Harbour Pointe Men’s Golf Association 2-Man Scramble Golf Tournament Event
(10-09-2024)
On Wednesday October 9th, the MGA golfers had their 15th Golf Event of the 2024 golf season, the 2-Man Scramble GOLF Tournament Event. The 2-Man Scramble was a computer selected team format. Both team members hit their tee shots and then the team selected the best tee shot location to play their next shot and so on until the ball was in the hole. Each 2-man team was given a handicap which was subtracted from their gross score. The best team score was the winner! We also had “closest-to-the-pin” winners on all the Par 3 holes.
Congratulations to the following 1st place winners.
1st Place: Tim Welch, Brian Harrington (Photo)
Tied 2nd Place: Frank Aiuto, Bob Reivik
Tied 2nd Place: Dave Ross, Keith Swan
4th Place: Mark Carmichael, Ken Plantin
5th Place: Dave Seyerle, Wayne Bedenbaugh
Congratulations to all the “Closest-to-the-PIN” winners:
Double Congrats to Tim Welch & Fank Aiuto for being DOUBLE WINNERS!!!
Harbour Pointe Men’s Golf Association 2-Man Modified Alternate Golf Tournament Event
(10-23-2024)
On Wednesday October 23rd, the MGA golfers had their 16th Golf Event of the 2024 golf season, the 2-Man Modified Alternate Shot Golf Tournament Event. This was the final event of the 2024 MGA season.The 2-Man Modified Alternate Shot was a “pick your own partner” team format. In this alternate shot format both team members hit their own tee shots and then they hit each other’s tee shot for the second shot. The team selects the best second shot from that point and then shares the ball taking shots alternately until the ball is in the hole. Each 2-man team was given a handicap which was subtracted from their gross score. The best team score is the winner! We also had “closest-to-the-pin” winners on all the Par 3 holes.
Congratulations to the following 1st place winners.
1st Place: Tim Welch, Ed Edmundson (Photo)
2nd Place: Brian Harrington, Keith Swan
Tied 3rd Place: Dave Seyerle, Wayne Bedenbaugh
Tied 3rd Place: Mark Carmichael, Bob Reivik
Special Congratulations to Tim Welch for being a DOUBLE WINNER in October!!!
I also wanted to point out that Tim and Ed played a phenomenal round of alternate shot golf and were a full 11 strokes ahead of the second-place team with a net score of “58”!! WOW!!
Congratulations to all the “Closest-to-the-PIN” winners:
Double Congrats to Ed Edmundson for being a DOUBLE CTP WINNER!!!
2024-HARBOUR CUP/STATracker Weekly Report
Sunday, October 6, 2024
***HARRINGTON WINS BCO***
~CONVINCING WIN BY ROOKIE ~CARMICHAEL REACHES 1000 ~PLAYOFFS JUST AHEAD
Week-32 of the 2024 STATracker season completed all 3 of its scheduled rounds.
The annual, month-long final major of the season, the Broad Creek OPEN, concluded this past Monday.
The winner, BRIAN HARRINGTON, made history by becoming the first STATracker rookie, to ever capture a major title. Harrington first burst onto the local golf scene when he was chosen to be part of the team that represented the Harbour Pointe Golf Club, in the local city-wide championship known as the New Bern Cup. After being part of the victorious endeavor back in April, Harrington naturally transitioned into play in the STATracker field at the HPGC… and he has made his mark. His 5-stroke victory in the BCO was the second largest margin of victory in STATracker majors, eclipsed only by MARK NOLAN’s 7-stroke victory in last years Masters. Harrington took that 5-stroke lead into Monday’s final round and while he could not improve on his -11 four round score, neither could chasers JOE PILLOW and MARK CARMICHAEL, who were 5 back at -6 entering that final round. And so it certainly appears that Harrington will become only the 7th rookie to make the ST playoffs in November. He currently is ranked as the #10 player in the Combined standings with an even 500 points on the season in just 42 starts. Joe Pillow took 2nd place in the major after beating Carmichael on a low round tie-breaker with Carmichael finishing 3rd. Both Pillow and Carmichael are no strangers to major titles with Pillow having won the inaugural ST Playoffs back in 2021 and Carmichael with 3 majors… the BCO twice and the MGA. Speaking of Carmichael, the 3-time major winner moved past 1000 points this season for the 4th year in row… a feat no one else has been able to do. The moment came during Monday’s Bald Eagles round, when Carmichael scored a sandy. He actually had the trifecta on Monday and finished with a total of 29 points. Carmichael continued to make hay last week as he scored the rare Bunker HoleOut (BHO) from the right greenside bunker on #13, about 30 yards to the blue flag. It just so happened that not only did he holeout from the bunker, but it was also for a birdie and the subsequent sandy for a single shot that was worth 33 points! Carmichael finished Wednesday’s round with 40 points and 69 points for his historic week (29-40-x).
