Joe Bendetti and Josh Swanson prevailed from a wild final round to win Texas' first state title of 2013
HORSESHOE BAY, Texas (May 19, 2013) --
The final round of the State Four-Ball
Championship has
historically been full of excitement and nail-
biting finishes and the final round at Summit
Rock Golf Club
was nothing different. Through three days
teams from all over Texas have battled stout
winds and strong
competition in their chase to capture the
first state title of the year. While there was
no need for extra
holes in the Senior and Super Senior
divisions, the Championship division ended in
stellar fashion as
three teams found themselves tied at the
completion of 54 holes.
Heading into Sunday three teams sat atop
the leaderboard in the Championship division
and defending
back-to-back champions, John Bearrie and
Aaron Hickman, were not one of those
teams. Looking to
catapult up the leaderboard and remain in
contention, Bearrie and Hickman got things
started early with
two quick birdies out of the gate and added
two more in their opening nine to give put
them four under
par through their first nine holes. Their back
nine was more of the same as they added an
eagle and
three birdies on their route to a closing
round 64, giving them a tournament total of
sixteen under par,
200. Second round co-leaders Chris Davis
and Russell Helson also started out quickly
posting three birdies
on the front nine but found trouble on the
tenth leading to their lone bogey of the day.
On the seventeenth hole needing birdie to
tie the clubhouse leaders, Davis drained an
80 foot putt from
the front of the green sending a charge
through the course. Playing with Davis and
Helson in the final
pairing was round two co-leaders Joe
Bendetti and Josh Swanson. After opening
with a three under par
33 on their opening nine, Bendetti and
Swanson played steady golf carding eight
straight pars before
draining a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to
force a three team playoff at 200. In the
playoff Bearrie and
Hickman found trouble on the first hole and
their bid for a three-peat ended as they
made bogey while
the other two teams carded pars. Heading to
the par 5, second hole, both teams played
aggressive going
for the green in two but neither were
successful. With all four players starring at
birdie it became a
putting contest for victory. After Helson and
Davis both missed their birdie attempts the
door became
wide open for the team of Bendetti and
Swanson to claim the title. Swanson was
first to putt and his five
footer just slide past the edge of the hole
leaving Bendetti to stare down his four-
footer for victory. After
taking some time to view the putt, Bendetti
stepped up and confidently rolled it in to give
his team the
victory and title of 2013 State Four-Ball
Champions.
In the Senior division, the team of Bob
Kearney and Gary Durbin were able to hold
of the charging
Warren Huddleston and Lee Sandlin to
capture the Senior title by one stroke. A
collective seven birdies
and no bogeys on the day gave Kearney and
Durbin a final round score of seven under
par, 65, leading to
a tournament total of eighteen under par
198. Sandlin and Huddleston gave it their
best shot but after a
hot front nine which included four birdies the
team struggled to make putts on the back
allowing for only
a single birdie on the seventeenth. Rounding
out the top three was Craig Rumora and Hill
Adams who
fired a closing round of 66 which gave them
a 54-hole total of fourteen under par, 202.
Super seniors Bob Hullender and Mike Arnold
took charge and never looked back during
their strong final
round which included eight birdies and just
one bogey. Their final round of 65 gave the
team a three day
total of thirteen under par, 203. Good
enough for a ten shot victory over second
place finishers Don
Grider and Darrell Haney. Capturing third
place in the Super Senior division was the
brother team of
Patrick and Mickey Cooper who posted a final
round of 75, giving them a tournament total
of 215.
About the Texas Four-Ball
Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers age 25 or older as of the first round of tournament play, with a certified USGA Handicap Index of 8.4 or less. Please reference “TGA State Championship Eligibility” at www.txga.org for additional ...
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