MESQUITE, NV (Dec. 16, 2010) -- Greg Bruckner of Phoenix collected a final round score of 67 for a two-round total of 131 to take a one-stroke victory here Tuesday in the Nevada Senior Open golf tournament that concluded at the CasaBlanca Golf Course.
A professional golfer since 1986, the 51 year-old resident lived his dream collecting $2,250 for the victory. He had seven birdies along with one bogey en route to the victory over the 6,628 yard Par 72 layout designed by Cal Olsen.
“I played well,” said Bruckner, who had an opening-round score of 64. “I actually won the Nevada Open about six years ago, so it was nice to get a repeat here in Mesquite.
“I had no bogeys on Monday and had two of them Tuesday. But I made up for the bogeys today with my birdies.”
Bruckner said he loved playing the CasaBlanca adding that the Palms presents its own set of challenges.
“The Palms can very hard and tricky,” Bruckner said.
Bruckner ran into a considerable challenge Monday when his putter suddenly broke before the round. However, quick help from a local golf shop repaired the putter and paved the way to the victory worth $2,250.
“I walked into the pro shop and asked the lady there is she knew of anyone who could fix my putter for me,” Bruckner laughed. “She took me to her husband who fixed it in his garage.”
Finishing second with a 69-63--132 was Michael Miles of Huntington Beach, Calif., while Jim Empey of Boise, Idaho and Ron Vlosich of Lakewood, Colo. tied for third with 136s. Empey and Vlosich had identical 70-76 rounds.
Defending champion Gerry James of Ponte Vedra, Fla. ended up tied for ninth with a score of 71-73-144.
Retired Phoenix real estate developer John Olive captured the Amateur Division of the tournament firing a 75-71 – 146.
“I managed, but didn’t play that well,” said the soft-spoken Olive, 65. “I kept it together and was very surprised to see how well I finished. I made a lot of hard pars.”
Olive said he loved the courses in the Nevada Senior Open.
“What’s so nice about golf is that you get to play the sport with some really nice people,” Olive said, “and the courses here are beautiful.”
Nevada Open Tournament Director Tim Webster lauded the event.
“The Nevada Senior Open tournament went very well,” said Webster, who has been with Black Gaming for ten years. “This was a very close tournament until the very end, and Brucker rallied to win late in the event. There was real drama in this one, that’s for sure.”