Both WAYNE BEDENBAUGH and the aforementioned Brian Harrington, had double-sandy rounds in week-32. Also by week’s end, DAVE FAHRMEIER got his 70th birdie of the season while STAN KOONCE got his 75th of the season. In an interesting “luck-of-the-draw,” TIM WELCH and Stan Koonce ended up on the same team in Friday’s Bald Eagles team event. Along with teammates Joe Pillow and BOB MARTIN, they won the game on Friday. So Welch, Koonce and Pillow all moved up another notch simultaneously, in the Winners Circle competition. Welch continues to lead there with Koonce just 2 points back and Pillow 4 points behind the lead with just 11 scheduled rounds left to the season. Of the 11 rounds left to go, only 2 rounds are individual rounds. So here’s an interesting situation… the record for the most individual wins (I-wins) in a season is 5… held by 2-time major winner BRUCE HICE (2021), Mark Carmichael also in 2021, TOM CARUSO in 2022 and then last year, Stan Koonce and BOB REIVIK each got to 5 I-wins for the season. But no one has yet to get to 6. Koonce currently has 4 I-wins for 2024 and he has 2 more chances to break that barrier before season’s end.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
***WELCH WINS ANOTHER***
~KOONCE MOVES PAST 1600 ~ROSS RETURNS ~FAHRMEIER MOVES CLOSER TO TITLE
Week-33 of the 2024 STATracker season completed all 3 of its scheduled rounds.
We are cooking down to the conclusion of the 2024 STATracker season and with it, certain things are beginning to boil. For instance… last week saw many milestones achieved by the players in the field as well as the wranglings in some of the top sidebar races. In the Winners Circle competition, league leader TIM (Timbo) WELCH grabbed another team win (T-win) when he and BRIAN HARRINGTON were paired up in this past week’s MGA 2-Man Scramble tourney on Wednesday, as they carved out a 2-stroke victory. At the time, Welch stretched his lead in the WC competition to 3 points. But then, just 48 hours later, STAN KOONCE, who has been shadowing Welch in the WC contest, lead his team to a victory in the Bald Eagles event on Friday. Along with teammates WAYNE BEDENBAUGH and KEITH SWAN, they put together an overwhelming round of 15 under for a 9-stroke team win. Koonce once again crept to within 2 points of Welch keeping this championship race, very entertaining. In the case of Koonce, clearly the Comet has been in a slump the last 2 weeks of play, however, after Friday’s performance in the team win along with a holeout and a sandy for 28 total points for the round, Koonce seems like he’s back to solid golf. In fact, with those 28 points on Friday, Koonce moved past the 1600 points mark for the season… just amazing! He currently sits in first place in the Combined standings with 1609 points after 87 rounds for a PPR (points per round) average of 18.49. With just 8 scheduled rounds to go in the season, Koonce is hoping to go even higher still.
In that race for the Harbour Cup title in the Combined standings, it certainly is apparent that Koonce has pretty much wrapped up his 2nd consecutive Harbour Cup as he leads the #2 ranked player DAVE FAHRMEIER by 380 points. Now speaking about wrapping things up, it seems like Fahrmeier may have a leg up on doing exactly that over in the Tournaments standings. In the aforementioned MGA 2-man Scamble tourney this past Wednesday, a tournament where getting STATracker points would be very stingy, Fahrmeier was able to score a birdie and extend his lead over Stan Koonce in those standings, to 8. There is only one remaining MGA tourney left in the 2024 season, scheduled for October 23rd. That round will also be a stingy round for acquiring ST points. For Koonce to catch Fahrmeier at this point, in that tourney Koonce would need to finish first or second and snare 3 of the 5 CTPs that day… OR… maybe just get a hole-in-one. So we’ll all be watching to see if last season’s rookie-of-the-year, Dave Fahrmeier, can become Tournaments Champion for the first time in his young ST career.
