LAS VEGAS, NV (June 29, 2025)–Matt Mitchell (Championship), John Turk (Senior) and Steve Fink-Tobin Upshaw (Silver co-champs) won gross titles in the 2025 Reflection Bay Amateur. Todd Kirby (Net), Nick Day (Senior) and George Yocum (Silver) won net titles in the tournament held June 28-29, 2025, at Reflection Bay Golf Club.—by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf InsiderChampionship
Matt Mitchell posted 11 birdies over the two-day event–with just one bogey–in winning the Championship Division by five strokes.
It was Mitchell’s second win of 2025.
Mitchell played baseball at UNLV. He graduated in 2022 after majoring in finance and commercial real estate and is currently working in the gaming industry.
Mitchell said his game-plan for the tournament worked to perfection.
“The key for me is to limit the bogeys,” he said. “I missed a short putt for par today otherwise I kept a clean scorecard both days.”
He attributed that success to his short game.
“My putting and chipping were solid,” he said. “I got up and down a couple of times and those really helped keep the confidence up.”
Mitchell won by five strokes but said it was anything but a cakewalk.
“I played with Drake Harvey and it was much tighter than the final score,” he said. “He’s an amazing player and he’s probably played the best of anybody lately. I knew he wouldn’t let me run away with it and it was tight up until the 16th or 17th hole.”
Mitchell added winning an SNGA event is always a great accomplishment.
“The SNGA always puts on impressive events,” he said. “You’ve got sub four-hour rounds which is great and the courses are just awesome.”
Championship
Matt Mitchell, 66-68—134
Kyle Leydon, 69-70—139
Drake Harvey, 68-71—139
Net
Todd Kirby’s six-year-winless drought is over as he is back in the winner’s circle.
Kirby last won an SNGA event in 2019 and that victory ended a three year winless streak.
Kirby opened the tournament with six birdies (all net) and a net eagle in the first round and followed that up with five birdies during the second round (one natural and four net).
“I don’t win very often,” Kirby said. “But I haven’t played well for a long time. It all revolves around hitting the ball in play. I don’t know where my distance went but I finally got it back. I’m confident with my driver now and that’s huge.”
He said it was about time he capitalized on his chances.
“I’ve had chances to win since that last win,” he said. “I played Mesquite last year and was second after the first day. I actually took the lead on the 17th hole on Day 2 but with the wind blowing about 40 miles an hour, I had an eight on the last hole and gave it away.”
This time he capitalized on solid play.
“My irons still need work but my driver and putting were good,” he said. “It’s nice to play two pretty good rounds.”
Net
Todd Kirby, 71-70—141
Noah Parker, 71-75—146
Chris Price, 75-73—148
Senior
John Turk fired a one-under-par second round to rally from six-shots back to win the Senior title in a three-man playoff.
Turk was joined in the playoff by Robert Futrell and Greg Hudson. Turk won with a par on the fourth playoff hole.
It was Turk’s first title in 2025 after winning three times in 2024 (one individual title and two team crowns).
“My goodness…four playoff holes. I’m just glad it finally ended,” Turk said. “I really don’t remember much. I was kind of brain dead at the end.”
Turk said trailing by six entering the second round, he had a simple theory: “I told a couple of guys I’m either going to shoot 66 or 86,” he said. “I didn’t know if I could win or not but I was certainly going to do my best.”
He didn’t get to the 66 but he did post the only under-par round over the two days for the Senior Division.
“I’ve been starting to hit the ball pretty good,” Turk said. “I hit more fairways and greens today and made a lot of putts that I didn’t make yesterday. It was a good day.”
Turk also said his group pairings were also a key.
“I got to play with Todd Roberts yesterday and good guys today,” he said. “They were just fun to play with. Who you get paired with can have a lot to do with how you’re going to play and I had great pairings both days.”
Senior
x-John Turk, 78-71—149
Robert Futrell, 77-72—149
Greg Hudson, 72-77—149
x-won on fourth playoff hole
Senior Net
Nick Day had three birdies over the final five holes (two net and one natural) as he won a two-day SNGA title for the first time.
“I played some nice golf the last couple of days,” Day said. “The good, ol’ driver was good this weekend. The big numbers I had came when I didn’t drive it well.”
He said getting a two-day victory helped his outlook on his game.
“Hopefully I can keep playing well and get a gross win,” he said. “I hit my fair share of good shots this weekend and that made a huge difference. Hopefully I’ll keep that up and build on that confidence.” He said his game is starting to get dialed in.
“I found something in my game a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “I’ve been working on that and it’s made a big difference.”
Senior Net
Nick Day, 72-71—143
Dave Golder, 73-72—145
Robert Zoine, 71-74—145
Silver
Tobin Upshaw and Steve Fink shared the Silver gross title, both carding rounds of 74-75—149.
Upshaw played the final six holes in even par–a birdie, four pars and a bogey–in rallying to share the win with Fink who birdied his 16th hole in the final round before stumbling with a double bogey-bogey finish.
It was Upshaw’s first SNGA victory with his previous best being a third-place finish earlier this season. It was Fink’s second win of 2025.
“I finished up pretty well,” Upshaw said. “In the end, I just kept telling myself to get in the mindset of just hitting fairways and greens. I didn’t want to over complicate things. I had already made a few big numbers and I kind of settled down at the end.”
Upshaw said he thought the weather played a big role in the tournament…at least in his group.
“It was a lot of fun but it was hot and I think that created a little bit of a problem for our focus,” he said. “Steve (Fink) had issues on the last two holes, John (Steele) had issues as well and I had problems on a couple of holes. But we all got through it.”
He said the victory will boost his confidence.
“I’ve recently retired and I’ve only played in three or four events,” he said. “I’m still getting to know the people but the guys I’ve played with in the tournaments so far have all been great. And the support staff for the SNGA has also been extremely helpful any time we need them.”
Co-champ Fink said his last two holes of the tournament definitely proved costly.
“I fell apart on eight and nine (his final two holes),” he said. “I made two errors. The first one is I hit a shot into the lake on eight and made a five there. And the second was that I didn’t know where I stood in the tournament. I typically don’t look at the scoreboard. I had a chance to hit my 13-degree two-wood and sneak it up onto the green. I just made a bad swing and hit it into the bunker. I had a 45-yard bunker shot staring straight at the lake and just chunked it. Then I wound up missing a par putt to win it. I should have known where I stood.”
But, he was still happy with the co-title.
“A win is a win…even if it’s a tie for first,” he said.
Silver
x-Tobin Upshaw, 74-75—149
x-Steve Fink, 74-75—149
John Steele, 75-78—153
x-Co-champions
Silver Net
George Yocum had birdies on three of the first four holes to start his second round (two net and one natural) but it was a net birdie on the final hole that sealed a one-stroke victory.
It was Yocum’s second win of 2025 and the second time he posted a net birdie on the final hole to pick up the victory.
He said that final net birdie on the last hole was anything but routine.
“This wasn’t quite the way it was supposed to go,” he said with a laugh. “I had 125 yards in and flew my shot over the green and into the water. Then I dropped and made a 20-footer from off the green for a par, net birdie. And the pin got in the way or it would have rolled 15 or 20 feet past the hole. Let’s just say I got lucky.”
He said one part of his game stood out this weekend.
“I drove the ball really well both days,” he said. “In fact, the driving has been the best it’s been for a long time. The rest of my game was just OK.”
Silver Net
George Yocum, 73-75—148
Rex Nagao, 72-77—149
Barry Boudreaux, 76-74—150
