was due to her making "lemon aid out of lemons" mentality when she fell victim to a company wide layoff earlier this year. She took that time with the support of her husband and family she focused all of her efferts with one goal in mind, win the USA WAGT National Championship. She practice 6 hours a day 5 days a week. "Other then my wedding day and the birth of my children, the day a became a citizen of the United States was the happiest day of my life," she said in a post event interview. "It took all my strength from bursting into tears while I was standing up on stage with my fellow team mates while the National Anthem was playing. I bleed red, white and blue now and cant wait until we are in Turkey to help USA bring home the World Championship.
Accompanying the 5 National Champions to Turkey will be 16 year old Logan Bryant who won the 2015 National Order of Merit. Logan was in a tight race with his father for the honor but on the final day of the Tour Championship Logan pulled through to win the title.
The 2015 USA Captain has been awarded to Greg McGraw. This was Greg first year as a Tournament Director and his dedication to the tour and its policies help him receive this honor. " I have big shoes to fill, With Team USA placing in 2nd in the invitational and 3rd in the Championship lead by 2014 Team Captain Marvin Shavers, I have my worked cut out to assist the 2015 team to better results" said MacGraw at the Awards Dinner.
The 2015 Tumba Trophy was won by Team Texas. The Texas Team had Lynn Cormier, Conell Swain, Mark Wanke, Kenneth Blalock and Carmen Holewinski. Team Texas lead from start to finish running away with the award. This is the first year of the 4 year history of the Team competition that a team outside of Florida has won. The Tumba Trophy is in honor of the the WAGT Founder 4 time Olympian Sven Tumba. With a format that mirrors the the World Amateur Golfers Championship format that takes the 4 best net scores out of 5 team members to record each teams scores for each round. Team Texas recorded a net 303, 304, 307 for a Net +56 over par and a 21 stoke victory. Those three rounds were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lowest one day team scores in the entire event with California recording the best one day total of 300 in round two at Great Bear.
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