Nye County Am – Fryatt Continues His Winning Ways
Ed Fryatt (Championship), Todd Roberts (Senior) and Patrick Woerner (Silver) posted victories in the gross divisions of the 2019 Nye County Amateur held April 6-7, 2019, at Mountain Falls in Pahrump. George Wolf (Net), Gordon Schiring (Senior) and Dario Gonzalez (Silver) came away with net titles. Fryatt is the reigning 4-time SNGA player of the year. –By Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff.
Championship
Ed Fryatt jumped out to a six-stroke lead after the opening round and cruised to a four-stroke victory–his second straight in this event. He won by six strokes in 2018.
“I’ve played well out there,” he said of the Mountain Falls layout. “Hopefully this gets the year kick-started. I’ve gotten off to a little bit of a slow start.”
For Fryatt it’s a slow start. For others it would be a stellar start. It was Fryatt’s first win of 2019 following four wins in 2018. Since that last victory, he’s been in the top three in 13 of the events he’s played.
“I guess it has been a little while since I’ve won,” Fryatt said. “I’ve been consistent but it seems like I’ve just made some foolish swings early in the year. I think this is the first tournament I’ve played without a double.”
Fryatt had two eagles (including a hole-out from the fairway) and three birdies in carding a six-under-par 66 in the opening round.
“The first one, on the 7th, I hit it to about two feet and made the eagle,” Fryatt said. “On the ninth I hit it into a fairway bunker and holed it out from 170 yards.”
But, with the good can also come the bad. “I did manage to squeeze in a three-putt bogey between them,” Fryatt said with a laugh.
He’s looking to keep the momentum going.
“I know the formula to winning,” he said. “You just keep the ball in play and make pars and birdies and try to minimize the mistakes. For me, it’s just been one bad swing or one bad thought. It can get aggravating.”
Championship
Ed Fryatt, 66-74—140
Lorenzo Gillenwater, 72-72-144
Daren Johnson, 72-73—145
Net
George Wolf won his first SNGA title in just his second outing, posting a four-stroke victory in the Net Division. Wolf was the only player in the division to finish under par as he was -4 for the two days.
“My biggest fear is I’m going to have a big blowup hole,” Wolf said. “But I just tried to make sure I was staying away from all the trouble. I kept the big score out of play. I didn’t have any triples so that was the key.”
Wolf said his play on the greens–especially the finale–also proved to be important.
“I putted really well over the weekend,” he said. “And I made about a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole. It was a good final shot for the event.”
Net
George Wolf, 68-72—140
Todd Kirby, 69-75—144
Daniel Castro, 76-69—145
Senior
Todd Roberts made it back-to-back victories in the Senior Division, rallying for a one-shot victory.
Roberts had rounds of 75 and 69. He said the rounds were similar with one exception–his putting.
“I played pretty much the same both days,” he said. “I drove it good, hit really good iron shots. But yesterday I made nothing except one putt to save par.”
Roberts trailed by five strokes early on the back nine in the final round before his putting vaulted him up the leaderboard.
“Nothing was happening through the first 10 holes,” he said. “Then I got hot and started making some birdies. I birdied 11, 13, 14 and 15 and made some nice pars coming in.”
He wasn’t sure this victory would be in the cards.
“I kind of stole this one,” he said. “Darrell (Lutey, who finished second) played very well. It was tough. I was just able to sneak by him.”
Roberts added this weekend was a classic example of his recent game.
“These kinds of scores seem to be my tendency,” he said. “My final round scoring average is pretty low compared to the first. I usually don’t get to play a practice round so my first round is usually a practice round. I just try to stay in the event and not do anything stupid.”
Senior
Todd Roberts, 75-69—144
Darrell Lutey, 73-72—145
John Turk, 73-75—148
Senior Net
Gordon Schiring now has three SNGA victories in 2019 (and four overall), this time posting a Senior Net title.
“I’m just trying to keep my nose to the grindstone and play solid,” Schiring said. “I’ve been working hard on my chipping and putting and that’s what’s making the difference.”
Schiring said winning came as a shock.
“That wasn’t the prize I was after,” he said. “I’m going after the gross guys. I was surprised to win net.”
But, he’s not complaining.
“A win is a win, right?” he said. “I made some rough pars coming in to save my score. The last four or five holes I wanted to make birdie but ended up walking away with par and saying ‘wow, it looked like I was going to make a bogey.’ It’s the little four or five footers that really tested everyone’s nerves over the two days. These weren’t easy greens to putt.”
Senior Net
Gordon Schiring, 73-71—144
Gregory Diedrich, 75-70—145
James Corey, 74-74—148
Silver
Patrick Woerner, following a second-place finish in the most recent SNGA event last month, claimed his first title in the Silver Division.
Woerner carded an even-par 72 second round (four birdies, two bogeys and a double) to breeze to the victory. He opened with a one-over-par 73.
“It’s just nice to hit the ball solid,” Woerner said of his two-day effort.
But, he knows there’s still work to be done as he put a double bogey on the card each day.
“It’s one of those things where your head can get in the way and you make a dumb mistake and make a double bogey,” he said. “Overall, there are times where you just have to step back, think about the shot and then go.”
Overall, he’s now played in three SNGA events and has placed in two of them.
“It really doesn’t matter where I wind up,” he said. “I’m just happy any time I play well and I played well here.”
Silver
Patrick Woerner, 73-72—145
Jeffrey English, 85-76—161
Mark Dopheide, 79-83—162
Silver Net
Dario Gonzales posted his second SNGA Silver Division title, this time holding up for a victory in the Net Division.
It wasn’t easy.
“(Saturday) was the first time I had played the course,” he said. “And I wasn’t afraid of anything. I did hit it in some bad places because I wasn’t sure where to hit it at times. (Sunday) I knew where I needed to avoid but I was a little more timid. I was a little wobbly on the front nine but I straightened it out on the back. It could have gone south.”
He said a revamped driver has made all the difference.
“I put in a new shaft in and this is probably my fifth round with it,” he said. “That’s what I was hitting the best. My game is getting there. If I stay at this level, I’ll be happy.”
He also credited the weather.
“I’ve been waiting for some weather like this,” he said with a laugh. “It was fantastic. Old people aren’t too good in the cold.”
Silver Net
Dario Gonzales, 70-75—145
Stephen Sitar, 73-73—146
John Kelley, 75-76—151
