Ebalo, Hurlburt, Foggia, Wolf Win 2024 SNGA Tour Championship Titles
LAS VEGAS, NV (Dec. 5, 2024)–Kenny Ebalo (Championship), Brian Hurlburt (Senior), David Foggia (Silver) and George Wolf (Net) won titles in the 2024 SNGA Tour Championship. The tournament was held Dec. 5, 2024, at Las Vegas National Golf Club.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff
Championship
Kenny Ebalo is back in the winner’s circle.
Ebalo, who last won an SNGA event in 2020 when he won three times and was the Player of the Year, had an eagle to go along with birdies on the final two holes to post a four-stroke victory.
Ebalo, the president of the SNGA, said his game is in a good place.
“I’ve been playing pretty well nationally for the last few years,” Ebalo said. “But unfortunately, the SNGA tournaments don’t line up for me with the national ones. I think this is just the second one I’ve been able to play this year. This one worked out and to win locally is nice. It was a great group and we had fun.”
Ebalo said the two birdies on the final hole were definitely the keys for him.
“You only know what’s going on in your group,” he said. “Making the last two birdies was big. I was putting the pressure on myself to post the lowest score I could and those birdies definitely helped.”
Overall, Ebalo said the round was solid.
“My iron play is OK and I drove it well enough,” he said. “I could have putted a lot better but overall I got the most out of my game today that I could.”
Greg Horodesky, who finished third, clinched the 2024 Championship Player of the Year honor for the SNGA Tour Series.
Championship
Kenny Ebalo, 72
Brady Exber, 76
Greg Horodesky, 77
Senior
Brian Hurlburt won for the second time in 2024, posting a three-shot victory in the Senior Division. John Bobroski clinched the 2024 Senior Player of the Year in the SNGA Tour series.
“I’m starting to understand competitive golf a little more,” Hurlburt said. “I made a bad bogey on the first par-3 and then made a double. Usually, I let that kind of play get to me but today I was able to overcome it and stayed consistent the rest of the way. I’m getting better and not letting the little things get into my head. And I made a cool birdie on 18 and that was a good way to end it.”
He added Las Vegas National is always a good test.
“It’s a challenge,” he said. “The par 3s are no joke. You’ve got to pay attention.”
Hurlburt said the win is nice…but he’s still got other goals.
“My ultimate goal is to win a two-day event,” he said. “But to beat some of the best players, including Players of the Year and players with multiple wins…I’m pretty proud of this.”
He said playing in SNGA and SNGA Tour events has opened his eyes to playing in association events.
“The guys have been cool and very supportive,” Hurlburt said. “There are a lot of guys I respect in this field. It’s my most meaningful win…and it certainly builds confidence.”
Senior
Brian Hurlburt, 75
Gary Carpendale, 78
JC Cramer, 78
Silver
David Foggia keeps on winning but his latest victory was quite the test. He easily clinched the 2024 Silver Division Player of the Year in the SNGA Tour series.
Foggia won for the seventh time in 2024 including six individual titles and a team title.
“I was just trying to hang on,” Foggia said. “I was even-par through 13 and then bogeyed the last five holes. That wasn’t good.”
He did manage to find a little humor in his bogey streak.
“I hit one out of bounds on the 17th but it was pin-high,” he said with a laugh. “And I did birdie it with my second ball.”
He said the course more than held its own.
“The par 3s are all legit,” he said. “If you get on the wrong side of the hump, you can look ridiculous putting. I had a 12-foot downhill, down-grain putt for birdie and then had a 10-footer coming back for par which I missed. You’ve got to pay attention. I sat there knowing it was going to be fast and still hit it 10-feet past.”
The back nine showed promise…for a little bit.
“I was two-under through the first four holes,” he said. “Then the bogeys started to come. Some bad decisions, some bad swings…they all add up. But I did hang on for the win so there was at least one bright spot.”
Silver
David Foggia, 76
Rex Reese, 77
John Steele, 77
Net
George Wolf won for the second time in 2024, adding an individual title to the team crown he won earlier with Adam Pion.
It was Wolf’s first individual title since the Nye County event in 2019. Brian Freymueller clinched the Net Division Player of the Year title for the SNGA Tour series.
Wolf opened and closed the round with net birdies and added a net eagle along with three other net birdies in winning by two strokes.
“That last win was a long time ago,” Wolf said of his individual title. “It was probably the third or fourth event I had played in and so I was thinking ‘this is easy.’ And now I was shutout for five years. It’s good to finally win again.”
Wolf said he was shocked his score held up.
“I was surprised how high the scores were,” he said. “But there’s something about National. It’s not an easy place to score. It’s tricky and the par 3s are all hard holes.”
He also gave credit to SNGA videographer Dave Meador.
“He showed up on the 14th hole and I wanted to look good,” Wolf said with a laugh. “I hit a great shot out of a bunker and parred the hole. After that I was feeling pretty good. I birdied the next hole and saw that I was up there (on the leaderboard) and thought I better start paying a little more attention.”
It paid off.
“The last hole is pretty tricky,” he said. “It’s easy to screw it up but I managed to finish with a par with a pop (for a net birdie) and that was very helpful. I needed that to win.”
Net
George Wolf, 72
John Pappas, 73
Michael Clark, 73
