LAS VEGAS, NV (March 9, 2025)–Drake Harvey (Championship), Rick Sepp (Senior) and Chris Cookson (Silver) won titles in the 2025 SNGA Championship. Michael Clark (Net), Greg Pyszko (Senior) and Brent Bingham (Silver) won net titles. It was the SNGA’s first major of the year. The tournament was held March 8-9, 2025, at Highland Falls GC and Palm Valley GC.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff
Championship
Drake Harvey birdied five holes in a six-hole stretch midway through the final round to rally for the win in the Championship Division.
It was Harvey’s first SNGA major victory and third SNGA title.
The title didn’t come without overcoming a few problems as Harvey battled back from back-to-back double bogeys early in the first round.
“That was not in the equation,” said Harvey, a junior at Somerset Academy Sky Pointe. “I could not figure my driver out. I doubled five and doubled six and all of a sudden I’m three-over (after a first-hole birdie). I thought, OK, whatever…it’s not great but it’s manageable.”
Harvey wound up getting it back to even-par after the first 18 holes and he credited the 16th hole with changing the momentum.
“I hit my four-iron into 16 from 265 (yards),” he said. “I hit it so pure to 10 feet and made the putt for eagle. I thought, dang, we’re back to even par. We can do this.”
The final round saw Harvey go on his birdie run (five in six holes) as he moved up the leaderboard.
“I was five back going into today,” he said. “I made a lot of birdies and just tried to stay steady. I thought I was close to the lead. I just tried to make as many good shots as I could.”
In the end, winning this tournament is one he won’t soon forget.
“It’s great to see good results for good play,” he said, “You can never feel bad shooting five-under. I just went out today to try and beat the course.”
Championship
Drake Harvey, 72-67—139
Grant McKay, 67-73—140
Garret Kieffer, 70-72—142
Net
For Michael Clark, his victory was sweet redemption.
“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “I lost by one shot at the one-day tournament at Las Vegas National and it just kind of ate at me.”
And now that you’ve won?
“Coming back and winning this week was just phenomenal,” he said. “I just played smart…that’s the best way to put it. I didn’t have any big numbers and that was big.”
It was just Clark’s third SNGA event.
“If I’m going to win a tournament, I might as well make it a major, right,” he said with a laugh.
He said coming down the stretch his focus was sharp.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard until about No. 15,” he said. “Then I just wanted to check to see where everyone stood. I saw I was right there. I just said, OK, don’t be dumb. Keep it in the fairway and make someone come and beat you. If they do, that’s OK. If not, I’m driving home with this trophy.”
Despite the win, Clark said there were good and bad parts of his game…and all right around the green.
”I need to clean up the short game a little,” he said. “Both courses are not easy courses around the green. But my bunker play did save me. I got up and down five out of seven times and that also saved me.”
Net
Michael Clark, 70-67—137
George Wolf, 69-69—138
Chris Price, 71-70—141
Senior
Rick Sepp backed up his win in the Tournament of Champions with a win in the Senior Division.
Sepp overcame a double bogey and triple bogey in the first round to post the victory.
“I putted fairly consistent and drove the ball well and those are the two factors that helped me get the win today,” Sepp said.
Sepp said his iron play the first day proved to be a little suspect.
“I had a couple of really bad shots,” he said. “And those caused me to make a double and a triple. Other than those two holes I played pretty solid.”
He added the triple was quite the adventure.
“I hit the ball in the water twice,” he said. “The first one was off the tee and then I dropped and hit a terrible shot that rolled back into the water. Luckily I made a six-footer for a six. In the end I noticed there were a lot of high scores on that hole so I didn’t feel as bad.”
He said winning a major is always a bright spot.
“There’s a little more pressure when it comes to the majors,” he said. “There’s a lot more players–and really good players–in the field. It makes you concentrate a little more.”
Senior
Rick Sepp, 74-69—143
Brian Hurlburt, 75-70—145
Todd Roberts, 77-72—149
Senior Net
Greg Pyszko won for the first time since 2021, posting a three-shot victory in the Senior Net.
Pyszko won this tournament in 2021 and went on to win two more times in that season.
“It’s been awhile…way too long,” he said with a laugh. “I just played two solid rounds of golf.”
He said that doesn’t always happen.
“I just wanted to finish two days of golf,” he said. “I’ve been working on playing all 18 holes. I sometimes have a tendency to give up, I guess. I’ll have a bad hole and think I’m out of it and it affects me. This weekend I just said, OK, I’m not out of it and kept plugging away.”
He said winning a major never gets old.
“It’s always great to be able to win with a strong field,” he said of his third major victory. “It really boosts your confidence.”
Senior Net
Greg Pyszko, 72-73—145
Dave Golder, 76-72—148
Michael Kerr, 77-72—149
Silver
Chris Cookson posted a string of four straight birdies midway through the first round en route to a six-stroke victory.
For the two days, Cookson had 14 birdies. He won for the second time in 2025.
“To win a major is always great,” Cookson said. “I played with two guys today (Jeff Duncan and John Steele) who really pushed me across the finish line. The last few holes I got into a little trouble but it all worked out.”
Despite the win, Cookson still feels there’s work to be done.
“I still need to get better with the short irons,” he said. “Instead of stuffing a few of them, I hit them to 15-to-20 feet and that’s not good.”
Cookson added his four-birdie run in the first round set the table.
“Those definitely got my attention,” he said. “After that, I just wanted to stay focused and keep the process the same. I committed to what type of shot I wanted to hit and was pretty successful with that.”
Silver
Chris Cookson, 65-68—133
Jeff Duncan, 69-70—139
Patrick Woerner, 73-69—142
Silver Net
Brent Bingham’s second round was eight shots better than his opening round–from a 76 to a 68–in rallying to win the Silver Net.
It was Bingham’s second win of 2025.
“Yesterday I hit a couple of balls out of bounds and that was the difference,” Bingham said. “I had three bad holes–a triple and two doubles–and that kind of destroyed me for yesterday. Today I really played solid and I didn’t have any of those big numbers.”
Bingham said winning for the second time shows his work is paying off.
“You get out of it what you put into it,” he said. “I’ll continue to work on my rhythm and tempo and also on my short game and putting.”
It was Bingham’s first major victory.
“I was surprised I won it and it feels great to win a major,” he said. “I knew I played well and knew I had a chance but thought I would come in second or third. I had no idea I would win it.”
Silver Net
Brent Bingham, 76-68—144
Steve Fink, 74-71—145
John Steele, 73-74—147
