Ebalo, Myers, Abbott, Berton, Reese, Sabati Win Arroyo Titles

Kenny Ebalo birdied all four par 5s en route to winning the Championship Division in the SNGA Tour’s stop at Arroyo Golf Club on Aug. 17, 2018. Ebalo wound up with a one-under-par 71 total. Samuel Myers (Senior) and Frank Abbott (Silver) also won gross crowns while net titles went to Jason Berton (Championship), Rex Reese (Senior) and Walter Sabati (Silver). — By Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff.

Championship

Ebalo beat Daren Johnson and Ed Fryatt by a stroke to get back in the SNGA winner’s circle for the first time in two years.

For the round, Ebalo finished with five birdies, two bogeys and a double.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” he said. “I’ve had more success nationally than locally. It’s been a running joke with these guys that I haven’t won in awhile.”

Ebalo said he scrambled well to save the round.

“I hit it on a couple of the par 5s in two and two-putted for a couple of birdies, but otherwise I got it up and down a lot and that was really the key,” he said. “When I had birdie opportunities I made the most of them.”

He added that he almost didn’t play in this event.

“I was going to take some time off,” he said. “But I qualified for the Mid-Am last week and after qualifying I decided I need to play a little bit more.”

Championship

Kenny Ebalo, 71

Daren Johnson, 72

Ed Fryatt, 72

Net

Jason Berton’s introduction to tournament golf wound up with him winning the Net Division.

“I was just happy to have a good golf round,” he said. “This was my first tournament and the first time I’ve played in a formal setting. I really enjoyed it and learned quite a few things.”

He said his round was up and down. “I had some very nice shots and had some shots that I had to recover from,” he said.

A new club in his bag also helped. “I switched out my hybrid and that really let me hit some nice recovery shots,” he said. “My old one would hook all the time. This one I hit straighter and with better results and that gave me more confidence.”

He said he’ll probably be back. “I’d like to play occasionally,” he said. “I’m working to become a better player and tournaments like this really challenge my skill set.”

Net

Jason Berton, 69

Jeffrey Gilliame, 70

Bobby Minkoff, 74

Senior

Samuel Myers won his first SNGA Tour event in ho-hum fashion, carding a two-birdie, 16-par round of 70 to post a three-shot victory.

Myers won four times in 2017 but hasn’t played a lot in 2018. “I’ve got a young son at home but I wanted to come out and compete,” he said. “It’s funny what can happen if you have no expectations. I just got out of my own way today.”

He said the two birdies, both 15-footers on the front nine, were nice but it was his score on the 8th hole that was the key.

“I hit it in the bunker off the tee and almost whiffed a 9-iron and hit it into the hazard,” he said with a chuckle of his play on the par-4. “I got it up-and-down from the hazard and saved par and that kind of saved the round for me. It gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”

Senior

Samuel Myers, 70

Todd Rogers, 73

Frank Acker, 74

Senior Net

Rex Reese rebounded from a slow start to win the Senior Net title, his first victory on the SNGA Tour.

“I really started off slow,” he said. “I had bogeys on the first two holes and shot 39 on the front. I did make three birdies on the back for a 34 so it was a nice improvement.”

The key to his victory? “I had four short birdie putts and made three of them,” he said. “I’ve got a new Scottie Cameron Laguna putter that I put in the bag four days ago and rolled putts perfectly. The hole got in the way a lot today.”

Despite the win, he knows there’s still work to do with his game. “I made a bogey on 17 after a bad drive,” he said. “And there are a lot of good players out here who will hit every fairway and 14-to-15 greens. I’m not at that level yet, but today I had a pretty good day.”

Senior Net

Rex Reese, 69

Donald Blanton, 73

David Koch, 74

Silver

Some things never change: Frank Abbott winning a Silver Division title is one of them.

Abbott won for the sixth time in 2018, posting a one-over par 73. But, it wasn’t easy.

“I played poorly on the front nine,” Abbott said. “I did make a couple of birdies on the back nine (back-to-back on 15 and 16) so I woke up a little. For the most part I was scrapping it around. I hit a couple of tee shots out of play and that’s not normal and those led to bogeys.”

He added the outcome could have been different. “David (Kim) actually played a little better than I did,” Abbott said of the runnerup. “I just got lucky and managed to get an extra shot along the way and that was the difference.”

Silver

Frank Abbott, 73

David Kim, 74

Timothy Thomas, 77

Silver Net

Walter Sabati is back in the winner’s circle. Sabati, who won late in 2017, has had six top-3 finishes in 2018 but this is his first win.

“I got real lucky on the back nine,” he said. “I hit a couple of cart paths and the ball went forward and bounced back into the fairway. That was real lucky. They could have easily bounced the other way.”

He added his putter also helped the cause. “I had several one-putts for par, especially on the back nine, and that definitely saved my game,” he said.

He added his confidence is also back. “I’ve been playing pretty good but mentally, down the stretch, I wouldn’t hold on,” he said of his 2018 play. “Now I think I have it back again.”

Silver Net

Walter Sabati, 66

Tom Richardson, 69

Dave Haddock, 72