State Champ Adds Another Plus Other SNGA Siena Tour Winners
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (July 14, 2018)–Friday the 13th proved to be lucky for Alex Jordan (Championship), Frank Acker (Senior) and Al Kueker (Silver) as they picked up victories in the championship divisions in the SNGA Tour’s stop at Siena Golf Club on July 13, 2018. Champs in the net were Arthur Pellegrini (net), Don Blanton (Senior) and Bruce Swanson (Silver). — By Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff
Championship
For Alex Jordan, it was a win-win week.
Jordan, coming of an impressive come-from-behind win in the 2018 Nevada State Amateur this week, carded a two-under-par 70 to win the Championship Division on Friday.
“I’m putting in a lot of hard work and it’s starting to pay off,” he said of his seven birdie, five bogey round that helped him win for the third time in SNGA events.
He admits he had a little edge in this one.
“It’s my home course,” he said. “I’ve been working here for awhile and know the course pretty well.”
He said it was definitely an up-and-down round. “I was two-under on the front and even on the back,” he said. “I finished strong with three birdies in the last four holes to get it back to two-under.”
But, he still wasn’t 100 percent satisfied. “I missed about a two-footer on 17 for birdie and I’d like to have that one back,” he said. “Other than that, with the seven birdies, it was a pretty solid round.”
Championship
Alex Jordan, 70
Charlie Magruder, 78
Andrew Davis, 81
Net
Arthur Pellegrini picked up his first victory on the SNGA Tour, winning by three strokes in the Net Division.
“It was my first tournament and I just tried to play my game,” he said. “My driver was working great and I could not miss a putt. It was unbelievable. I made 10 footers and 20 footers. I think I putted badly on one hole and everything else was pretty much on point.”
The event didn’t start out as well as he had hoped, but he rallied.
“I had a 46 on the front and thought I had no chance,” he said. “But I came back with a 38 on the back. I birdied No. 11 and then just started making pars.”
Net
Arthur Pellegrini, 74
John Hawk, 77
Stanley Tomasetti, 78
Senior
Frank Acker made it two straight tournament victories, winning the Senior crown with a two-over-par 74.
For Acker it was a struggle from the start as he was three-over-par through his first five holes. He birdied the par-3 7th and then put together 11 straight pars for the win.
“I started off a little rough but I didn’t really hit the ball all that bad,” Acker said. “I missed a couple of three-footers and that never helps. The scoring was a little tough but overall it wasn’t too bad…I’ll take it. I got the job done somehow.”
He said his lone birdie got him going in the right direction. “It was definitely a good one,” he said. “It was a long par-3 and I hit it to about 10-12 feet and made the putt.”
Senior
Frank Acker, 74
David Koch, 76
David Philippi, 89
Senior Net
Don Blanton cruised to a win in the Senior Net Division, posting a six-under-par 66.
It was Blanton’s fourth win of 2018–three individual titles and a team title.
“Today I just crushed it,” Blanton said. “I shot two-over on the back gross. It’s coming together at a great time. This was just a great day.”
It didn’t start out that way.
“I had a triple and a double on the front nine but then I just started playing well,” he said. “I’m excited about the rest of the year. Dandy Don is here to compete the rest of the year.”
Senior Net
Donald Blanton, 66
Rex Reese, 79
David Golder, 84
Silver
Al Kueker rode a red-hot putter to victory in the Silver Division. Kueker carded a five-over-par 41 on the front nine, but the putter heated up on the back as he came in with a three-under-par 33.
It was Kueker’s fifth Silver Division crown of the year, three gross titles and two net crowns.
“On the back I had six one-putts in a row (from 12-17) and made about a 100 footer on 16,” Kueker said. “When you putt well, it all works out.”
He also said keeping out of trouble helped. “I didn’t hit it in any bunkers and that made a big difference,” he said.
Silver
Al Kueker, 74
Frank Abbott, 76
Dario Gonzales, 78
Silver Net
It wasn’t the finish Bruce Swanson wanted, but he’ll still take it. Swanson three-putted the 17th and 18th holes that left him one-shot back in the run for the Silver Gross title. He settled for the Silver Net crown.
“I actually played good golf except for the last two holes,” he said. “Other than those last two holes I putted pretty well. A 75 is pretty good but it could have been better. I’m still happy. All things considered I played pretty well. The heat started to get to me a little but overall I’m very happy.”
Silver Net
Bruce Swanson, 71
Dave Haddock, 72
Jim Call, 73
