WICHITA, KS (May 2, 2017)--Jeff Bell and Elliot Soyez combined for an eleven-under par 61 in the four-ball final round to win the Kansas Mid-Amateur Team Championship at Reflection Ridge Golf Club.
Bell and Soyez entered the final round with a five shot lead over the 2015 champions Matt Lazzo and Charlie Stevens, and never gave them a chance. They started hot with four birdies in their first six holes and finished hotter, with four straight birdies to finish. Lazzo and Stevens finished solo second, nine shots back, with the team of Derek Harrison and Aaron Sheaks another shot back in third.
The Kansas Mid-Amateur Team Championship is a multi-format team event, with a shamble played on round one, followed by alternate shot (foursomes) and four-ball. The fact that Bell and Soyez were able to post the low round in each of those formats underscores the magnitude of their victory. After opening with a 65 in the shamble format (in which each player tees off, one tee shot is selected and the players both play the ball from that spot with the better score taken for the team score), Bell and Soyez managed a two-under 70 in the difficult alternate shot format, before closing with a 61 in the four-ball format. They finished at a whopping 20-under par.
Bell played collegiately at the University of Kansas and won the Kansas Mid-Amateur last year. Soyez played college golf at Wichita State University and Missouri Southern State University.
In the Senior Division, Gary Lucas and David Carson avenged their runner-up finish from 2016 by holding off three teams by two shots at 8-under 208. Michael Rack/Mark Steiner closed with a 65 to share second spot with Steve Newman/Tracy Chamberlin (67) and Doug Kaup and Gregory Goode (68).
In the Super Senior Division, Bill Quattlebaum and Ben York scored a four-shot win over the teams of Joe Rothwell/John Alefs and Richard Stuntz/Bob Bezek.