Trey Hallmark (photoed) and Terrence Miskell lead the way at TX Four-Ball
(Texas Golf Association)
BOERNE, TX (May 14, 2016) - Thunderstorms and
lightning caused a four-hour delay during the second
round of the 2016 Texas Four-Ball Championship at
Cordillera Ranch. The inclement weather also shortened
the two-man team championship to 36 holes.
The Texas Golf Association crowned a pair of
champions in the Super and Super Senior Divisions,
which were able to complete their second rounds. The
Championship Division, however, was unable to finish
the second round as darkness suspended play at 8:12
p.m.
Play resumes Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
Richard Koenig and Aaron Billings from Horseshoe
Bay won the Senior Division title with a two-day score
of 10-under-par 134. The Senior Division is played by
amateurs aged 55 years and older. Koenig and Billings
held off two Houston teams by a single shot. Jonathan
Shipley and John Dowdall, as well as Bob Kearney and
Gary Durbin, finished at 9-under 135.
“It was a very, very tough field and we knew it,”
said Koenig, who holed out from the fairway for an
eagle on the 17th hole. “We knew we had to play really
well.”
In the Super Senior Division (65 years and older),
Bob Hullender from San Antonio and Mike Arnold from
Windcrest won for the third time. The duo also won in
2013 and 2014. This year, they finished with a 36-hole
score of 7-under 137 to clip Sam Boyd from Horseshoe
Bay and Ken Redfern from Austin by one stroke.
“The first three holes after the delay were tough,
but we had to scramble for some pars,” Hullender said.
“Once we kind of got back into the game we ended up
making three birdies in a row.”
Indeed, Hullender and Arnold took turns rolling in
birdies on the back nine. Hullender made birdies on the
14th and 16th holes; Arnold got his on the 15th.
Of the Championship Division teams that were able
to post second round scores, Midland’s Andrew Wyatt
and Andrew Hall share clubhouse leader status with
Danny Simmerman from Shavano Park and J.J. Wall
from San Antonio. Both teams sit at 7-under 137.
Before the storms rolled in midday on Saturday,
Conroe’s Cory Wells struck some thunder of his own. On
the 582-yard par-5 fifth hole, Wells made a double-
eagle when he holed out from almost 250 yards.
“I had 244 (to the) flag and hit the hardest hybrid I
could,” Wells said. “It was dead on line the whole way. I
didn’t see it go in, but I knew I hit a good shot. I got up
to the green, looked in the bunker and looked all
around. Then I checked the cup and there it was.”
The shot moved Wells and his partner Clayton
Jeffirs from Humble to 4-under on the day. They
finished the second round with a score of 4-under 68.
The Championship Division’s second round resumes
Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
ROUND ONE STORY
Local duo Trey Hallmark
from Boerne and three-time TGA Player of the Year
Terrence Miskell from New Braunfels on Friday blistered
Cordillera Ranch for a bogey-free, 8-under-par 64 to
lead the Championship Division after one round at the
2016 Texas Four-Ball Championship.
Hallmark is a member at Cordillera Ranch, and
Miskell plays out of nearby Sonterra Golf Club. They’ve
been four-ball partners for more than a year; the Texas
Four-Ball Championship is their seventh event as
partners. In February they combined to shoot 61-66 to
win the San Antonio Golf Association’s Regional Four-
Ball Championship.
“We’ve been playing with each other long enough
that we know each other’s games well,” said Hallmark,
who made seven birdies in the first round. “If one of us
gets in trouble out there, we know the other will be
there for us. When we both get it going – like we did
today – then we can make a lot of birdies. We birdied
the same hole a few times today and only had one par
putt longer than 10 feet.”
Miskell, the 2004, ’06 and ’07 Player of the Year,
has won three Texas Four-Ball titles. In 2003-04, he
teamed with Titus Harris to win back-to-back Four-Balls.
In 2007, Miskell teamed with U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion Trip Kuehne to win the Texas Four-Ball. That
same year, Miskell also won the Texas Mid-Amateur and
Public Links Championships.
On Friday at Cordillera Ranch, he made five birdies
with a hot putter.
“Inside of six feet, I can’t miss,” he said. “That
takes pressure off so many other parts of my game. It
takes pressure off my lag putting, and it even helps
take pressure off my approach shots.”
Hallmark and Miskell lead three teams by two
shots. Chris Goodspeed from Coppell and Rick Sulzer
from Carrollton combined to shoot 6-under 66. Twice
they teamed for three consecutive birdies – on holes 1,
2 and 3, then later on 14, 15 and 16 – but suffered a
double-bogey on the 434-yard, par-4 17th hole. Randy
Lance from Spring and William Piper from Cypress also
turned in a 6-under 66. They, along with Goodspeed
and Sulzer, are tied for second place with 2015 TGA
Player of the Year Joshua Irving from Dallas and Scott
Volpitto from Fort Worth.
Irving and Volpitto carded six birdies without a
bogey. They said the key to their play was pretty
simple.
“Patience,” said Volpitto, who rolled in four birdies.
“We knew there would be birdies out there, but with any
four-ball tournament, you have to stay patient.”
Tied for fifth place are Austin’s David Backus and
Barrett Sandefur and Jeff Brame from Cypress and
Houston’s Jimmy Vandagriff. Both teams registered 5-
under 67s. Twenty-eight of the 40 teams in the
Championship Division finished under par, but Cordillera
Ranch stood tall with a course average of 77.00.
In the Senior Division (55 years and older), Bob
Kearney and Gary Durbin from Houston sit atop the
leaderboard with 6-under 66. In a round that included
five birdies and one bogey, Kearney supplied the
highlight with an eagle-2 on the 390-yard, par-4 17th.
Kearney and Durbin lead by one shot over the teams of
Mike Booker of Houston and Pat Youngs from San
Antonio and Jonathon Shipley of Katy and John Dowdall
from Fulshear.
Booker, the 2015 TGA Senior Player of the Year and
winner of the 2015 Texas Senior Amateur, combined
with Youngs for six birdies against a lone bogey. Shipley
and Dowdall made seven birdies and two bogeys.
In the Super Senior Division (65 years and older),
two teams are tied for the lead. Bob Hullender from San
Antonio and Mike Arnold from Windcrest posted 3-under
69 and share first place with Sam Boyd from Horseshoe
Bay and Ken Redfern from Austin. Bud Bartels and John
Jones from Houston finished at 2-under 70 and trail the
Super Seniors leaders by one shot.
This is the third TGA Championship held at
Cordillera Ranch. The 2013 Texas Mid-Amateur, won by
Tyler’s Clay Hodge, and the 2007 Texas Shootout,
during which the North Texas team prevailed, were also
played at the stunning Jack Nicklaus-designed course at
the heart of the Texas Hill Country.
Located about 20 miles north of San Antonio,
Cordillera Ranch has all the touches of a classic Nicklaus
course. Towering oak trees, bubbling streams, elevation
changes and dramatic rock outcroppings all combine to
create one of the most beautiful and challenging golf
experiences in Texas.
The Texas Four-Ball Championship features an 80-
team starting field with three age divisions. The
Championship Division (25 years and older), Seniors
(55 and older) and Super Seniors (65 and older) play
from different tees and are competing for separate
Four-Ball titles. The format is 54-hole, four-ball stroke
play.
The second round begins at 8 a.m. Saturday at
Cordillera Ranch. At the conclusion of 36 holes, the field
will be cut to the low 44 teams and ties.
View results for Texas Four-Ball