The father-son pairing of Robert and Ryan Rehman, from U. of Maryland GC, found their groove with three net birdies and one net eagle on the front and back nine, offset by just one bogey, to earn first place net in the men’s forward tee division of a One-Day four-ball tournament, sponsored and conducted by the Maryland State Golf Association at Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, June 10.
The Rehmans finished with net 31-32—63 (-9) and also tied for low gross in their division with 37-36—73 (+1), but teams can only win one prize. That left the pairing of Arman Brick-Jim Kyttle, from Beaver Creek CC, who also fired 38-35—73 (+1) to earn the prize for first place gross in the forward tee division. The round proved to be a true team effort for the Beaver Creek pairing, with Kyttle’s score counting on twelve holes and Brick contributing to the team score six times.
In the back tee division Michael Endzel, Talbot CC, and Randy Gailey, Northwest GC, played steadily with net scores of 32-32—64 to earn the low net prize. They played bogey-free on the front nine with four net birdies, and gave a shot back with a bogey on the difficult par-4 eleventh, but rebounded with three more net birdies and a net eagle at the 515 yard, par-5 fourteenth hole.
One of the first two teams on the golf course, Phillip Quartana of Turf Valley, and Dominic Lee, Worthington Manor GC, produced the low gross round in the men’s back tee division after firing 36-34—70 (-2). Quartana contributed all three of the team’s birdies at hole nos. 5, 14, and 16, while Lee made three key pars in a row at hole nos. 9-11 to keep their pace, after the team dropped its only shot of the day at the lengthy 430 yard, par-4 seventh hole.
The Committee for MSGA One-Day tournaments uses the USGA recommended method for breaking ties when a playoff is not feasible. This method uses a match of cards for scores from the back nine. If there is still a tie, it goes to the last six, last three, and finally the eighteenth hole.
In the forward division, Brick-Kyttle tied for first place gross with John McCloskey and Kevin Smith, U. of Maryland GC, with rounds of 1-over 73. Brick-Kyttle’s 35 on the back nine defeated McCloskey-Smith’s back nine score of 38, leaving McCloskey-Smith in second place gross. Third place net in the forward division was also decided by a tiebreaker with Chris Burns, Glen Dale GC, and Randy Grooman, Hampshire Greens GC, tying Dale Crammond-Joe Gavin, both MSGA eClub members, with rounds of net 67. Crammond-Gavin’s 34 on the back nine defeated Burns-Grooman’s back nine score of 35.
The back tee division had multiple tiebreakers as well. Kyle Gerard-Harry Rieckelman of Blue Mash GC, tied with Lee-Quartana for 2-under 70. Lee-Quartana’s back nine score of 34 defeated Gerard-Rickelman’s 35, which left Gerard and Rieckelman tied for second place net with James Muck, MSGA eClub, and Scott Squire of Northwest GC. Gerard-Rickelman’s 34-34—68 defeated Muck-Squire’s 33-35—68. That left the pairing of Bryan Abbamonte, Waverly Woods, and Pete Haber, Turf Valley, alone in second place gross with their 33-39—72. With the other teams that scored net 68 already earning prizes, Muck-Squire were left in third place net. Muck-Squire also finished in third place gross with 1-over 73, and as result the third place gross prize was awarded to Kevin May and Nicholas Childers with their 73.
The format for the 39 teams was four-ball stroke play, a format that is commonly referred to as “better-ball.” In four-ball stroke play two competitors play as partners, each playing his/her own ball. The lower score of the partners is the score for the hole. There is no penalty if one partner fails to complete play of a hole, but one player from the side must hole out on each hole. The course was played at 6,463 yards for the back-tee group and 5,972 for those playing from the forward tees.
The next One-Day tournament will be a Chapman/Pinehurst format hosted by Montgomery Country Club in Laytonsville on Monday, July 1.
Men’s – Back
1st Net – Michael Endzel-Randy Gailey
1st Gross – Dominic Lee-Phillip Quartana*
2nd Net – Kyle Gerard-Harry Rieckelman*
2nd Gross – Bryan Abbamonte-Pete Haber
3rd Net – James Muck-Scott Squire
3rd Gross – Nicholas Childers-Kevin May
Men’s – Forward
1st Net – Robert Rehman-Ryan Rehman
1st Gross – Arman Brick-Jim Kyttle*
2nd Net – Mark Parker-Hank Weiss
2nd Gross – John McCloskey-Kevin Smith
3rd Net – Dale Crammond-Joe Gavin*
3rd Gross – Al Behr-Ken Catucci
Back Tees (6463 Yards) 71.6, 131
Forward Tees (5972 Yards) 69.0, 127
*Won on scorecard playoff
