The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 10th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-10 highlights…
***AN EAGLE & 1st BHO of SEASON***
ERVIN and SANDALL Get Individual Wins
The first week of the 2nd quarter of the 2023 season, had a multitude of “firsts.” Friday’s round produced the 2nd eagle and the 1st bunker-holeout (BHO) of the season. First, let’s get to the eagle by MARK CARMICHAEL. The process began on the par-5 12th when Carmichael put together a big tee shot followed by a great second shot down the middle of the fairway. His ball came to rest just at the 100 yard marker. Using a gap wedge, Carmichael sent his 3rd shot on its way to the green. However, the ball never hit the green as it went into the hole on a fly, giving him the holeout-eagle…a 30 point shot! It was his 3rd STATracker career eagle (2 in 2021). Also on Friday, GUS VILLANOVA joined the exclusive Bunker Holeout club when he put his greenside bunker shot on the par-3 6th, into the hole. It was only the 6th BHO in STATracker history. He joins the likes of Bruce Hice (2021-Masters Champ), who scored the first-ever BHO, along with Ron Biggs, Mark Carmichael, Stan Koonce and Mike Sinclair. Villanova is best known for his record-setting single round points total of 84 points, set in 2021. Elsewhere, as predicted at the start of the season, PAUL CORMIER and STAN KOONCE continue their enthralling HARBOUR CUP race show, at the top of the Combined standings. After holding down the top spot for 7 weeks in a row, Cormier was finally caught by Koonce. In fact, when ALL the dust settled, it was Koonce recapturing the top spot with 409 points as of Friday, to Cormier’s 407 points. This is going to be a very entertaining race as the season continues to unfold… and…with his 30 point holeout-eagle on Friday, Carmichael, the 2-time HARBOUR CUP champ, sits in 3rd place with 363 points.
In Wednesday’s MGA individual playdate round, 88 year-old, 2022-Man Of Inspiration, LARRY ERVIN scored a 3 stroke victory over runnerup C.A. Smith. Ervin beat his age by 7 strokes!!...and… his round included 2 birdies. It was Ervin’s 1st I-win this season and 3rd I-win in his STATracker career.
BRIAN SANDALL got his first I-win of the season on Wednesday, as well, in the B-flight. After a slow start to this season, Sandall played a solid game to get his 3 stroke victory over runnerup Tim Welch. The victory was Sandall’s 3rd I-win in his STATracker career. BOB GILLHAM scored 5 birdies in his round on Friday, helping his team to a 1st place finish. Gillham, the Birdie champion for the last 2 years, has 15 birdies in just 5 starts.
This coming week, the MGA holds its first major of the season…”The MGA.” The format for this year’s MGA will feature Low Gross and Low Net winners from the gold and the red tees.
SEAN MULHALL, the lone winner in last year’s MGA format, will be looking to defend his title of low net from the red tees.
….Coming up this week…
Bald Eagles will play on Monday, 5/8… and on Friday, 5/12
The MGA hosts its premier tournament… The MGA, on Wednesday, May 10th
Prizes and awards will be distributed during the luncheon that follows the MGA round.
Also during Wednesday’s luncheon, 2023-MASTERS champ, MARK NOLAN, will be honored.