Tom Adair Beats Cliff Matthews in Playoff (3 June 2007

Tom Adair Defeats Cliff Matthews in Playoff for Victory in Longview

3 June 2007 - Longview, TX - A heavy downpour with lighting showed up in Longview just as the tournament was about to began. The heavy rain lasted for about an hour and pushed the start time back to 1:30pm. With a now very wet course, the advantage shifted to the locals.

With Tom Adair being the only local in the field the wet conditions would have no affect on him. A great opening round of 12 under 24 would give him the lead. Only three pother players were able to break 30 during the first round. Wade Sahmel and Mike Baldoza shot 28 and 27 respectively but Cliff Matthews would carry over his strong play from Saturday with nice 11 under 25 to stay close to Tom.

Tom would fall off the table in second round with 4 under 32 pushing him three strokes off the lead now held by Cliff. A second round 28 from Cliff left him at 19 under 53. Tom would still hold second place as no other player was able to makeup ground on the lead. A seven under front nine from Tom in the last round would put him right back in contention with Cliff who only managed a 3 under 15. When the last round was completed it would be Cliff and Tom tied at 27 under 81 four strokes clear of the third place Mike Baldoza.

With amateurs still on the front nine of the last round the playoff would start on the back nine. The match would be tight throughout with neither player getting more than one stroke ahead. Coming to the 4th hole Cliff was one ahead of Tom. With Cliff playing first he missed the ace and went down the angle hill behind the hole. Again Cliff would miss the deuce from that position, that putt had already cost him an out right win as he had missed it twice during medal play. Tom would par to move into a tie. The last five holes would be back and forth. Coming to the last hole the match was still tied. Tom would putt first and make the ninth hole center cut. When Cliffs putt slipped by the right edge the title was Toms. Both Cliff and Tom would earn state spots. Additional sots went to Mike Baldoza and Joel Baker.

Article and scores provided by Adam Sahmel, Gary Reed and Lee Messinger..

Consistent Play from Dave Blalock Wins in Longview, TX

Mickey DeLucca would hold the opening round lead at 8 under 28 by 1 over Mike Huckaby. With four other players in at 30 it looked like it would be a tight tournament. Mickey would hold on to the lead in the second round. A 5 five under 31 would be just good enough. Mike would fall off the pace with a 35 but one of the 30s, Dave Blalock, would move to within one and Adam Sahmels 29 would also pull him to within one stroke of Mickey.

The front nine a Longview is a very interesting nine. You can go really low or get caught out by some of the tougher holes that you can take high numbers on. Mickey got caught out. A front nine 19 took him out of contention. Dave Blalock would take advantage of Mickeys lapse and take control of the tournament. A last round 29 from Dave would put him in at 19 under 89 give him the win and a state spot. Adam Sahmel would take second, finishing three strokes behind, and also earned a state spot. Mike Huckaby came from five strokes off the lead to take third and the third available state spot. The last state spot would have to be decided in a 18 hole playoff between Mickey and Scott Myers. Mickey would come back nicely from his last round to take the last state spot.

Article and scores provided by Adam Sahmel, Gary Reed and Lee Messinger..