SNGA Tour Arroyo Champs Clinch Tournament of Champions Invites

Lorenzo Gillenwater (Championship), Byron Randolph (Senior), John Kelley (Silver) and Nicholas Sotelo (Net) won titles in the 2022 SNGA Tour stop at Arroyo Golf Club. The event was held Aug. 17, 2022. Now, each are eligible to play in the 2023 SNGA Tournament of Champions.— By Bill Bowman, www.LasVegasGolfInsider.com

Championship

Lorenzo Gillenwater carded a four-under-par 32 on the front nine and cruised to a three-stroke victory in the Championship Division.

Gillenwater birdied his opening hole and three of the last four on the front nine in winning for the first time since 2019 when he posted two victories.

He said the start couldn’t have been better.

“The front nine went really well,” he said. “But it got in my head a little and I kind of blew up on the back.”

He said there was nothing too special about the front nine.

“I hit a bunch of fairways and greens and the putts went in,” he said. “It was easy on the front nine. Even when I missed greens I was chipping it up to within a foot or two. The birdie putts I did make were 15-feet or so. The putter was on fire.”

But then came the turn.

“I was licking my chops thinking I was going to shoot a 66 or lower,” he said. “Then I missed two-footers for par on 10 and 12 and wound up with bogeys. I guess I started thinking and that was the problem.”

He’s just getting back into golf after the COVID problems and said his work is paying off.

“I basically quit for a year and just started up six or seven months ago,” he said. “The practice is going well. I’m just putting the pieces together one at a time.”

Championship

Lorenzo Gillenwater, 70

Marcus Mullins, 73

Trevor Price, 75

Senior

Byron Randolph won a scorecard playoff to pick up his first SNGA title.

Randolph, David Koch and John Bobroski all posted three-over-par 75s.

For Randolph, there was no doubt where he picked up the momentum. It came in the form of an eagle on the par-5 11th hole.

“That eagle was a kick start and got me going on the back,” he said. “I struggled a little on the front nine. I’ve been fighting a little bit of an injury and a couple of bad swings cost me a couple of bogeys.”

But he kept up the fight setting the stage for the eagle on the 11th.

“I hit driver and then a 3-iron to about 15 feet,” he said. “The greens were really rolling well so if you got putts rolling on line they were going to go in.”

Randolph added his short game and the true-rolling greens made for a good combination for him.

“My wedges around the greens really kept me going,” he said. “I missed a lot of greens but was able to get up and down on a lot of them.”

Now with his first win under his belt, Randolph said his confidence is sky-high.

“I’m playing pretty well right now,” he said. “I’ve played a lot this summer. I haven’t played a lot of SNGA events but when I do I’ve been pretty competitive. Now, I can’t wait for the next one.”

Senior

Byron Randolph, 75

David Koch, 75

John Bobroski, 75

Silver

John Kelley struggled out of the gate but rallied to win the Silver Division.

Kelley was five-over-par through his first four holes–including a 7 on the par-4 fourth hole–but stayed positive.

“It definitely isn’t the kind of start you want but I was four-under after that,” he said. “I made a birdie on the fifth and just got comfortable after that and made a lot of putts.”

He said turning his game around came as a surprise even to him.

“It’s human nature,” he said with a laugh. “My nature is when I get off to a bad start, I kind of give up early and have a bad attitude. I guess making that birdie on No. 5…and then the second birdie on the next hole…got me back in a positive frame of mind.”

And there was more positivity.

“Those two birdies made that seven feel just a little bit better,” he said.

He added there was no magic formula for his turnaround.

“I just put my head down and played golf,” he said. “I didn’t think about anything. I just tried to find fairways. That’s what cost me the triple, missing the fairway. I got tied up in the rough and left a couple of sloppy shots out there.”

He said all-in-all it was a pretty solid round…all things considered.

“I was hitting the driver and irons well,” he said. “And I finished with a birdie on No. 18 which was nice.”

Silver

John Kelley, 73

Paul Svelmoe, 78

Jim Cail, 78

Net

Nicholas Sotelo had two net eagles on the back nine to go along with seven net birdies in the round en route to a one-stroke victory.

Sotelo was three-under through his first five holes as he went on to post his first victory on the SNGA Tour in just his second start.

“I didn’t expect it but it was fun and great to win,” he said.

He added there was one key to his solid round.

“I’ve been able to keep my driver in the fairway and that helped me out a lot,” he said.

He said his putting was also solid.

“I made some four-foot putts that I normally might not make and that helped my confidence,” he said. “I also missed a true eagle putt by three or four rotations. It wound up being a birdie but that was a great putt even though I missed it.”

Overall, Sotelo came into the tournament with no expectations.

“This was awesome,” he said. “I drove it well and putted well and that helped a lot.”

Net

Nicholas Sotelo, 65

Jin Ho Choi, 66

Anthony Carrillo, 68