GARDINER & RASKU CLAIM 2014 WORLD AM CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Mark Gardiner- Gross Tourney Champion

I have no clue about what it is like to walk to the tee box with three holes to go holding a three-shot lead in a huge golf tournament. But Mark Gardiner does, and that was the situation in the Gross Flight during the championship round of the World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach, held August 25 – 29 on the Dye Course at Barefoot Resort & Golf. More on that in a few…

For initiates, a gross score is what you actually shoot on the course, uninfluenced by any handicap you may have, and 75 of the 76 flights were handicapped flights (influenced by handicaps submitted by participants), and one flight (Gross) was not. Players in the Gross Flight had a tourney all their own at the World Am this year.

The top three finishers in the Gross Flight made the cut to play on Championship Friday: Lyon Lazare, the Flight Winner, Mark Gardiner (2^nd) and Dennis Monahan (3^rd). Playing in the handicap flights actually hurt two outstanding golfers during the event.

Chris Reina

Reviewing the flight results, it turns out that both Shawn Eric King of Ferguson, Kentucky and Chris Reina a Baylor Bear of Montgomery, Texas (a promising PGA Tour aspirant) shot lower gross scores than Lazare. I don’t know what handicap index King submitted, but his gross scores were adjusted upward two strokes each day. He had a stellar opening round of 67 which became a 69, and his upward adjustments each day meant that his 290 gross resulted in a 298 net, one stroke behind the Flight Winner Matt Corbitt’s 297 net. Oh by the way, Matt’s gross was 305. Ouch!

Reina, whose submitted handicap was +2.8 and whose gross score was 291, had his gross scores adjusted up three strokes on three of the rounds (twice a 74 became a 77) and by four strokes on another (72 gross, 76 net). Had King and Reina played in the Gross Flight, both would have qualified to play on the final day with Lyon Lazare (who would have finished third in the flight with his 294 gross score.

Dennis Monahan

If everyone had shot exactly what they shot during the first four days of flight play, Mark Gardiner and Dennis Monahan, who advanced to the final day of play by virtue of finishing second (301 gross) and third (302 gross), respectively, in the Gross Flight, would have missed Championship Friday. Ah, but there are quite a few “ifs” in life eh?

As it turned out, Steph and I caught up with Lazare, Gardiner and Monahan as they were coming down the stretch on that final day of competition. It had been a close battle most of the day, and despite four birdies on the front (three in a row- 4, 5, 6), Gardiner’s 35 trailed Lazare by one shot after the front nine. Lazare had a very clean front side, bouncing back from a bogey on No.6 to finish the front side with three consecutive birdies.  Monahan’s front-side 38 kept him within reach of the leaders, but just barely.

The competitors were hardly into the back nine before Lazare’s one-shot lead morphed into a three-shot deficit. Lazare’s double bogey on No.11 and his bogey on No.12, combined with Gardiner’s par, birdie scores on the same two holes generated the four-shot swing that pretty much cemented the outcome. It was Lazare’s only stumble coming in, but it was enough. Monahan birdied No.11, briefly reviving hope, but bogeys on holes 13 -15 crushed his chances.

In any event, it was only the illusion of hope because Gardiner’s back-side scorecard was flawless after eight holes, posting six pars and two birdies. Lazare birdied 16, but so did Gardiner, tenaciously holding his three shot lead. Lazare would need a “Van de Velde” from Gardiner in order hold the trophy.

He didn’t get it. Like Jean Van de Velde at the 1999 British Open, Gardiner came to the 18^th hole of the day, a par-4 playing 415 yards, with a three-stroke lead. I stood on a hill overlooking the players as they waited for the green to clear before hitting their second shots. To my surprise, Gardiner pulled what appeared to be a hybrid club and laid up. For a moment, I was confused. Then it occurred to me, that with a three-shot lead, Mark was probably playing it safe, like a par-5.

Mark Chipping on 18

Gardiner knew exactly where he stood, and played the hole accordingly. After the event I asked Mark if that was the case. His response was, “Yup. With all the water down the left and the pin only fifteen feet from water, I didn't want to lose it, and playing it like a par 5 meant he couldn't tie me without holing out for a two.  As it turned out, even my little hiccup of a missed three footer didn't hurt me.” I know all about missed three-footers, just not three-footers that could win a tournament after five days of play.

