Newman, Hogle, Carpendale, Barger, Hurlburt, Troilo Win Boulder City Titles
Hazen Newman (Championship), Glenn Hogle (Senior) and Gary Carpendale (Silver) won gross titles at the 2023 Boulder City Amateur. Tad Barger (Net), Brian Hurlburt (Senior) and Tony Troilo (Silver) captured net titles in the tournament held June 10-11, 2023, at Boulder City GC.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Championship
Hazen Newman got hot in racing to victory in the 2023 Championship Division.
How hot? Newman birdied six of his final nine holes to win by four strokes.
Newman graduated from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas before moving on to Oklahoma State to play college golf. He’s going into his fifth year because of a COVID exemption.
It was Newman’s first SNGA event since he won the 2021 Nevada State Match Play tournament.
“I was here visiting family and decided…why not play an event before I leave,” he said.
The ‘leave’ portion of that statement came in reference to his being invited to play across the Pond in the upcoming 2023 British Amateur.
“Last month my golf coach sent me a text saying that a few of us got invited to play in the British Amateur,” he said. “I thought why not give it a shot.”
He warmed up with his victory on Sunday.
“I had a really good finish,” he said of his six-under-par 30 over his first six holes. “I got off to a slow start but got it going with a birdie on No. 5. I punched out from the trees (on the par-5) and then hit it to about 10 feet and made the putt.”
He said having impressive stretches like his final nine are uplifting.
“It was really fun coming in,” he said. “I struggled a little with my driver the first day and that got me in some trouble coming in (he bogeyed his final two holes on Day 1.) Today, I got it straightened out and that’s why I played so well on the back.”
Now it’s on to his next big test: The British Amateur.
“I’ve been practicing a lot,” he said. “If I drive it like I did today, I feel like I can play pretty well.”
There is one slight problem.
“I’ve never actually played links golf,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll talk to my coach and some of my teammates and get a good game plan and try to execute it. My game is pretty solid right now so I’m anxious to see what happens.”
Championship
Hazen Newman, 68-63—131
Daren Johnson, 66-69—135
Lorenzo Gillenwater, 68-70—138
Net
Tad Barger recorded a net eagle and two birdies (one natural and one net) over the final three holes to win his first SNGA title.
Barger, who plays out of Boulder City Golf Course about once a month, wound up winning by four strokes.
“I had a double bogey right before that stretch so it looked pretty rough,” he said. “Then those last three holes kind of came out of nowhere. I made a long putt on 17 for the birdie there for net eagle and on 16 I hit two good shots and had an easy two putts for birdie there. It was a nice turnaround.”
He said going into the tournament he was just hoping to play well. He had two reasons for those hopes.
“I switched clubs this week, going from regular shafts back to stiff shafts,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure that helped. I also started working with a golf coach, Tim Sam, and he’s fixed a lot of things.”
Those changes added up to his first win…and a lot of confidence going forward.
“My confidence was high going in but those changes will really help going forward,” he said.
And he’s also altered his goals.
“My biggest goal is to get my handicap down to a six or so,” he said. “I’m about an 11 or 12 so I’m hoping to cut it in half. That’s the goal and I think it’s doable.”
Net
Tad Barger, 72-68—140
Teklit Gebrai, 70-74—144
Samuel Frey, 74-71—145
Senior
Glenn Hogle birdied three straight holes after struggling through a three-hole stretch where he was four-over par en route to his second SNGA win of 2023.
“It was quite the match coming in,” Hogle said. “It was a great foursome and going mano-a-mano with Brian (Hurlburt) was pretty awesome. We both had three-birdie streaks coming in and it was drama.”
Hogle said the difference was simple: “I made putts over the last four holes,” he said. “And Brian had an unfortunate three-putt for bogey on 17.”
He added his putting wasn’t a pretty sight early in the round.
“I was putting like a jackass,” he said. “In fact, I haven’t been putting well for ages. But to make everything on the last four holes, and they were all required putts, to win by one felt really good.”
He added he’s hoping the two wins so far in 2023 are the signs of great things to come.
“I really wanted this one,” he said. “I found a little something over the last four holes and those four putts went right in the middle of the hole. I don’t see that too often.”
