Mitchell, Sepp, Fink, Carlon, Haas, Yocum Win 2024 Southern Nevada Amateur Titles
Matt Mitchell (Championship), Rick Sepp (Senior) and Steve Fink (Silver) won gross titles at the 2024 Southern Nevada Amateur. Bryan Carlon (Net), Michael Haas (Senior) and George Yocum (Silver) won net titles in the tournament held June 29-30, 2024, at Reflection Bay Golf Club. This was the SNGA’s third major of 2024.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Championship
Matt Mitchell won for the third time in 2024, his second individual title to go along with a team crown, as he won the Championship Division by one shot.
“I’ve been playing pretty well,” said Mitchell who works in the gaming industry. “I’ve been keeping it in play and making some putts.”
He added the course and weather made it a challenge.
“It was definitely hot,” he said. “And the course was in great shape. The greens are new and were really firm. You had to do a lot of thinking when it came to picking the right club.”
At times, even that didn’t help.
“I hit a couple of shots that I thought were really good,” he said. “But sometimes they bounced off the greens so getting up and down was critical.”
He said the win brought back a lot of his confidence.
“I blew the 18th hole at the SNGA Championship at Highland Falls,” he said. “It feels good to be on the other side and be able to finish it off. It was tight at the end and there were three or four guys right there with a good chance to win.”
Championship
Matt Mitchell, 74-72—146
Phillip Reedy, 76-71—147
Andrew Hawk, 73-74—147
Net
Bryan Carlon rode a roller-coaster two days to his first major victory, posting a two-stroke win.
For the two days, Carlon recorded three net eagles and seven birdies (six net and one natural).
“It was crazy,” Carlon said. “The amount of good shots I hit and the bad ones I hit…I was just trying to hit more good ones than bad ones.”
Despite a few bad holes over the two days, Carlon said his play was solid.
“I just tried to not get frustrated when I had a bad hole,” he said. “If that happened, I just tried to make a birdie or par after that.”
He added that winning a major is just a little extra special.
“I’ve won a couple of tournaments in the past but to win a major is huge,” he said. “The reason I play in these is I want to be back on the Cobb Whelan team.”
To that end, he knows where he’s going to be putting in his work going forward.
“I’ve got to keep the tee shot in play,” he said. “I’ll hit one left or right into the desert and that’s not good. I’ve got to get rid of that two-way miss.”
Net
Bryan Carlon, 71-75—146
Aron Suci, 74-74—148
John Diclaro, 74-76—150
Senior
Rick Sepp is back in the winner’s circle.
Sepp, who won his first SNGA title in 2021, now has a pair of them with his two-stroke win in 2024.
And for the second straight time, he beat Todd Roberts for the crown as he won in a playoff in 2021.
“It’s been awhile,” Sepp said with a laugh. “I won the first tournament I played in after moving to Las Vegas and…finally, I win another one.”
He said standing on the 18th tee, he thought the tournament was up for grabs.
“I knew I had a one-shot lead,” he said. “I saw Todd on the 18th green when we teed off. I hit a good drive and had 210 left to the flag. I played it conservative and laid up short of the green. My short game is in good shape and thought making par might win it or I would be in a playoff. My pitch shot wound up going to the back of the green and I two-putted for par and then found out
Todd bogeyed the hole and I won by two. It was a great feeling.”
He added his putter was the key.
“I switched to a new putter and that helped immensely,” he said. “I was struggling with short putts…in the two-to-four foot range. I picked up a broomstick putter and played a couple of practice rounds before this tournament. For this two days, I never missed a putt outside of five feet and also made other putts when I needed to.”
Senior
Rick Sepp, 73-73—146
Todd Roberts, 77-71—148
Steve Sabatini, 77-74—151
Senior Net
Michael Haas put seven net birdies on the scorecard in the final round in winning the Senior Net title by five strokes.
It was Haas’ first win of 2024.
“I was just going over my scorecard and I was like…wow, I didn’t think I had that many birdies,” he said. “That was just awesome.”
He said his start and finish on the final day were ideal.
“I parred the first six holes (starting on the 10th hole) and that was three-under,” he said. “Then I parred the last four holes and that was three-under. It was just a great start and finish.”
The difference?
“I was playing with two really good golfers today and I was just trying to keep up with them so it felt like I was part of the group,” he said.
With all of the made putts and the great start and finish, Haas said one hole stands out in both a good and bad way.
“I got a lucky break on the par-3 17th,” he said. “I hit my first ball in the water and then dropped and hit my next shot in the water. I dropped again and chipped in for a five. When I did that, I thought I had something going. Sometimes you get the breaks and I had the chance to take advantage of it.”
Senior Net
Michael Haas, 73-68—141
John Geddis, 77-69—146
Artie Miller, 72-75—147
Silver
Steve Fink said winning for the second time in 2024 was, simply, a grind.
“I didn’t play that great but I hung in there,” he said. “The course played very hard and the wind was blowing non-stop.”
He said the course setup added to the difficulty.
“It was tough out there,” he said. “The pins were tucked in tough positions for a major tournament and that made it a challenge.”
He added the finish on Sunday was exciting.
“I parred the last three holes and that helped my cause,” he said. “I battled it out with John Turk and that’s always a lot of fun.”
Fink said his game on the greens proved to be the difference.
“Putting saved the tournament for me,” he said. “I made a lot of good short putts and saved a lot of pars. I just tried to grind it out. I never gave up.”
In the end, it’s a victory…and a major at that.
“The majors are always very special for everyone,” Fink said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had a major so I’m pleased to get the win.”
Silver
Steve Fink, 71-77—148
John Turk, 72-78—150
Gary Carpendale, 77-78—155
Silver Net
George Yocum had back-to-back net eagles in the first round and rode that to a three-stroke win in the Silver Net Division.
It was Yocum’s first win of 2024.
“It’s my favorite course,” Yocum said. “I’ve won there several times. It’s amazing how it just works out when you feel comfortable on a course.”
He said there’s no doubt his putting won the tournament for him.
“It was unbelieveable,” he said. “I had nine one-putt greens today and had seven one-putt greens yesterday. I just putted great.”
And to that end, he credited a new putter for his impressive showing.
“It is a new putter,” he said. “It looks like a spaceship. It’s a new concept. I bought it about three weeks ago and obviously it’s made a significant difference.”
His game off the tee also wasn’t bad.
“One other thing that was working well for me was my driving,” he said. “If you put good driving and good putting together, it makes for a great weekend.”
He said the victory, especially being a major, is always a reason to celebrate.
“I’ve won a couple of majors and a couple of state tournaments,” he said. “It does add to the level of accomplishment, especially with this one being a major.”
Silver Net
George Yocum, 70-72—142
Barry Boudreaux, 69-76—145
David Kim, 77-73—150