The bottom line was that even with a double bogey on the 90^th and final hole of the event, Mark Gardiner shot a 71, the best round shot on the day, and had claimed the first Championship of the Gross Division of the World Am. Lazare’s birdie, par, par-finish was enough for an even-par 72 and second place. Monahan finished with 77.

Mark Gardiner at 2014 US Senior Open

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as sweet as teeing it up in the US Senior Open, but I know that Mark Gardiner considered it time well spent. I asked him to compare playing the US Senior Open to the World Am and he responded, “The World Am for me certainly had a bit of pressure, but it pales in comparison to the US Senior Open.  By far, the most pressure, not necessarily nervous, in terms of tournaments conditions for me.”

As far as the Open went, he continued, “I really felt great playing inside the ropes at the Open and have always enjoyed playing in front of a gallery...The World Am had some competition, but it was such a relaxed atmosphere all week......lots of fun.” Like Mark, who enjoys the opportunity to hang out with “a bunch of military buddies,” at the World Am, I plan to give it another go next year. It’s as close to a US Senior Open as I’m likely to get…at least as a player.

Dennis Rasku- Handicap tourney winner

As for the championship round of the handicap tournament, I wish we had been there to follow that competition because it ended in a playoff, with Dennis Rasku (a 9-handicapper) of Pompano Beach, Florida winning a three-way sudden death playoff over Tony Wallace, a 5-handicap from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Ben Hamby, a 7-handicap from Winter Springs, Florida.

Ben Hamby (yellow) finishing up

Things were looking really good for Hamby, sitting at -4 after his first 12 holes (he started on the back side). However, he had an unfortunate stretch of five holes (4-8) where he was five over par, and it was only a valiant birdie on his final hole that got him into the playoff at even par.

Both on the way out and on the way in, Rasku balanced his mistakes with bounce-backs to post even par on both sides. Yet, with five holes to go, he was plus-2 and trailing Hamby by five shots! While Hamby was struggling to hold it together, Rasku was posting 2 birdies (holes 7 & 8) and three pars (holes 5, 6, & 9) to claw his way into a tie and a playoff. 

Wallace had a superb front nine, notching three birdies to offset his lone bogey. His two birdies on the back side weren’t enough to overcome his two doubles, but he gave himself a shot shooting even par and making it to the playoff. And then the joys and pains of handicap golf made themselves evident. 

Dye Course Hole 9

All three players shot par on the first playoff hole, the 410-yard, par-4 9th, but although all three had gotten a stroke (meaning their net score on the hole would be one shot less than what they actually shot) during the 18-hole competition, only Rasku got a stroke in the playoff. I asked World Am staff member Scott Tomasello why, and  he explained the formula simply enough so that even a senile old, math-challenged guy like me finally got it. Thanks Scott!

But hey, that’s the thing about golf: if you’re supposed to be better than I by x amount, you had better play better than I by x amount or you lose. Hamby and Wallace didn’t play x amount better than Rasku on that playoff hole and so Rasku is the 2014 World Amateur Handicap Champion for 2014, beating out the other 3,357 players (including me) from 48 states and 34 countries who entered the event. Pretty special feat, don’tcha think?

Listen, I enjoy just about everything about the World Am, except my ignorance regarding how they make their handicap adjustments and structure their flights. I’m not alone in my ignorance as evinced by the many handicap and flight threads on the World Am Bulletin Board. Listen, the event has been played for 31 years, and the handicap and flight questions are still being asked. I suspect that will be the case in perpetuity.

As for my confusion about why the two players who shot the best gross scores in the tournament didn’t play in the Gross Flight, I asked Chris Reina why he didn’t play in the Gross Flight, and he answered, “I did not play in the Gross Division because I was never given the option of playing in that division.” In subsequent interaction he wrote, “I did see that they had the Gross Division, but when I registered for the event there wasn't a way for me to select that division. I wish I was able to play the last day too because I love the Dye course at Barefoot.” I suspect that if there’s a Gross Flight next year, and Chris isn’t on the PGA or Web.com Tour, he’ll be making sure he plays in that flight!

Mark Gardiner lines up putt on final hole

Major congrats to Mark and Dennis for their accomplishments at the 2014 World Am! Kudos to the World Am staff and the staff at the venues and Convention Center for making the event one of the best in the world for a wannabe golfer. Now if I can only clear up the confusion in my golf game, and Steph and I can stay on the same page, I’ll be a very happy camper at the World Am in 2014. 

T. A. & Steph