The first event of the 2014 championship season didn't want to come to a close, as the duos of Cory Gladstone/Phil Walker and Mark Manwaring/Cass Traub battled into the early evening Tuesday to settle the 2014 SCGA Foursomes Championship, and in the end, a par putt from Walker on the fourth playoff hole at Hacienda Golf Club proved to be enough to give his team their first SCGA title.
"We worked really well as a team," said Walker. "We were really never down. We always found a way to pick each other up."
Concluding the 36 holes of regulation play at 2-over par 143, the two teams headed out to the par 5, 530-yard 17th hole to begin the playoff. After a par from both teams on the first hole, putters caught fire, with Gladstone making a 15-footer and Traub a 10-footer on the 18th hole (second playoff hole) to continue the battle. Back again on 18 for the fourth playoff hole, Gladstone hit his tee shot left into the trees, leaving his partner in a tough place about 150 yards out. Walker hit, in his words, "a chasey little 5-iron" to about 10 feet from the hole, a spectacular shot to put his team back in the driver's seat. It proved to be enough, as the team two-putted for par and a six-foot par miss by Traub would seal the deal for the champion duo of Gladstone and Walker.
It was a fitting finish for the championship, as the two playoff teams played some of the most consistent golf over the two-day event. On Monday, only three teams shot under par at Hacienda, with Gladstone/Walker, Manwaring/Traub and the team of Dave Aarons/Brennan Amirkhizi all carding 1-under par 70s. Hacienda would see just one round under par Tuesday, which came off the clubs of Peter Roberts and Joe Ryon, who would eventually finish in third place after carding the low round of the tournament, a 2-under par 69, in the second round of play.
It was a tough finish for Traub and Manwaring to conclude Round 2, as the duo clung to a three-stroke lead with three holes to play before bogeying 16 and 18 to wrap up regulation. A birdie for the eventual champions on 16 forced the playoff. The teams of Gladstone/Walker and Manwaring/Traub matched each other shot for shot throughout both regulation rounds of the tournament, finishing with identical scorecards of 70-73–143.
72 teams competed in this Foursomes (alternate shot) event. Gary Gallogly/Mark Harding and Aarons/Amirkhizi rounded out the top five with a tie for fourth, three strokes off the lead. It was a tough event for defending champions Brent Brockermeyer and Dick Engel, who finished T28 with rounds of 78 and 77.
