Courtesy of Texas Golf Association
Fort Worth’s
Colby Amparan and
Gary Ezmerlian card a final round 7-under-par 65 to win the Texas Four-Ball by two strokes at Horseshoe Bay’s Apple Rock Course.
Amparan and Ezmerlian started the week with back-to-back rounds of 6-under 66s. The duo bested their previous two rounds on Sunday by firing a 7-under 65. Amparan and Ezmerlian teamed up to card seven birdies to post 19-under par overall for the championship.
“It was a total team effort,” Ezmerlian said. “I think that would be what it was the whole weekend. We were just a team. When one of us was out of it the other one was in it.”
Amparan and Ezmerlian played stellar golf all three rounds. They tallied 18 holes under par (17 birdies and one eagle) and never birdied the same hole.
“We didn’t make a bogey,” Ezmerlian said. “I don’t think we were ever really close to making a bogey. Just a team. Both of us the whole way.”
Amparan and Ezmerlian’s experience in playing partnership golf paid off on Sunday. Amparan, whose dad was in attendance, wanted to make a memory this week and was able to do so on the last hole with a great birdie putt.
“It went in and I yelled at him (Ezmerlian) ‘memories’,” said Amparan. “It was really cool.”
Kris Devlin of Austin and Trey Todd of Abilene tied Aaron Hickman of Tyler and Dallas’s Rob Couture for second at 17-under-par 199. Kyle Robbins of Keller and Jordan Wynn of Dallas tied for fourth with Derek Abel of Dallas and Chris Wheeler of Addison at 15-under-par 201.
In the Senior Division, San Antonio’s Ron Finnerty and Tommy Tucker ran away with victory by carding a final round 8-under 64. They won by four shots and tallied seven birdies and an eagle on Sunday.
This was Finnerty and Tucker’s first time to play in the event together, but they showed no lack of experience.
“This was my first Texas Golf Association event,” Tucker said. “So, it was pretty good. It’s a great feeling.”
Finnerty and Tucker tallied 18 birdies and an eagle as a team for the three rounds. They also recently won the senior division of the San Antonio City Four-Ball.
“Big time. Big time,” Finnerty said. “You know we’ve been working on our game and to get it to the point where it’s at now is great.”
William Shock and Scott Smith of Houston finished runner-up at 14-under-par 202. The teams of Mike Booker and Pat Youngs, Andrew Hydorn and Bill Jackson, and Don Gafner and Jim Quinn all finished tied third at 13-under-par 203.
In the Super Senior Division, Horseshoe Bay Resort members Aaron Billings and Richard Koenig took home their first title as a four-ball team following a closing 9-under-par 63. They posted an impressive 24-under-par for the championship to hold off John Grace of Fort Worth and Bill Holstead of Wichita Falls by two shots.
To win as members of the club was special for Billings and Koenig.
“I think it’s a good representation of Horseshoe Bay,” Billings said. “We’ve got some very good players here. I think we represented the super senior Texas Four-Ball well.”
James Long of Granbury and Buffalo Gap’s Danny Walters finished solo third at 12-under-par 204. Alan Dale and Bobby Haney of New Braunfels posted 9-under-par 207 to finish fourth.
View results for Texas Four-Ball
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 eligibility
details.
Format: Scheduled for 54 holes of
Four–Ball Stroke Play.
The field is limited to 80 teams, as outlined below:
Championship: 25 & Over (48 teams)
Senior: 55 & Over (20 teams)
Super Senior: 65 & Over (12 teams)
View Complete Tournament Information