Ben Whitehead
The Duncan Banner
DUNCAN —
Micah Russell and Matt Heston went into Monday’s final round at the Elks Labor Day Golf Tournament two strokes behind the leaders, Jamie Gray and Aaron Morgan.
At the end of the round, it was Russell and Heston standing on top.
The duo shot a 59 on Monday to wrap up the three day tournament with a total of 183 in the Labor Day (Championship) Flight and claimed first place. Gray and Morgan shot a 64 to finished with a 186, good for second.
Elks head pro Josh Stewart was running the tournament for the second time and said it went over fairly smooth. Stewart teamed up with Ken Shaw and the team finished with a 191.
“We had a lot of fun with this tournament,” Stewart said. “We had a big turnout and I thought the play of the tournament went really well. Weather was good to us this year and it was real competitive.”
Rounding out the top four of the Labor Day Flight was Bret Penick and Scott Watson in third with a 187 and J.J. Russell and Bryan Adams in fourth with a 188.
Joe Morales and Jay Head overcame a four-stroke deficit going into the final day and shot a 64 to finish first with a total of 192. Jerry Wilson and Wayne Bardsher finished one stroke back with a 193. Rann White and Matt Taylor shot a 194 and took home third, while the leaders after two rounds, Danny Mercer and Tony Johnston finished fourth with a 195.
Rick Hickenbottom and Brandon Barker won B Flight with a three-day total of 200. The duo shot a 68 in the final round. James Roberts and Zack Dennis fired a 66 in the third round and came in second with a 203. Dan Hammond and David Moore were third with a 206 and Jason Bagwell and Josh Gardner were fourth with a 207.
Shawn Bateman and Gary Newberry were at the top of the leader board after the second day and finished the tournament on top with a 201. Calvin Kirkland and Cory Grovenburg finished seven strokes back in second place with a 208. Bruce Williams and Mike Shain were third with a 209. In fourth place were Kyle Lewis and Matt Hall with a 210. Otho McHugh and Frank Atwater finished fifth with a 211.
The winners of D Flight were Keith Fredrich and Jason Hunt with a 206. Clark Mitchell and Mike Milton were second with a 210. B.J. Chapman and Ronnie Ladon came in third with a 212 while Andres and Rafeal Rodriguez finished with a 214, good for fourth. The Rodriguez brothers had the low score for D Flight in the final round with a 67.
Connie Burton and Nub Sullivan took home first in E Flight with a 223, edging out Phillip Skinner and Bill Bradley in a scorecard playoff. In third were Don and Jeff Henricks with a 226. Rounding out the top four were Derrick Moore and Wilson Messersmith with a 231.
— Ben Whitehead is the sports editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 255-5354, Ext. 165, or via e-mail at ben.whitehead@duncanbanner.com.