Elsewhere… the week began as a bunch of players moved past personal milestones, after Monday’s Bald Eagles round. Former ST-Playoffs champ JOE PILLOW went over the 800 points mark for the season. That represents his best season ever. The aforementioned Dave Fahrmeier moved past the 1200 points mark. Three time major champion MARK CARMICHAEL went over 1100 points in the season for the 3rd time in his career. Last season’s Match-Play champ JOHNNY HARRELL moved past 600 points here in his 2nd season of ST play… and… finally, TOM CARUSO achieved his personal best when he landed right on the 500 points mark, on Monday.
In other pertinent ST news… former MGA champ PAUL CORMIER advanced to the semi-finals in the HPGC Match-Play after his 2&1 victory over HPGC-LGA standout KRIS ENGELHAUPT. He now awaits the outcome of the match between Tony Aiuto and Tom Caruso. DAVE LANGE had a double holeout round on Friday, moving him up into a comfortable position to gain a playoff spot, settling in currently in at the #14 spot. The top 16 in the Combined standings are playoff spots and 4 Wildcards from the Tournament standings.
Finally… a big Welcome Back to DAVID ROSS!! Ross returned to STATracker play this past Wednesday, after missing all of the 2023 season, and pretty much all of 2024. The 2022 STATracker Playoffs champ made his presence known right away after scoring an eagle on the tough par-5 #2 hole. After getting on in two, he sank his 12 foot putt.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
***PILLOW, REIVIK WIN TWICE***
~PILLOW TAKES BIRDIE LEAD ~HARRELL MOVES UP ~CARUSO GETS INTO FINAL FOUR
Week-34 of the 2024 STATracker season completed all 3 of its scheduled rounds.
So here we are… 5 scheduled rounds left in the 2024 season with the last full week of play coming up. This last full week of play will include the final MGA tourney of the season. The season will conclude the following week with rounds on Monday and Wednesday only. We’ll get to all that shortly…but for now…
JOE PILLOW lead the way this past week snaring two team wins (T-wins) and leading all scorers for the week with 37 total points (15-9-13). Along the way, Pillow scored his 79th and 80th birdies of the season to move to the front of that line leading to the Birdie Championship. The big guy from Texas is enjoying the best season of his STATracker career. Pillow was the inaugural ST-Playoffs champ back in 2021. His 2024 season point total reached 853 this past week… a career high. Pillow is currently ranked #4 and it certainly looks like he’ll be in the featured group come the November 6th playoff round. With the two team wins he got this past week, he also has now moved to within 3 points of Winners Circle leader TIM WELCH with just those 5 rounds left to the season. Welch had a quiet week. In those two team wins, Pillow was teamed up with 3-time major winner BOB REIVIK, on both occasions. Reivik, also enjoying HIS best season ever, reached 688 points for the season. His 31 points for the week (13-0-18) comes after battling a slump in September that prevented him from robustly defending his BCO title. Regardless, Reivik is currently ranked #5 keeping a wary eye on the surging JOHNNY HARRELL. On Monday, Reivik and Pillow were teamed up with former Masters Champ JIM FURMAN and former Winners Circle champ KEITH SWAN. On Friday, they were joined by 3-time major winner MARK CARMICHAEL and MGA Prez DAVE LANGE for that Bald Eagles team win.
In Wednesday’s MGA individual playdate round, it was Johnny Harrell notching his 4th I-win of the season with a 4-stroke victory. He now joins STAN KOONCE as the only 2 players to get to 4 I-wins this season. As it stands now, with just one more individual playdate left in the season, there will be no new record for I-wins this season. Koonce and Harrell have a chance to tie the record on the last day of the season, Oct.30th.
Koonce achieved 5 I-wins in a season last year along with Bob Reivik. Harrell has one more shot to get into that club along with Koonce and Reivik and BRUCE HICE and TOM CARUSO who’ve done it in years past.
Speaking of Johnny Harrell, the native North Carolinian scored a total of 35 points last week (x-23-12) in his two outings and moved up into the #6 spot in the Combined standings. He has been on a steady scoring regimen for this fall season as all the players gear up for the upcoming playoffs. His 10.58 PPR (points per round) average has pretty much defined his season this year. Remember, as a rookie last year, Harrell ended up in a tie for second place in the ST-Playoffs. He’s going to have to be dealt with and he seems to be coming back to his earlier form as of late. So good timing there as his game is on the upswing.
