A Grand Time at Greenbrier...

White Sulphur Springs, WV-18 players on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Tours of the Golf Channel Am Tour went to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to test their skills against other amateurs and the PGA Tour.  The Old White TPC and Greenbrier Courses at the Greenbrier Resort hosted the Greenbrier Open Major the weekend of August 13-14th.  It was just 2 weeks after the PGA Tour came to town for the Greenbrier Classic, and the course showed no wear.  Players were anxious to see how they compared versus the Tour. 

In the Hogan Flight, Jeff Mast and Michael Yates competed and it was Jeff Mast who was consistent in his 2 rounds shooting a pair of 78's (156) from the blue tees and winning the Greenbrier Open in his flight!  Jeff had previously qualified for nationals with a 3rd place finish at the Swan Lake Major in the Sarazen flight, but now further validated his move to the Hogan flight with this win.  Michael Yates shot rounds of 85-88 (173) to finish in a tie for 12th. 

In the Sarazen Flight, Christopher Casto and Matt Blum were competing and although both had bad rounds on one of the 2 days of the tournament they still had lots of fun.  Casto shot rounds of 103-90 (193) for an 18th place finish and Blum shot 93-107 (200) for a 22nd place finish. 

In the Jones Flight, Jerry O'Brien competed and was tied for the lead after day 1 with a 91.  He couldn't hold on to the lead as he played the more difficult Greenbrier Course and shot a 2nd day 100 (191) which was still good for 5th place. 

In the Snead Flight, K Steven Wiley and Ben McDonald competed.  Both fared well on the courses and Wiley shot rounds of 106-94 (200) which was good enough for 3rd place earning him an automatic qualifying spot in the 2011 National Championship.  McDonald wasn't far behind as he shot rounds of 107-108 (215) as he finished in 9th place.

In the Senior Hogan Flight, James Huber shot consistent rounds of 89-88 (177) to finish in a tie for 8th place.

In the Senior Sarazen Flight, Keith Miller, Nora Faller, and Dallas Kelley all competed.  Miller and Faller had good showings as they finished 5th and 6th place respectively.  Miller shot rounds of 85-94 (179) and Faller was 1-stroke behind at 91-89 (180).  Dallas Kelley withdrew after a 1st round 94.    

In the Senior Jones Flight, Russ Hittle had a stellar weekend as he shot rounds of 89-93 (182) to take 2nd place.  He earns a 2011 Senior National Championship automatic qualifier spot for his play.  Peter Gitnik had solid rounds of 92-97 (189) to finish 6th.  Johnny Owens was 4 strokes back of Gitnik as he shot rounds of 96-97 (193) for a tie for 8th place.  And Jon Neff was 12th with scores of 102-97 (199). 

And in the Senior Snead Flight, Ronald Shoemaker earned a 3rd place finish shooting rounds of 96-107 (203) and earning his 2nd automatic qualifying spot of the year to the 2011 Senior National Championship after finishing in the top-3 of the Swan Lake Major.  Michael Scuro finished with rounds of 100-106 (206) to finish in 5th place.  And Charles Burger rounded out the competition with scores of 113-94 (207) to finish in a tie for 6th place.

A great time was had by all Cleveland and Pittsburgh Tour players at this great facility.  We look forward to finishing the season in the next couple of weeks and wish all those who qualify for the 2011 National Championships good luck as they travel to La Quinta, California in September.