West Palm Beach, Fla. – On a marathon of a day, players from Florida, Georgia and Alabama took on Banyan Golf Club, as well as each other, in the 19th Southeastern Challenge. Some great golf was played by every team today, leading to a tight race with singles matches coming up tomorrow.
Four-Ball
During the morning four-ball session, Team Florida managed to stay right in the mix of things, even though Alabama got off to an early lead.
Starting with the first match, Joe Alfieri and Miles McConnell took on Shaw Pritchett and Chris Hummel. In a match that was led most of the time by Alfieri and McConnell, a last minute charge led to Alabama making birdie on the 17th hole to square it. On the 18th, McConnell found trouble off of the tee, forcing Alfieri to step up. A poor wedge shot shortsided him, but a great up-and-down save for par led to a halved match.
Marc Dull and Rhett Pooley got off to a hot start as well, being three up through 7 holes over Keith Guest and Nick Cassini of Georgia. Although Team Georgia tried to climb back, Dull and Pooley held them off and finished with a win at 2&1.
Jay Halverson and Jonah Wasserstrom did not have their A game this morning, with a 4&3 loss to Connor Elder and Blair Hamm of Alabama. The top two finishers in this year’s Mid-Amateur Championship look to bounce back heading into tomorrow.
Brian Keenan and Mike Finster suffered the same fate as the previous match, with a loss against Bob Royak and Doug Hanzel.
Will Davenport and Scott Turner battled it out with Daniel Burns and Hunter Hawkins of Alabama, and wound up coming out on top with a final score of 1 up. In a match that never saw a lead of more than 1 up, Davenport and Turner were able to secure a point for Florida.
Lastly, Richard Donegan and Joey Latowski finished their match tied after what could have been a devastating loss to Team Georgia. A very clutch birdie by Latowski on the last won them the hole and tied the match.
Foursomes
After the morning, players grabbed lunch and went right back out to play in their foursomes matches. With Team Alabama holding a small lead over Team Florida, it was anybody’s ball game with a lot of golf left to play.
Starting off with the team of Alfieri and Finster, the duo from Florida were able to grab a point early from Alabama, with a 4&3 win. However, they ran into a buzz saw against the dominant Georgia duo of Hanzel and Royak.
Keenan and McConnell found fire against Georgia and Alabama, with dominating victories against both teams. They defeated both Alabama and Georgia 5&4, leaving them plenty of time to go support their teammates.
The team of Davenport and Turner struck gold again, winning both of their matches against Georgia and Alabama. The match with Georgia was over on the 17th hole. However, the Alabama team was able to tie it up on the 17th. A clutch iron shot by Davenport to 15 feet and a Turner nail-biting putt won it for them on the last.
Marc Dull and Rhett Pooley, although winning their morning match, failed to gain any points in the afternoon, losing both of their matches 3&2.
Jay Halverson and Jonah Wasserstrom tied their match against Georgia and lost their match against Alabama.
In the final match of the afternoon, Joey Latowski and Richard Donegan found trouble on 17, and wound up losing the hole to both teams. A par on 18 secured a win in the match against Georgia and a tie against Alabama
