OCALA, Fla. – Ninety-six players traveled to the challenging Country Club of Ocala to be met with cold and windy conditions on a golf course that is already hard enough. The out of bounds lined fairways mixed with undulating greens led to there being no scores under par. However, three players were able to stand above the rest; Troy Vannucci, Chad Ibbotson and David Tassell won the Mid-Amateur, Senior and Super-Senior Divisions respectively.
Mid-Amateur
Fresh off of winning Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Player of the Year, Troy Vannucci continued his great play with his first Winter Series victory of the season. After firing a first round 72, Vannucci had a six shot lead heading into the final round over Zackary Luce and Peter Hamacher. Despite a double bogey on the 12th hole, Vannuci was able to eliminate some of the damage with a birdie on the last.
During the final round, Vannucci stumbled early, playing the first seven holes in three-over par. However, his lead was too large to overcome. He wound up finishing with a final round 75, winning by eight strokes over Luce.
Senior
Keith Bratton got off to a hot start with a first round 72, but the scores were a lot tighter than the Mid-Amateur division. Chad Ibbotson and Bruce Sands were one shot back, and Lloyd Fisher was two shots back.
After Bratton struggled early, it turned into a two-man race between Ibbotson and Sands. Sands held a one shot lead with one hole to play, but Ibbotson was able to birdie the last, gaining momentum heading into the playoff. All he needed was a par on the playoff and Ibbotson was able to secure his fourth win in his last five Winter Series starts.
Super-Senior
In the Super-Senior Division, Randy Kroen took a first round lead opening up with a one-over par 73 with David Tassell and Ken Kirchner right on his tail two shots back. Kroen’s round was highlighted by three birdies, including one on the difficult par-4 9th.
Shortly into the second round, it was David Tassell, Rob Bringardner and Bobby Lundquist hovering at the top of the leaderboard. Tassell’s consistent rounds of 75-75 wound up being enough to outlast Bringardner by two shots, earning him his first Winter Series victory of the season.
