Brady Exber (Championship), David Koch (Senior), Frank Acker (Silver) and James Amihara (Net) claimed crowns at the 2023 SNGA Tour stop at Rio Secco Golf Club. The event was held July 27, 2023. –by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Acker and Exber, members of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame, have been winning SNGA titles for decades.
Championship
Brady Exber made it three-for-three in his last three events, winning the Championship Division by one stroke.
Exber has now won an SNGA team event, the Nevada State Senior title and an SNGA Tour Championship crown in his last three outings.
“It was a challenging day,” Exber said. “Especially with it being a little windy.”
Brady added the Rio Secco staff is to be commended for the course conditions.
“It was nice of them to have us out there,” he said. “And for the course to be in that good a shape with all the heat we have going on right now was impressive.”
He said improving his game has been front-and-center.
“It was a good day to work on some stuff,” he said. “I didn’t hit it very solid but it was going straight. I didn’t do anything special but I didn’t do anything poorly.”
He added he had a front-row seat to some solid play by the two players in his group.
“I got to see some real good golf,” he said. “Kam (Kamden Ganir) played great on the back nine and Greg (Horodesky) finished birdie-birdie and that got it real tight at the end. It turned out I just made one less mistake than both of them.”
Championship
Brady Exber, 74
Kamden Ganir, 75
Greg Horodesky, 75
Senior
David Koch won for the first time in 2023, riding a roller-coaster round to a one-stroke victory in the Senior Division.
Koch, the 2022 SNGA Senior Net Player of the Year, said he’s been fighting his golf game.
“My putting has been terrible,” he said. “And that’s led to bad ball-striking and it all adds up to bad scores. My last tournament was at Paiute and I was absolutely awful.”
He then took a break, going on a two-week RV trip to Tennessee.
“The break did me good…I didn’t miss a putt for two weeks,” he said with a laugh. “I was spinning my wheels for awhile.”
He’s hoping after this win, his game is heading back in the right direction.
“My putting was better,” he said. “I’m more relaxed with my stroke and rolled it really well.”
Senior
David Koch, 75
Jay Wroblewski, 76
John Bobroski, 77
Silver
Frank Acker is back in the winner’s circle as he picked up the Silver Division title, snapping a 15-month winless streak.
“It was nice to win,” he said. “I haven’t played in a long time. I’ve got nerve damage in my right leg and I just can’t practice. I try to get out once a week but I just can’t play the two-day events.”
He said despite his health issues, he did see positives in his game.
“My game is still decent,” he said. “And today was good. It was fun, but a tough day to finish with the heat. It was a little toasty out there.”
He said he’s going to try to take on a few more one-day events and hopes to play at least one two-day event.
“I’m going to try to play the two-day event at Boulder Creek and see how that goes,” he said. “But my game just is not going to be what it was until my leg gets better.”
Still, a win is a win.
“I kept it in play and grinded it out,” he said. “I had a sloppy bogey on the second hole from about 40 yards but then made a lot of pars and a couple if birdies. I was just trying to finish.”
Silver
Frank Acker, 75
Darwin Rogers, 77
David Foggis, 77
Net
James Amihara played a three-hole stretch at the turn in three-under-par and rode that streak–including a net eagle and a net birdie–to a one-shot victory in the Net Division.
It was Amihara’s second SNGA victory.
“I was five over after five holes,” he said. “I felt a little tight and had problems early.”
But he got it turned around.
“Once I got it going, it all worked out,” he said. “I eagled No. 9 and that really got me going.”
He added it was the first time he had played the course and it took him a little while to assess the situation.
“I wasn’t sure where to hit it early,” he said. “But the back nine isn’t as tight in the fairways and that helped.”
He said there were a couple of hiccups he thought may have cost him a chance at his second win of the year.
“On No. 2, I missed a one-foot putt,” he said. “And I missed a makeable birdie putt on No. 17 and then double bogeyed No. 18. It wasn’t a great finish but it turned out to be good enough.”
Net
James Amihara, 73
Ernie Alaan, 74
Trevor Coss, 74
