Goldstein, Carpendale, Fink Win Crowns at Bear’s Best Scratch Event

Josh Goldstein (Championship), Gary Carpendale (Senior) and Steve Fink (Silver) all posted victories in the 2021 SNGA Tour Scratch Championship held June 22, 2021, at Jack Nicklaus’ Bear’s Best Golf Club.–by Bill Bowman, LasVegasGolfInsider.com staff.

Championship

Josh Goldstein birdied a par-3, a par-4 and a par-5 en route to the Championship Division title, winning by two strokes.

It was Goldstein’s second SNGA event victory of 2021.

Goldstein had a method to his madness in playing in the event.

“I used the round as practice for the U.S. Am qualifier that’s coming up,” he said. “It will be at this course and I hadn’t played here since 2018. This gave me a chance to check out the course again and work on my sightlines.”

He said the round had a lot more potential.

“I left putts short all day,” he said. “The greens were a bit on the slow side and I left four or five putts six inches short that were dead center.”

He looks at the round–and the victory–as a positive step forward.

“It was nice to play pretty solid golf,” he said. “I honestly felt comfortable on the course. Jack Nicklaus courses tend to have wide fairways but the visuals can be tough. I felt comfortable on the golf course.”

Championship

Josh Goldstein, 70

Kevin Sweat, 72

Marcus Mullins, 72

Senior

Gary Carpendale had an up-and-down round with five birdies to go along with three bogies and a double bogey in winning the Senior Division title by two strokes.

It was Carpendale’s second win of 2021.

“I played really solid until 18,” he said. “But I did miss quite a few mid-range birdie putts that would have made my life easier.”

He added he got his score to two-under, went back to even, got it back to two-under and finished at even with a final hole double bogey.

“The way I think about it, I played really well,” he said. “There were a couple of other birdie opportunities I didn’t make that I will think about.”

Despite the even-par round, Carpendale saw more pluses than minuses.

“It was just a good, solid round until I got to 18,” he said. ”I usually cut my driver but I was hitting it straighter and took a straighter line but cut it right into the water. I probably should have played it a little safer.”

Senior

Gary Carpendale, 72

David Koch, 74

Jeff Coppens, 75

Silver

Steve Fink came out hot and stayed hotter in winning the Silver Division title by six shots.

Fink birdied his first four holes, five of his first six and seven of his first nine and cruised to the crown.

It was his eighth victory of 2021.

“For me it was a very special round,” Fink said. “I hit the ball great and putted great. I hit 15 greens and had just 26 putts. That all added up to seven-under-par.”

It was a round for the ages…literally.

“It was my lowest competitive score ever and that’s in 59 yards of playing golf so that’s something,” he said.

Despite the score, Fink said there were a couple of ‘what if’ moments he will look back on.

“I hit the driver well but missed two fairways and lost three shots to par,” he said of a front-nine bogey and a back-nine double bogey. “Otherwise, it was a very special round.”

Despite the two errant shots, he took his thoughts elsewhere.

“I always try to focus on the positives,” he said. “I had 10 one-putts so I was really happy with that.”

Silver

Steve Fink, 65

Bobby Hakes, 71

Marshall Gleason 74