Galloway, NJ - The Golf Channel Amateur Tour held the 3rd annual Seaview Masters, May 19-20, at Seaview Resort and Spa’s Bay and Pines courses. The weekend featured some interesting weather conditions on Sunday as rain/wind played a surprising factor but thankfully the rain stopped after just a few holes. Players were able to get a sneak peak at what the LPGA has is store in 2 weeks for the Shoprite tournament which will be aired on Golf Channel.
All eleven flights were decided over the predetermined 36 holes as no playoffs were required to decide the flight champions. The course conditions were top notch and all 183 competitors in the sold out field were ready to compete in the second major in the Northeast region for the 2012 season of the Golf Channel Am Tour. The field competed for their share of over $13,000 in Golf Galaxy gift certificates, trophies, top three finishers in each flight (including ties) qualified for the 2012 National Championships at TPC Sawgrass in September and of course, the opportunity to be named 2012 Seaview Masters Champion and have their name on the Golf Channel ‘ticker’. In addition, the event raised $1,140 for the Troops First Foundation and the lucky recipient of the other $1,140 was Yifan Liu of Manalapan, NJ.
The Championship flight, tour veteran and Baltimore, MD member Scott Heffner secured his victory on day 1 witch an opening round of 76 on route to a 10 shot victory. His closest competitor was Christian Boshoff of Washington, DC with rounds of 86-80 and 1 stroke back, tour newcomer Craig Walker of Westminster, MD with totals of 80-87 for the two days.
Ted Hadyka of Hopatcong,
NJ had been close before including a local victory and a 3rd place
finish at Kingsmill but after his medalist round of 79 on day 1, he was
cautiously optimistic that he could capture his first major title in 2 years on
tour and sure enough his day 2 round of 84 left him 9 strokes clear of 2nd
place to capture Palmer honors. John Gallagher of Hanover, PA was the closest
runner up with rounds of 84-88 and in 3rd was New York, NY resident
Kevin Dudleston who carded rounds of 88-86.
Starting the day 2
strokes off the lead, the eventual Senior
Palmer flight winner Jeff True of Naples, FL was the one of only 2 players
in the flight to record a sub-80 round on Sunday with a round of 78 to
compliment his Saturday score of 80 to win by 3 over 2nd place
finisher Val Stype of Mattituck, NY who’s 80-81 was steady but just shy of
hoisting the coveted Seaview Masters trophy.
Rounding out the top three with low Sunday honors was Ralph Lombardi of
Neshanic Station, NJ who shot 89 on Saturday but proved he could go low with a
stellar 76 on day 2 in challenging wind/rainy conditions.
No stranger to major
pressure, Thomas Lawless of Yonkers, NY has compiled impressive numbers in his
2 years on Tour with a win and a top 5 in 2011 and already a 2nd and
T6th finish in 2012, he had to be among the favorites to capture Hogan flight honors and with rounds of
79-86, he didn’t disappoint. John Klein
managed to travel all the way from Lasalle, ON to capture 2nd place
with rounds of 84-86 just besting 3rd place winner Denis Appleyard
of Kingston, NY who fired rounds of 82-91.
The Senior Hogan flight was closely contested after Saturday’s round, 6
players were within 3 shots of the lead but consistent rounds of 86-87 lead Joe
Anastasi of Oxford, MA to his first ever victory on Tour. In 2nd just 1 stroke back was 2011
Seaview Masters defending Champ, Doug Dayne of Yorktown Heights, NY with
matching rounds of 87. Third place
honors went to the current Myrtle Beach major champion Christopher Denisar of
New Windsor, NY with rounds of 87-88.
The largest field of the
tournament was the Sarazen flight which
tee’d up 34 competitors. Local Seaview
Resort member Gina Swatowska emerged from 4 strokes back to win by 1 with
rounds of 83-86 over David DePaola of Mahopac, NY who’s game is showing a recent
resurgence after rounds of 79-91. Solo 3rd
place was Brad Andrus of Ellicott City, MD with consistent rounds of 91-90,
also earning the coveted spot at 2012 National Championships in Ponte Vedra, FL
at the TPC Stadium course.
The Senior
Sarazen flight appeared to be a 2 player dogfight on Sunday but they didn’t
count on Brian Jackson of Sound Beach, NY coming from 4 back to win by 1 after
rounds of 91-88 over T2 finishers Stewart Campbell of Dennisville, NJ and
Dwight Trafford of Brampton, ON who shot matching 87-93’s to co-host the 2nd
place position.
Second year member in the
Jones flight, Dale Fichter of
Laurel, MD decided 2012 was the year to start adding 2day majors to his playing
schedule and it’s a good thing he did as he walks away with the 1st
place award in just his 2nd major after scores of 94-93. In close 2nd was Kevin Perry of
Philadelphia, PA with scores of 93-96.
In his best finish ever at a major was stylish/tour favorite, Elias
Gonzalez of Hopewell Junction, NY who shot rounds of 96-94 to punch his ticket
to Nationals after a 3rd place finish.
The Senior Jones flight was all but over after 2nd year tour
player Gene Greystone of Boston, MA recorded his lowest round ever on Tour with
an opening 83 followed by a 93 to win in his first major in convincing
fashion. Local New Jersey tour member
Zoltan Stupar of nearby Wharton improved his day 2 score by 13 strokes in route
to a 2nd place finish and rounds of 100-87. Just 1 stroke removed and capturing 3rd
place is Staten Island, NY resident and current 2011 Turning Stone champion,
Dennis Yang.
The always interesting Snead flight proves that no lead is
ever safe as when Nathan Cohen of Crofton, MD finally hoisted the winner trophy
after rounds of 96-99. His acceptance
speech can still be viewed by loyal followers on internet sites around the
world. Capturing 2nd place
honors from Yardley, PA is George Wajda with rounds of 101-98 just edging out
Player Advisory Board member and crowd favorite Dave Signorino of Winfield, MD
with rounds of 95-105.
Thank you to everyone for competing. We hope you had a great time and look forward to seeing you ‘Out on Tour’ in 2012!
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