Al Fuego Invitational

June 1, 2013

Quail Valley Golf Course (Banks, OR)

Format:  two-man best ball with modified Stableford scoring

Scott Hall scored the most points on the day (42) to claim the 2013 Al Fuego Invitational as a last minute entry and without a partner.  As the 27th player in the field, his entry (and the addition of new tour members Kevin Govro and Kevin Palmer) meant the tournament just barely had enough tour participants to be declared a "major".  Prior to his first shot being struck, it was decided that Hall would use his fellow competitor's points as his own and drew Jeff Albright on the front nine, Bryan Norris on the back nine.

After the first nine holes were played, Andy Rader and Govro held the lead with 41 points thanks to five net birdies by Kevin.  Dave Charbonneau and Tim Tyvand were two points behind after making two birdies each and an eagle by Charbonneau on the eighth hole.  Brett Hamel and Kevin Nufer held down third place with 38 points, Hamel making his own eagle on the difficult ninth hole. 

Scores were noticeably worse on the final nine holes for most teams but Mark Uyeda and Ryan Young found 41 points on the backside to slide into third place. 

In all, six eagles were made on the front side compared to only three (Bob Raser and Andy Clark on the 17th hole, Kevin Palmer on 13) on the back nine.

Hall was the story of the day, running off three birdies in a row on holes 10-12 and again on holes 16-18.  Luck was on his side in being paired with Albright and Norris, however, as he needed all of their 34 contributed points to hang on for the one point victory.

His prize was a Tour Trek pull cart for first prize.  Andy Rader played "Let's Make A Deal" and traded in his second place prize (Amazon gift card and bottle of liquor, plus cash) for the remaining cart. 

Matt Bonniksen nearly made the first ace in TGS Tour history on the 16th hole and won a bottle of Adam Carolla's Mangria, which was promptly opened that night and surely regretted on Sunday morning.

Thanks to all of the participants.

Highest individual point totals:

• 42: Scott Hall
• 38: Andy Rader, Dave Charbonneau, Andy Clark
• 37: Mark Uyeda, Kevin Govro
• 36: Jeff Albright, Bryan Norris

Most points, front nine:

• 22: Andy Rader
• 21: Andy Clark
• 20: Tim Tyvand, Brett Hamel, Seth Harris
• 19: Dave Charbonneau, Bob Dickson, Kevin Govro

Most points, back nine:

• 24: Scott Hall
• 21: Mark Uyeda
• 20: Jeff Albright, Ryan Young, Rich Wold
• 19: Tal Wold, Dave Charbonneau, Bob Raser, Matt Bonniksen

Most birdies or better:

• 8: Andy Clark, Mark Uyeda, Scott Hall
• 7: Dave Charbonneau
• 6: Jeff Albright, Andy Rader
• 5: Bob Raser, Matt Bonniksen, Ryan Young, Tommy Berry, Kevin Govro

On-course injuries (known):

• 1: Seth Harris (eye herpes)