Texas Shootout: North rises again
North Captain (TGA photo)
HORSESHOE BAY, Texas – After bringing a slim, four-point lead into the final day of play at the Texas Shootout, the North Team continued their solid play again on Sunday during the singles matches to earn the victory for Captain AJ Triggs of Tyler. The South team, lead by Loren Singletary, made used the same strategy in the final round, going with identical pairings that made for some really good pairings for Sunday.
The North squad finished with a 33-24 victory, their second in a row, that evened the all-time series.
While the North's Steve Galko earned the most points in the 2008 Shootout matches by winning a staggering 8 out of a possible 9 points for the weekend, the key to the North’s victory was based on the results posted by the rookies of the squad. Andy McCabe tallied an impressive 7 points, while Collin Stoops and Bill Steen each won 5 points. Shootout veteran John Bearrie had another good weekend also earning 5 points against some of the heavy hitters for the South.
After several of his patented motivational speeches, Captain Triggs had his players keyed up for a big day, and they promptly delivered.
Owen Joyner and Aaron Hickman both of Houston were the top players for the South both earning 6.5 out of a possible 9 points. Captain Singletary put Joyner out first to start the rally and he responded by sweeping all three points. Hickman was assigned the anchor position and also served his Captain well by sweeping all three points in the final match of the day.
John Dowdall also stepped up to grab 6 points overall and took down 2008 TGA Player of the Year, Rob Couture 2.5 to .5.
The 2008 tournament was the first year that Seniors have been eligible to make the Shootout team and the proved to be up to the challenge. Mike Rice & Tom McGraw represented the South team and played against Tom Doughtie and Bill Caveness from the North.
With such high quality players it was not surprising to see the final results had an exact split among the Seniors over the weekend matches.
--Courtesy TGA
View results for Texas Shootout
ABOUT THE Texas Shootout
This Ryder Cup-style team event is the final
tournament of the Texas Golf Association
competitive amateur golf season. Each team
consists of 8 players who qualify for their
respective teams via TGA State and Regional
Player of the Year points accumulated
throughout the TGA season.
Eligibility: The field will be made up of 16
competitors, 8 players from each region
(North
/ South). Of the 8 players chosen from each
region, 5 players will be selected from the
TGA
Statewide Player of the Year point standings,
and 3 players will be selected from the TGA
Regional Player of the Year point standings.
All
statewide players will have up to the
completion of the current year USGA Mid
Amateur Championship to earn points toward
the event. All Regional players will have up to
the completion of the Regional Mid Amateur
Championship to earn points towards the
event. If a player qualifies by both criteria,
he
will be selected based on the higher rank.
The
next highest ranked player from within the
Regional or Statewide points will be added to
ensure 5 players from the statewide rankings
and three players from the Regional rankings
will be chosen.
Format: Ryder Cup format: Four-ball
Matches, Foursome (Alternate shot) Matches,
and Singles Matches. 3 point system, 1 point
for the winner of each nine holes, and 1 point
for the overall match winner
View Complete Tournament Information