Elsewhere… in the HPGC Match-Play proceedings, the Brooklyn Cyclone, Tom Caruso defeated TONY AIUTO just this morning, 4&3, to reach the Final Four. For Caruso, it was his 5th consecutive win in the brackets in the B-pool. He now will have to face former MGA champ and 2022 Match-Play champion, PAUL CORMIER. Their match has been scheduled for this Thursday at 8:00AM. The winner of that match will move on to play rookie sensation BRIAN HARRINGTON. Still waiting in the wings is A-pool winner, DON SCHUTTS.
The final MGA tourney of the STATracker season will be played this coming Wednesday. It is a 2-Man team game featuring the “Double-Alternate” shot format. Both players tee off then hit their partner’s ball for the 2nd shot. After that, they pick the best ball and alternate from there until the completion of the hole.
Sunday, October 27, 2024
***FAHRMEIER WINS TOUR TITLE***
~KOONCE CLINCHES 2nd HARBOUR CUP ~CORMIER MOVES TO SEMI-FINALS
Week-35 of the 2024 STATracker season completed all 3 of its scheduled rounds.
It is down to ONE!!!... With no Bald Eagles round on Monday, the 2024 STATracker season has arrived at its final week and… its final round.
At the close of business this past Wednesday, after the final MGA tourney of the season, the team event was won by none other than TIM WELCH and his partner-in-crime on this one, ED (The Freight Train) EDMUNDSON, as they overwhelmed the field in the 2-Man Alternate Shot format. In fact, Edmundson snared 2 of the 5 CTPs in that round. Once again, Welch was able to create some breathing room for his lead in the Winners Circle competition, a lead he has held since the very first week of the season back in March. But that breathing room was whisped away by Friday when STAN KOONCE helped his team to a one stroke victory in the Bald Eagles team event. Koonce is just 2 points behind Welch. Now, get this… the only remaining round left to win is the aforementioned MGA individual playdate round this Wednesday, October 30th. Should he win that and Welch doesn’t, Koonce would win the Winners Circle championship by virtue of having more I-wins than Welch. So an exciting dramatic day awaits in the last round. Koonce has unofficially won his 2nd consecutive Harbour Cup as he goes into the final round with a 399 point lead over #2 ranked DAVE FAHRMEIER.
Actually, speaking of Fahrmeier, last season’s Rookie-of-the-Year really ramped things up this season by not only becoming only the 2nd player ever to surpass 1200 points in a season, but at the conclusion of the MGA’s last tourney this past Wednesday, Fahrmeier held on to his 8 point lead in the Tournaments standings to capture the Tournaments Champion title. In the playoffs last year, Fahrmeier was in the 2nd to last foursome. Come these playoffs on Nov. 6th Fahrmeier will be in the final featured foursome.
Other winners last week included, on Monday, JOE PILLOW, who hit the Winners Circle for the 50th time in his career, KEN PLANTIN, C.A. SMITH and GUS VILLANOVA. On Friday, joining Stan Koonce was BRIAN HARRINGTON and career grand-slammer BOB REIVIK. In that winning round on Friday, rookie sensation Brian Harrington also scored the trifecta getting 2 birds, a holeout and a sandy.
And speaking of Brian Harrington… he now awaits his semi-final match against PAUL CORMIER in the HPGC Match Play championship. Harrington draws the feisty Cormier after Cormier took his tight match against TOM CARUSO (2&1) this past Thursday. Caruso at one point had gone 2 up as Cormier got off to an uncharacteristic rocky start. But by the turn, Cormier had recovered and made three clutch 6 to 8 foot putts to square things up. Cormier then opened up a 3 hole lead. Caruso had to scramble to keep pace. Caruso managed to cut the lead to 2 at the 16th. Caruso teed off first at 17 putting his shot just 12 feet from the back pin while Cormier left his tee shot on the front of the green. Facing a treacherous uphill then downhill putt, Cormier pulled off a brilliant 25 foot putt leaving himself a 4 inch putt for par. Meanwhile, Caruso needed to make his birdie putt to force the game to go to the 18th but missed it on the high side.
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