Forty & Over Four-Ball (South)
Out the gate, we saw some teams get off to a hot start. Being the first tee time of the day, the team of Scott Kennedy & William Mallon set the pace by posting an impressive opening round score of 63. Their card was blemish free as they birdied half of their holes, en route to a nine-under start. Shortly after Kennedy & Mallon finished up their round, inclement weather created a two hour delay, which gave everyone an opportunity to see what they needed to shoot in order to be in contention for the weekend. One team took it upon themselves to play spoiler, as Daniel Eggertsson & Derek Horwitch shot up the leaderboard after the delay. In addition to five birdeis, the team carded an eagle on Holes 2, 8, & 14, to finish up with a Round 1 score of 61 (-11). This was good enough to create a two shot lead going into Sunday, but in a Four-Ball format, everyone knows that no lead is safe.
The course began to show it's teeth a bit more on Sunday, as leaderboard quickly began to tighten. Through the first nine holes Eggertson & Hurwitch were narrowly holding off a charge being put on by Kennedy & Mallon. After stumbling out of the gate with a bogey on 1, Mallon made a bounce back eagle on Hole 2 which was followed up with a birdie by Kennedy on Hole 3. After a birdie on Hole 6 by Mallon, just like that, the two teams were tied at twelve-under.
Coming down the stretch, Eggertsson & Hurwtich were narrowly able to hold off any late pushes though and were able to capture a wire to wire victory. Back to back birdies by Hurwitch on Holes 11 & 12, helped keep their momentum going on the closing nine, and the closing birdies on two of their last three holes helped seal a three shot victory over Mallon & Kennedy. Daniel Eggertsson is now a back to back champion of the Forty & Over Four-Ball (South) after winning with partner TJ Shuart. This marks Derek Hurwitch's first Forty & Over Four-Ball title, after turning 40 last August.
Making the biggest jumps of the day, was the team of Alister Munro & Joey Lamielle who carded the low round on Sunday with a 64 (-8), allowing them to climb ten spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for third. Also sitting in a tie for third were the teams of Niels Stone & PatrickTrittler, and Mitchel Perez & Brock Lambert.
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Forty & Over Four-Ball (North)
OCALA, Fla. – After three playoff holes, Steve Albright & Jimmy Letterly would claim victory at the Country Club of Ocala in this year’s Forty & Over Four-Ball Championship. This marks the duo’s second victory in this championship, after winning in 2020.
After a soggy start on Saturday morning, our 100 competitors teed it up an hour later than planned, in hopes of capturing this year’s Forty & Over Four-Ball Championship. With the wet conditions and rain still coming down, not many teams were able to get off to a strong start. Brian Keenan & Mike Finster would rattle off three birdies in their first four holes to control the leaderboard early. They finished the day at five under total and in second place heading into Sunday. Our defending champions, Joe Alfieri & Daniel DeBra, who were in our final group of the day, got off to the best start, turning at four-under par. They would ultimately finish the day in a tie for third place at that number, not finding much success in their final nine holes. Our leaders after round one were the team of Rod Bayliss & Drew Ditty, who had a combined seven birdies in their effort to post a six-under 66 to hold a one-shot lead.
It became a two-team race down the stretch on Sunday afternoon between Keenan/Finster and Steve Albright & Jimmy Letterly, who got in the mix early. The two teams traded birdies hole after hole. With three holes remaining, Keenan/Finster held on to a one-shot lead at 11-under par. A birdie on hole 18 by Letterly, and a par from Finster would force a playoff. Both teams would tie with pars on the first two playoff holes. On the par-five 10th hole, Albright would drain a 15-foot birdie putt to give himself and Letterly the impressive win. Albright would end up shooting a six-under 66 on his own ball in regulation, but Letterly provided the most important birdie of the day to allow the chance to earn their second victory in this championship.