Now, the confidence is high.
“This helps a lot with momentum,” he said. “At the end, winning always leaves a good taste in your mouth going forward.”
Senior
Glenn Hogle, 71-74—145
Steve Fink, 75-73—148
Todd Roberts, 73-75—148
Senior Net
A string of three straight birdies late in the second round helped Brian Hurlburt earn his second SNGA title of 2023.
Hurlburt birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to right the ship that had seen him lose six strokes to par through the first 13 holes.
“I lost my swing, my confidence or something for a little while,” Hurlburt said. “I really struggled with my driver but everybody was struggling in our group so I knew it was still up for grabs.”
Hurlburt said his run of three straight birdies showed he’s making progress with his game.
“I had a strong finish to put together my best two-day event,” he said. “I would have loved to have won the gross but I’ll take the net and take away the positives. I had some pretty good moments this weekend.”
He said while the early woes in the round hurt, it was the 17th that proved costly.
“There was one bummer moment,” he said. “I hit a pretty good 9-iron but it went longer than I thought and I had about a 35-footer for birdie. I left the first putt short and then lipped out the par putt.”
But overall, he said he’s happy with his progress after only having played tournament golf since summer of 2021.
“To win the net and be in the mix in both the net and gross was great,” he said. “My biggest takeaway is that, previously, when things went wrong I didn’t get back on track. Now I’ve learned that every shot counts and I tried to remember that over the past two days. Finishing like I did will build a lot of confidence moving forward. Also, it is fun to be out here playing with the guys after covering them for so long. Playing with Todd Roberts for two days this weekend was cool and then the battle with Glen down the stretch was exciting. And getting to talk to you after a victory is also very cool because I know everyone out here appreciates your stories.”
Senior Net
Brian Hurlburt, 68-76—144
Neil Guanci, 72-73—145
Freddie Sarno, 73-73—146
Silver
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Gary Carpendale has won a Silver Division title.
For the fourth straight event, Carpendale wound up in the winner’s circle, winning by eight strokes.
Carpendale took control of the tournament with a pair of eagles in the first round, including holing out on the 18th hole for a ‘2’.
“I chipped in on both of them,” Carpendale said of his eagles. “I drove it near the fringe on 18 and chipped it in from there. I’m driving the ball real well and that helps, for sure.”
Carpendale said he’s been going into tournaments with the same mindset.
“I just want to shoot a really low score the first day and get out to a lead if I can,” he said. “I shot 66 but Rich (Morrison) shot 68 so I didn’t have that big of a lead.”
He opened up a six-shot lead through the first four holes in the finale and put it on cruise control.
“I just wanted to be smart after the start,” he said. “I shot away from pins a little and two-putts were fine. I was pushing to make birdies the first day but today I wanted to make pars. I knew I would make some birdies here or there but I just didn’t want to press things.”
He said the wind was up and became a factor.
“The wind was definitely my friend today,” he said. “I don’t mind playing in the wind but I thought it would make it tough for anyone to go low.”
Silver
Gary Carpendale, 66-70—136
Rich Morrison, 68-76—144
John Turk, 75-75—150
Silver Net
Tony Troilo had three net eagles over the two days (including two over the final 18 holes) in posting a two-stroke victory in the Silver Net Division.
It was Troilo’s second win of 2023.
“Like everyone else, I had good and bad breaks both days,” he said. “That’s what happens in golf. The first day I started out shaky and then strung a lot of pars together. Today I just tried to play steady.”
That included a net eagle on 18 that proved to be the winner.
“We (Trolio and Walt Sabati) both hit about the same tee shot,” he said. “I hit my second over the green and wound up making birdie (net eagle) by making about a 20-footer with about two feet of break and came away with the win.”
He added the wind helped his focus.
“I just tried to concentrate a little more,” he said. “I kept the ball in play and that’s always a good thing.”
He added he’s happy with the state of his game…sort of.
“I’m playing decent, let’s put it that way,” he said. “In the end it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors and luck.”
Silver Net
Tony Troilo, 70-70—140
Walter Sabati, 69-73—142
Ernie Alaan, 72-72—144
