Congratulations to professional Zahkai Brown and amateur Gavin Lyons for their overall wins in last weekend’s 53rd annual Coca-Cola of Durango/Navajo Trail Open.
In talking to one of the amateurs who played with Brown in the Pro-Am, which he also won, Brown exhibited extraordinary determination and poise, which indeed spilled over to his four-stroke Open win.
For Lyons, it was a four-peat, which is an even greater accomplishment for the top amateur in a competitive and talented field.
For all of Brown and Lyons’ success, those pesky winds were no friends to the 200-plus golfers over the four-day event.
Now that the dust has settled from the NTO, it’s back to regular tournament play for our area courses, and I will have results of the Columbine Classic Duet, which will be contested Wednesday and Thursday at both Dalton Ranch and the Glacier Club, for you in next week’s column.
Hillcrest Golf Club will resume local play with the Yellow Ball Challenge on Saturday. The four-person team event allows 100-percent handicaps in a flighted, rotating yellow-ball score plus scramble format. The entry fee is $35 per person, and there is $500 in added prize purse. Tee times will begin at 9 a.m., and scoring will be net only.
Dalton Ranch Golf Club will host The Choker tournament on June 28. The field is limited to the first 100 players who sign up. The event will be preceded June 27 with the Calcutta, which will be held in the Pavilion area. For more information on this event, contact the DRGC pro shop at 247-8774.
A side note for area golfers: Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez will be busy the next two weeks with the Kiwanis Scramble on Saturday, followed by the Cortez Junior Classic on June 26 and the Conquistador Men’s Golf Association 2-Man Best Ball on June 28-29. For more information on all these events, give club pro Micah Rudosky a callat 565-9208.
I found it very interesting that the Women’s U.S. Open is following the recently played men’s U.S. Open on the same Pinehurst No. 2 course this week. I hope the ladies get a free drop in the fairways torn up after last week’s major. The grounds crew at Pinehurst must be miracle workers with divot replacements.
Hillcrest Golf Club
The Hillcrest Women’s Golf Association was able to get in a Tuesday Ladies Day event before the NTO on June 10, with a low-putts format:
18-Hole First Flight
1. Daphne D’Agostino, 29.
T2. Mary Kay Aigner, 32.
T2. Karen Spickard, 32.
Second Flight
1. Sue Pierce, 28.
2. Laurel Waters, 34.
T3. Vicki Flagler, Macky Headrick, Janet Monell, 35.
Third Flight
1. Charlotte Fischer, 32.
2. Marilyn Fiala, 37.
3. Linda Allenbaugh, 38.
9-Hole First Flight
1. Marni Roti, 15.
2. Lynn Andrew, 19.
Second Flight
T1. Marcia Baxter, Libby Heath, 18.
Dalton Ranch Golf Club
The Dalton Ranch Women’s Golf Association event June 11 was a two-person best ball:
1. Diane Curtis and Marlene Gebhardt, 61.
T2. Charlene Hammond and Nancy West, 62.
T2. Michelle James and Pam Pepper, 62.
Dave Bray has been covering the local golf scene for 33 years. He can be reached at dbray3751@gmail.com.
