Al Fuego Invitational

August 1, 2009

Quail Valley Golf Course (Banks, OR)

Format:  two-man best ball with modified Stableford scoring

Banks, OR -- In one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the Tailgate State Tour, Larry McKenna and Brian Dapp thoroughly routed the field and ran away with an easy victory at the 2009 Al Fuego Invitational.

Dapp was playing in his first ever TGS event but the Crescent Valley High School alum showed no sign of nerves and made a net eagle on the first hole at Quail Valley.  McKenna eagled the second hole and their team had ten points on the board before any other team had scored more than two.  Two-time defending champions Jeff Albright and Bryan Norris eagled the third and fifth holes respectively to briefly move into first place but were tied by Dapp and McKenna at the sixth hole and would never regain the lead.  Dapp eagled the seventh hole, made a net score of one stroke (double eagle) on the par-4 ninth and the tournament was effectively over after nine holes.  They made the turn with 27 points and Albright and Norris were their nearest pursuers at 19. 

The pairing of Jason and Tal Wold fought gamely and got to the tenth tee with 14 points as Tal shot a net score of 30 on the front nine.  In fact, ten of the eighteen players had a (net) score of par or better on the first half of the golf course.

The Al Fuego Invitational is known for it's Stableford scoring system and the benefits were never more evident than on this day.  McKenna tied for the third best 18-hole net score of the day with a 69 but Dapp's net score of 79 (fifteenth best in the field of eighteen players) left many wondering how they managed the victory.  Here's how:  Dapp made bogey or worse on ten of the eighteen holes while McKenna's score on those holes was a cumulative seven strokes under par.  On the four holes that McKenna was over par, Dapp came in at three strokes below.  Their victory was truly a team effort. 

If the total scores of each team were used, McKenna and Dapp (148 total) would have finished fifth among nine teams as the Wold cousins (Jason and Tal) and the team of Rich Wold and Lance Meyerink each shot a combined 139.  Tal had the low net score of the day with a 66 and shot his career best gross score of 92.  Jeff Albright had the low gross score in the field with a 77.  However, this was a team game and no one took advantage of that better than the champions.

Had you removed Dapp and McKenna from the competition, it was a fairly tight race to the finish for the remaining eight teams.  Albright and Norris made bogey on both the tenth and eleventh holes but made birdie on five others to finish in second place.  An eagle by Rich Wold at the 17th hole propelled his team into third place.  Tim Tyvand and Jim Rader could muster only two points on the final six holes and finished a disappointing fourth among reports of team dissension.  Jason and Tal Wold were the only duo in the field without an eagle but eleven birdies against one bogey provided a fifth place finish.  

The father-and-son pairing of Bob and Tim Albright managed to tie for sixth with the team comprised of Steve Teubner and Randy Tennant.  Teubner was not listed in the official field but his arrival at the course with a partner boosted the total number of players to 18, thereby qualifying the Al Fuego Invitational as a "major" tournament.  His presence was therefore appreciated by all participants.

Low-handicappers Tommy Berry and Brett Hamel made the most bogeys of any team in the tournament (three) but managed to avoid last place with Berry's eagles on the 14th and 17th holes.  Alan Danner and tour virgin Blu Matsell stood in sixth place after the front nine but scoring only two points on the back side of the course left them in last place.

McKenna's victory inched him closer to tour leader Jeff Albright in the Tailgate State Cup points race with only two regular-season events left to play.  Few others were able to improve their standing which means victories in either of the remaining events are crucial for those wishing to hoist the trophy in 2009.