Daniel Owen among a quartet of winners at Moot Thomas Invitational

March 16, 2023 | by Sean Melia of AmateurGolf.com

Moot Thomas winners (Credit: MCGA)

Chris Kelos (Super Senior), Phil Pavoni (Legends) and Brian Sachs (Super Legends) also take titles at Ocala Golf Club

It was a cold start at Ocala Golf Club on the final day of the Moot Thomas Invitational. The weather didn’t seem to bother Daniel Owen, as he shot a scorching 67 and leapfrogged five players to win by one shot with a final score of 4-under par.

Owen, making his tournament debut, bounced back from a disappointing second-round 76 which put him four shots behind the leader Chris Hall (Acworth, Ga.). Hall beat Owen by 10 shots in the second round when he shot a tournament-best 66. Hall's closing 72 was the highest score of the players in the top six.

Doug Jones (Brandon, Fla.) shot a 69 to pull into a tie with Hall for the runner-up position. Brian Keenan (-2) and Chad Ibbotson (-1) round out the top five.

Canada’s Chris Kelos needed an extra hole to claim the super senior crown over recent Florida Azalea champion Marcus Beck (Tallahassee, Fla.). Kelos parred the first playoff hole after both players finished 1-over par after 54 holes.

Kelos shot rounds of 70-72-75 while Beck shot 68-70-78. Finishing in third place just one shot out of the playoff was Steve Humphrey. John Armstrong (+4) finished in fourth place and Robert Parmar finished in fifth at 5-over par.

In the legends division, Phil Pavoni (Macon, Ga.) came from behind to win with a final round 3-under-par 69. His 1-over par total was good enough to edge out 36-hole leader Robert Cunningham who could only muster a 75 on the final day and ended up two shots behind the winner. Bill Zylstra's 3-under par 69 moved him into third place. Ken Eichele finished in fourth at 5-over par and David Crocker finished in fifth place at 6-over par.

The super legends division was decided by two shots. Brian Sachs shot a 69 to finish even par for the championship. Jim Pfrogner was runner-up at 2-over par.

The victory was Sach’s fifth Moot Thomas title. He's won 2 super senior titles, 1 legends title, and 2 super legends.

Two players had a hole-in-one on the last day – Joel Hirsch and Jim DeLeon. The diverse field consisted of players from 16 states and Canada.

Results: Moot Thomas

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Daniel Owen	Ocala, FL	500	69-76-67=212
T2	Chris Hall	Marietta, GA	300	75-66-72=213
T2	Douglas Jones	Brandon, FL	300	73-71-69=213
4	Brian Keenan	Tampa, FL	200	72-71-71=214
5	Chad Ibbotson	Sanford, FL	200	66-78-71=215

View full results for Moot Thomas

About the Moot Thomas

Daniel Owen among a quartet of winners at Moot Thomas Invitational

54 hole stroke play championship for men 55 years of age or older. Super Senior division must be 65 or older, Legends division must be 70 years or older, and Super Legends must be 75 years or older. The tournament honors Moot Thomas, an Ocala native ...