Brice Bergesen Opens 2003 Season With Victory in Lake Charles, LA
22 March 2003 - Lake Charles, LA - The Texas Putting Tour opened the season at Lake Charles with the biggest turnout at a regular state event in the last few years. A very tight event shaped up after the first round with 17 of the 21 players sitting between 27 and 30. Wade Sahmel emerged as the leader after the second round at 19 under 53. The lead was not safe, as there were still 10 players within 4 strokes. Wade played a solid last round with a 10 under 26. Four players bettered Wade Sahmel's score in the last round but only Brice Bergesen's 12 under 24 managed to make up the ground and force a playoff.
Brice Bergesen
PPA Touring ProA light rain had fallen off an on during the last round and it picked up as the playoff began. Brice Bergesen started out on fire in the playoff and soon the only question was could Brice beat the course record. Going to the 18th hole he had only missed two holes and needed the last one to set a new record. A good putt turned left just at the end and lipped out to give Brice a tie of the course record at 15 under 21.
Brice received a state spot for his win and then the match play portion of the event took place. In somewhat of surprise, two rookie pro's, Steve Tanton and Jon Drexler took the two available spots.
In the amateur division Dave Blalock and Allen Thomas took the opening round lead at 9 under 27. In a switch two different players held the lead after the second round. Mickey DeLucca and Ken Beck at 15 under 53. While there were some descent scores in the last round none of players behind Mickey and Ken were able to make up any ground. In the end Ken Beck played a little better than Mickey during the last round and took the first event of the year.
Mickey did get a little revenge as Ken was not trying for a state spot and Mickey second place finish gave him the medal play state spot. Dave Blalock and Jason Sheffield took the two state spots that were available in match play portion of the event.
Article and scores provided by Lee Messinger.
Professional Division of Lake Charles, LA Event (22 March 2003)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Brice Bergesen* 28 27 24 79 $180.00 2 Wade Sahmel 27 26 26 79 $120.00 3 Jeffrey Smith 28 27 25 80 $90.00 4 Lee Messinger 30 26 25 81 $65.00 Rainey Statum 30 25 26 81 $65.00 6 Chris Breedlove 29 28 25 82 $50.00 7 Byron Kirby 29 25 29 83 $40.00 8 Andy Gaiser 27 28 29 84 $25.00 Greg Roberts 31 27 26 84 $25.00 10 Charles Simpson 29 29 28 86 David Lynch 28 29 29 86 Steve Tanton* 27 29 30 86 13 Don Parker 27 29 31 87 14 Charles Cox 28 32 29 89 15 Jeffrey Huffman 29 29 31 89 16 Ed Duthile 34 29 28 91 17 Jon Drexler* 30 31 31 92 Steve Armstrong 30 30 32 92 Steve Berglund 30 33 29 92 20 Greg Simpson 32 34 30 96 21 Al Simpson 37 33 33 103
Amateur Division of Lake Charles, LA Event (22 March 2003)
| Round | |||||
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| 1 | Ken Beck | 29 | 28 | 29 | 86 |
| 2 | Mickey DeLucca* | 32 | 25 | 31 | 88 |
| 3 | Dave Blalock* | 27 | 32 | 30 | 89 |
| Mike Huckaby | 32 | 29 | 28 | 89 | |
| 5 | Jason Sheffield* | 28 | 35 | 29 | 92 |
| 6 | Allen Thomas | 27 | 35 | 32 | 94 |
| 7 | Jack Ramsey | 35 | 32 | 28 | 95 |
| 8 | Trevor Lewin | 30 | 33 | 34 | 97 |
| 9 | Adam Sahmel | 35 | 34 | 29 | 98 |
* Earned TX State Championship Spot.
Match Play Results of Lake Charles, LA Event (22 March 2003)
