Forristal, Futrell, Cookson, Parker Win Highland Falls Tour Titles
Alex Forristal (Championship), Robert Futrell (Senior), Chris Cookson (Silver) and Noah Parker (Net) won titles at the 2024 SNGA Tour stop at Highland Falls Golf Club at Golf Summerlin. The tournament was held March 1, 2024. Golf Summerlin’s three courses serve as the home layouts for the Southern Nevada Golf Association. –by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
The event was played in windy conditions, but players made the most of it on the course that also plays host to the annual SNGA Championship. Palm Valley at Golf Summerlin also is played during the SNGA Championship, a major on the schedule.
Championship
For Alex Forristal, par was his friend.
Forristal won for the first time on the SNGA Tour in his first SNGA event as he played the final nine holes in one-under-par…riding one birdie and eight pars to the victory.
“I wasn’t very sharp early on, that’s for sure,” he said. “I haven’t been playing a lot and it showed. I found a groove on the back nine and played pretty solid.”
He said his start left him shaking his head.
“I was embarrassed on the front nine,” he said. “Five bogeys…what the heck. I knew I was playing better than that and just tried to get some looks at birdies on the back nine.”
He did that, but like the front nine, the putter didn’t cooperate.
“I missed a lot of putts inside of 10 feet,” he said. “I didn’t get anything to fall and burned a lot of edges.”
But he stayed focused.
“I just wanted to put up a good score on the back nine and hoped to be in it,” he said. “I was really surprised I won it. I kept the expectations low and just thought about having fun and working on my game.”
Forristal, who runs a wholesale business with a couple of friends, said it was nice to compete.
“My work schedule usually collides with these events so it was nice to be able to play,” he said.
Championship
Alex Forristal, 74
Greg Horodesky, 76
Garret Kieffer, 78
Senior
Robert Futrell birdied the 10th and 11th holes to start his back nine and finished the nine with another birdie en route to a four-shot victory in the Senior Division.
Those three birdies helped Futrell come home in even-par on the final nine holes.
It was Futrell’s second win of 2024 as he teamed up with Joe Sawaia to win the Senior Division of the SNGA Tour Four-Ball event in February.
“I got off to a tough start bogeying the first three holes,” Futrell said. “The wind was very difficult but I stayed in my process. I didn’t hit a lot of bad shots…I just hit a lot of wrong clubs with the wind.”
He said the birdies at 10 and 11 righted the ship.
“I had a wedge into 10 and hit a great shot and made the putt,” he said. “Then I had the same club into 11 and hit an even better shot and made that birdie.”
He said the turnaround was unexpected.
“It would have been easy to get discouraged after the front nine but I stayed with my process,” he said. “It was more mental than physical. If the shots came off…great. If not, I just tried to hit the next one better.”
Senior
Robert Futrell, 77
Greg Hudson, 81
David Koch, 81
Silver
Chris Cookson used an eagle to keep his streak going in winning the Silver Division by four strokes.
Cookson’s win is the third of his SNGA career. He won once in 2022 and once in 2023.
Now he’s added a win in 2024 and it’s come early in the year.
“I’m happy to get the win,” he said. “I’ve got three more events before my wife and I head to our summer home in Wyoming where I’ll play some amateur events.”
He said the high scores were definitely due to the windy conditions.
“It was tough out there,” he added. “You just had to keep plugging along. That’s all you could do.”
He said the eagle on the par-5 seventh hole was the turning point.
“I got off to a rough start but that jump-started the round,” he said. “I hit a good drive and then hit a nice 5-wood to about five feet and made the putt.”
To showcase the wind’s impact, he pointed to the 16th hole.
“On the par-5, I hit seven-iron off the tee and then an eight-iron to the fringe and two-putted for birdie,” he said. “The ball was just going so far if it was downwind. It was definitely tough to judge.”
Silver
Chris Cookson, 75
David Foggia, 79
Jeffrey English, 80
Net
Noah Parker got off to a quick start, opening up with a net eagle, natural birdie on his first two holes, and won the Net title for his first SNGA title.
And while the start was all Parker could want, it was a net birdie on 18 that wound up being the difference as he posted a one-shot victory.
For Parker, it was a whole new feeling.
“It was not only my first win, it was my first cash,” he said with a laugh. “This was just a crazy day. I’m usually in the bottom of the barrel trying not to finish last.”
Today’s goal was much different.
“When you start net eagle-birdie, you look at it differently,” he said. “I’ve never been in this position in my life. Once I saw I was up there, I was just trying to sprint to the finish line.”
That sprint almost turned into a nightmare.
“I started to really fall apart,” he said. “I had three double bogeys that really hurt. But that net birdie on 18 was just a great feeling.”
He said his start put a little more pressure on him.
“When you start off that good, it’s usually all downhill from there…especially if you’re a 16 handicap,” he said. “I just looked at it as trying not to have any blowup holes and stay in my game.”
Net
Noah Parker, 74
Ricky Crandell, 75
Ernie Alaan, 76
