Harvey, Roberts, Woerner, Coss, Freymueller and Troilo Win Cascata SNGA Titles

Drake Harvey (Championship), Todd Roberts (Senior) and Patrick Woerner (Silver) won gross titles at the 2023 Cascata Amateur Championship. Trevor Coss (Net), Brian Freymueller (Senior) and Tony Troilo (Silver) captured net crowns in the tournament held Aug. 19-20, 2023, at Cascata.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider

The tournament used a Modified Stableford scoring format. A double eagle was worth seven points, an eagle was worth five points, a birdie was worth three points, a par was worth two points and a bogey gave players one point. Players got zero points for a double bogey or worse.

Championship

Drake Harvey saved his best for last in winning his first SNGA title.

Harvey, who is a a sophomore at Somerset Sky Pointe, birdied three of his final five holes and picked up 21 points in his final nine holes to win the Championship Division.

“That was pretty cool,” Harvey said. “After the front nine, things weren’t going well and I wasn’t sure where I stood.”

His front nine included two double bogeys, a bogey and a birdie.

“The last couple of months I had a few tournaments where I haven’t had the greatest of front nines,” he said. “A couple of times I brought it back and today I knew there was still a chance to win it but I knew I had to do pretty well.”

He did just that.

“I hit my sand wedge at least four times on par 4s and birdied two of them,” he said. “Then I got up and down for birdie on the par-5.”

He said his back-nine rally will help him down the line.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” he said. “I beat a couple of college players and I don’t think I’ve done that before.”

He added his iron play work is also paying off.

“My irons have gotten a lot better,” he said. “They were one of the worst parts of my game and now I’ve turned it around and they are a strength.”

Championship

Drake Harvey, 35-40—75 points

Scott Lytle, 36-35—71

Matt Mitchell, 32-37—69

Net

Trevor Coss picked up 13 points in a three-hole stretch (two net eagles and a net birdie) en route to a five-point win in the Net Division.

It was Coss’ first victory of 2023.

He said he wasn’t that confident coming into the first round.

“The thing was, I came out on Friday for a practice round and was hitting it pretty well but had three or four blowup holes,” he said. “After that, I said there was no way I was going to keep trying to hit it out of the desert.”

His solution?

“I hit a lot of long irons and hybrids just to keep it in play,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t going to get myself in trouble.”

The plan worked perfectly.

“If you put yourself in position to hit greens, it’s a recipe to score well,” he said. “I won here back in 2020 and did the same thing. I’ve gone away from that formula but now I’m back.”

He said the 13 points he picked up over the three-hole stretch in the final round were huge.

“I put myself in perfect position to hit gap wedges into the greens to make birdie putts,” he said. “Those holes were definitely the key.”

Net

Trevor Coss, 40-43—83 points

Michael Gilmore, 39-39—78

Chris Price, 37-36—73

Senior

Todd Roberts parlayed a solid two days of golf in winning the Senior Division.

It was Roberts’ third victory of the season and he finished with five birdies and six bogeys over the two days. He also is scheduled to be inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame Oct. 7.

“I hit a lot of greens,” he said. “I only hit it in the rocks one time today and I recovered with a bogey. And I only had one three-putt and out here that’s pretty good.”

Roberts said playing Cascata has been one of his favorites.

“This is my fifth or sixth win at this course,” he said. “I play it well. I drive it pretty straight and I’m pretty good about not three-putting. You just have to play steady and avoid a big number.”

Roberts said this win puts him back into a positive frame of mind.

“I kind of lost my way a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t play well in the Southern Nevada Am and the Nevada State Senior. Those were my worst finishes of the year and the only two events I didn’t finish in the top three.”

He said he’s glad to get back to playing well.

“Overall, it’s been a distracting year,” he said. “But I’m happy with this win and I feel like I’m now going to be able to focus and play like I usually play. This win has given me my confidence back. It was a very timely win.”

Senior

Todd Roberts, 36-35—71 points

Kelly Knievel, 35-31—66

James Corey, 36-29—65

Senior Net

Brian Freymueller won for the second time in 2023, capitalizing on a run where he put six birdies on the scorecard (three natural and three net) over an eight-hole stretch in the first round.

Senior Net

Brian Freymueller, 41-35—76 points

Rex Reese, 35-34—69

Gordon Schiring, 31-35—66

Silver

Patrick Woerner won an individual title for the first time since 2020, birdieing four holes in the final round to post the victory.

Woerner did team up with Bruce Chamberlain to win a team title earlier this year.

“This was a big surprise,” Woerner said. “I shot even on our first nine (the back nine holes) and Bryan (Link) was two-under (two birdies and seven pars). I just told myself to concentrate and play well and, as it turned out, I played well enough to win. I really thought I finished second but when they called Bryan’s name for finishing second, I was shocked.”

He said there were a few keys to his victory.

“I broke down and bought a new hybrid,” he said. “And I hit a lot of good 8-iron shots into greens. I didn’t always make the birdie putts but I hit about five or six of them that were very good…well, good for me.”

He said putting birdies on the scorecard on par 3s on his final nine holes was also a boost.

“I rolled the first one in from about 15 feet and the second one in from about 20 feet,” he said. “Those points were nice.”

And finally, there was the fact he hit a lot of fairways.

“Since it was lift-clean-and-place, putting the ball in the fairway was a must and I did that pretty well,” he said.

Silver

Patrick Woerner, 31-33—64 points

Bryan Link, 31-28—59

Brian Marks, 33-25—58

Silver Net

Tony Trolio won for the third time in 2023, using a net eagle and seven net birdies over the two days to win by one point.

“I always seem to play well at Cascata for some reason,” he said. “Maybe it’s the Stableford format because you don’t get penalized for having bad holes or missing a lot of shots.”

He added it all came down to the final hole.

“As it turned out I had to make about a seven or eight-footer on the last hole for one point,” he said. “I made it and that was the point that mattered.”

He said he’s also been working on his swing…again.

“I’ve been changing my swing around,” he said. “I changed it again and drove it really well and hit some very good irons. Overall, I drove it well and putted well.”

He also added the greens helped him out.

“The greens weren’t as fast as they normally are at Cascata,” he said. “And it was great to play in the low 70s in Las Vegas in August.”

Silver Net

Tony Troilo, 37-33—70 points

Loren Little, 38-31—69

Stephen Sitar, 36-26—62