JUPITER, Fla. – Teams from Palm Beach County and from Indiana were the winners Wednesday in the sixth annual Nicklaus Invitational golf tournament at The Bear’s Club.
Mike Weeks and Scott Wilson, both from Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, won the Mid-Amateur division by three strokes, 281 to 284, over Roberto Duran Jr. of Panama and Dan Stone, a former mini-tour player from St. Petersburg.
In the Senior Division, Randy Nichols of Brockville, Ind., and Skip Runnels of Richmond, Ind., won by 10 shots at 202. They have been golfing teammates for more tan 30 years, Nichols said, and have now won five senior flight events in the last three years, including the International Four-Ball in January at nearby Old Trail Golf Club.
The mid-amateurs, ages 25-54, played two rounds of four-ball stroke play and the final round was the total of the two players. They made 14 team birdies the first two rounds for 66-69. In the finale, Weeks, the membership director at Bear Lakes, shot 71 and Wilson, a banker who is a member at Bear Lakes, had 75 for 146.
“It’s the first time we have played together as a team,” Weeks said. “I signed up to play with John Sanford but he’s a golf course architect, as you know, and he got called away to New York and then to Egypt.”
Both Weeks and Wilson frequently play in Palm Beach County Golf Association tournaments. Neither had played with other partners in the Nicklaus, which alternates between The Bear’s Club and Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
Making their second start in the Nicklaus, including an unspectacular performance last year at Muirfield, Nichols and Runnels combined for 18 birdies and four bogeys in three rounds of four-ball stroke play, scoring 67-67-68.
“I don’t know how many we’ve won but the last couple of years we have won senior division of the Canterbury Cup twice and the Olympia Fields Invitational once as well as the International and now the Nicklaus.” Generally, senior amateur play starts at 55 years.
Tournament director Steve Nicklaus announced Wednesday that the 2010 Nicklaus Invitational would be played on corresponding dates at Muirfield Village.
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The Nicklaus Invitational
The Bear’s Club, Jupiter, Fla.
Mid-Amateur (25-54), 6,850 yards, par 72
Mike Weeks-Scott Wilson 66-69-146—281
Roberto Duran Jr.-Dan Stone 69-66-149—284
Ken Kinkopf-Tim Richey 70-70-154—294
Steve Titus-Brad Scott 73-67-158—298
Carl Anderson-Cooper Johnson 67-72-159—298
(First two rounds, four-ball stroke play; final round, two-ball total)
Senior Division (55-older), 6,600 yards, par 72
Randy Nichols-Skip Runnels 67-67-68—202
Robert Gross-Warren Caves 76-69-67—212
Steve Beckett-Robert Hess 67-72-73—212
Dick Horne-Roberto Duran Sr. 73-70-70—213
Robert Roehrig-Peter Saputo 71-68-74—213
(Three rounds, four-ball stroke play)
