Goldstein, Hogle, Carpendale, Wilson, Freymueller, Steele Win Nye County Am Titles
Josh Goldstein (Championship), Glenn Hogle (Senior) and Gary Carpendale (Silver) won gross titles in the 2023 Nye County Amateur. Lonnie Wilson (Net), Brian Freymueller (Senior) and John Steele (Silver) were the net winners in the tournament held Feb. 18-19, 2023 at Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump. –By Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Championship
Josh Goldstein birdied four of his first six holes to open the tournament en route to a 10-stroke victory in the Championship Division. The two-time reigning player of the year is off to another terrific start to the season.
“I started off hot and just tried to play solid golf,” he said. “The first round I hit 17 of 18 greens and every putt I hit I thought was going in. A bunch of putts burned the lip.”
He said going into the tournament he didn’t know what to expect.
“It’s been cold and windy so I haven’t had much practice,” he said. “Starting off going six-under through the first 11 holes I really felt in control of my game.”
He said there was just one thing on his mind: “I just tried to hit consistent shots,” he said. “I had a little trouble here and there but overall it was two pretty solid days of golf.”
And that included coming down to the end.
“I tried to stay consistent and make a lot of pars,” he said. “If I had a birdie putt, all the better. But in the end, pars were definitely good.”
Championship
Josh Goldstein, 67-69—136
Tanner Johnson, 74-72—146
Justin Penor, 72-74—146
Net
Lonnie Wilson put two net eagles on the scorecard in the final round and rode that to his first SNGA title, winning by eight strokes.
“Excited is the word I would use,” Wilson said. “I’ve been struggling off the tee but I made the switch to a new driver two weeks ago and I’ve been hitting it much better. This one seems to be working very well.”
He added finding more fairways also boosted the confidence.
“I really needed this week,” he said. “Especially since it was a two-day event. Going into the spring and summer when the weather is nicer, I’ll see if I can build off this win.”
Now with the driver working well, he said it’s up to his iron game and putting to keep pace.
“I’m confident with the driver,” he said. “Now I just want to keep working on my approach shots. My iron game, and putting can certainly help my game as well. I did make some good comeback putts both days which also helped.”
Net
Lonnie Wilson, 70-68—138
Jin Ho Choi, 77-69—146
George Wolf, 70-76—146
Senior
Glenn Hogle birdied three holes in a row early in his final round and made it hold up for a one-stroke victory in the Senior Gross Division.
In the end, actually the tournament’s final hole, Hogle didn’t make it easy as he triple bogeyed the hole.
“I didn’t want to finish that way,” he said. “But I shot four-under on the front so I had strokes to work with. Had I lost, it would have been a different story but that hole was just an anomaly. It was weird as hell.”
He said his improved putting is definitely a key.
“I’m super-happy with my putting right now,” he said. “I made a few tweaks and I made a lot of putts. For the most part I holed every short putt. Plus, they were all the right speed and I didn’t have any three-putts.”
With the win comes a boost in confidence.
“I’m super-excited to get the ‘W,’ he said. “I learned a few things that will help me going forward. The great thing is I’m getting better and feeling more and more confident.”
Senior
Glenn Hogle, 73-72—145
Kelly Knievel, 73-73—146
Todd Roberts, 73-74—147
Senior Net
Brian Freymueller won a scorecard playoff to win the Senior Net title, his first individual victory since 2020.
Freymueller did have a team victory in 2022 when he teamed up with William Day to win the Senior Division title in the 2022 SNGA Team Championship.
But this was all Freymueller.
“It is nice to win again,” he said. “I finally played some good golf.”
But, it wasn’t easy.
“I hurt my wrist last month and I’ve been struggling to get close to 80,” he said. “To break 80 both days here makes me very happy.”
He said his recent play has been less than inspiring for him.
“I came into this event with no expectations,” he said. “Considering I was in high 80s and low 90s in recent SNGA events, I was a little frustrated.”
Now with the win and warmer weather coming up, he’s hoping to go on a run.
“Right now I feel good about the way I’m playing,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep it up…especially with a major coming up. It’s nice to be trending in the right direction.”
Senior Net
Brian Freymueller, 75-74—149
John Bobroski, 74-75—149
Chris Boyer, 73-78—151
Silver
Gary Carpendale played his final seven holes in four-under-par with an eagle and two birdies to post a victory in the Silver Division.
The win comes after Carpendale lost a scorecard playoff in the season-opening Tournament of Champions tournament two weeks ago.
Carpendale said a slow start that saw him have a string of three straight bogeys in holes four, five and six of his final round was quite the wakeup call.
“I wasn’t feeling good at all,” Carpendale said. “It wasn’t physical, it was mental. I just wanted to go back to bed and start all over again.”
Despite the start, he said the eagle righted the ship.
“The eagle and the fact I finally made a longer putt in 17 really helped me out,” he said. “I didn’t have my best stuff but I hung in there.”
Silver
Gary Carpendale, 67-71—138
Patrick Woerner, 77-73—150
Frank Ellenburg, 74-77—151
Silver Net
John Steele made it back-to-back victories in winning the Silver Net title.
In the recent SNGA Tour tournament, Steele came away with the gross victory.
He said the back-to-back wins show his game is in a good place.
“It’s pretty exciting to win again,” he said. “And I shot my age yesterday (67). That was my first time ever.”
He said there’s no doubt which part of his game carried him to the title.
“My short game was unbelievable, especially on Saturday,” he said. “I had five birdies and no bogeys. I also had four or five up-and-downs and those really kept me going.”
He added the short game success didn’t come out of nowhere.
“The last month or so I’ve had a lot of short-game practice and it’s starting to pay off,” he said.
And while he said the win is nice, shooting his age might be just a little better.
“It was exciting,” he said. “It was probably my most solid ball-striking round I’ve ever had.”
Silver Net
John Steele, 70-78—148
Tony Troilo, 71-80—151
Mark Dopheide, 79-73—152
