ROSE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP
RESULTS & RECAP

 

Pasadena, CA—The Golf Channel Amateur Tour held the 2nd annual event on the #2 (Nay) Course at Brookside Golf Club.  A picture perfect day of sun and warmth greeted the 75 participants who teed it up to compete.  Arguably the easiest golf course on paper and tee-to-green, the pitched and fast greens gave many players fits and rewarded those who putted well and kept their misses on the correct side of the hole.  Congratulations to Tim Van Der Valk for winning $220 in the 50/50 Raffle!

 

Jonathan Minkoff of Los Angeles, the reigning Los Angeles Player of the Year, locked up his fourth win of the young season on Saturday.  Minkoff, the #1 ranked player in L.A currently, went about his business and made three birdies down the stretch on the back nine which helped him secure the win by four shots.  The 37-year old birdied both par-fives and added a deuce on the par-three 10th hole.  Dale Bollin of Chino Hills got off to a horrendous start and was four-over par after just five holes.  He rebounded off the shaky start and played holes 6 – 14 in 2-under par.  Three late bogeys saw him settle into a tie for 2nd place at 6-over par 76.  Also arriving in a T2 was Geoff Carnevale of Toronto.  Carnevale picked up four shots on Bollin and caught him at 76 thanks to playing his last seven holes in 1-under par.  Cody Matthews of Costa Mesa and Min Hyeong Kang of Canada tied for 4th at 78. 

 

 

Palmer Flight saw a dominating performance by 72-year old Tour Rookie Al Silbereich of Burbank.  Competing in just his first event, Silbereich mentioned how nervous he was to start, making bogey on each of his first four holes.  The 72-year old rookie would settle in to his round, however, playing holes 5 – 16 in even par.  A pair of late bogeys on 17 and 18 would not cost him, as he would ultimately coast to his first win in as many attempts.  When the dust settled, Al was the only player in the 70’s, winning by five shots at 6-over par 76 and his card had no double bogeys or worse.  Brian Oblak of Studio City carded two birdies on the day, but four doubles held him out of the 70’s, tying for 2nd place at 11-over par 81.  Also at 81 was Curt Black, playing in his first event in Los Angeles after relocating from Washington DC. 

 

 

 

Hogan Flight had some tight scoring on top of the leaderboard with Paul Kirtides of Temecula coming out on top by a single shot.  Kirtides built up a nice lead but a disastrous finish of triple bogey on 17 followed by a double bogey on 18 had him a little nervous at 81.  In the end, the score would hold up as the 55-year old earned his first win of the young season in thanks to the two birdies he carded on holes 3 and 11.  In 2nd place was Ron Ballasteros-Perez of Visalia.  Ballasteros-Perez played consistently all day, making nothing worse than bogey which is a feat on the tough green complexes at the #2 Nay layout.  Ron would go on to finish in 2nd place at 82.   Three players tied for 3rd at 15-over par 85 including Geoff Yeager of Lancaster, Kristian Yeager of Lancaster, and Chris Shurley of Long Beach.  The trio was highlighted by Kristian, who played his last six holes in even-par to jump up the leaderboard. 

 

 

 

Sarazen Flight struggled as a whole on the short layout with tricky greens but two players managed to break 90.  Peter Triolo Jr of Napa fired his best round of the season (in three attempts) and won going away.  Triolo Jr only made two double bogeys and was able to manage a birdie as he would go on to win by six shots at 12-over par 82.  Francisco Almaguer of Camarillo, competing in his first event of the new season, made a deuce on the par-three 5th hole.  The difference was the consistency between the two on Saturday, as Almaguer had three doubles and two triples but again was the only other player in the flight to break into the 80’s, finishing in 2nd place at 18-over par 88. 

 

 

 

 

Senior Sarazen Flight saw some playoff action, with Sesh Ramakrishnan of Irvine and Manuel Ramirez of Alta Loma tying for the lead with the same score as Triolo Jr in regular Sarazen Flight, 12-over par 82.  Grouped together, Ramakrishnan had a two-shot advantage heading into the difficult par-four 18th hole.  A double bogey opened the door for Ramirez who finished regulation like a champion.  Ramirez made par on the hole – the only player of the twelve in the flight to do so!  Heading into a sudden-death playoff it would seem Ramirez would have the advantage and the momentum, however, Ramakrishnan did what he had to do and won in the playoff, securing his 2nd win of the season!   Larry Goetz of Santa Monica would have been right there but two holes tripped him up – a triple bogey on three and a nine on the par-four 9th.  Other than those two holes Goetz played great and finished in 3rd place at 15-over par 85. 

 

 

 

Jones Flight went out early and set the pace along with the Snead Flight.  When the scores rolled in there were three players atop the leaderboard at 20-over par 90 including Ken Gorvetzian of La Canada Flintridge, David Dittlinger of Los Angeles, and Gabriel Soto Campa of Los Angeles all tied atop the leaderboard.  Heading back the 18th hole for the playoff, Gorvetzian hit an amazing chip to the difficult hole location and secured his first-ever Tour victory.  Gorvetzian had the momentum heading into the playoff, playing 17 and 18 in even par while Dittlinger played those same holes 4-over par and Soto Campa at 3-over par.  Amazing comeback by Ken complete with a win in sudden death!  Mario Caruso of Harbor City missed the playoff by just a shot, finishing in 4th at 91.  Mario was right there at the end, playing the last two holes in 5-over par. 

 

Snead Flight saw a great duel coming down the stretch between Robert Randles of Pomona and Larry Polete of Banning.  The final two holes was the difference in the match, with Polete nursing a tenuous 1-shot lead heading into 17.  Polete would finish with consecutive double bogeys which opened the door a bit for Randles.  Randles would finish with two consecutive bogeys, completing a two-shot swing and in doing so winning for the 2nd consecutive event.  Randles would finish up at 21-over par 91, while Polete would end up at 22-over par 92.  Finishing in 3rd place was the only other player in the flight to break the century mark – Danny Tang of Yorba Linda at 97.