Fox wins Open Division, Perez claims Senior Division at Tournament of Champions
Briefly: Logan Fox of Temple fired rounds of 71-69 for a total 140, two-under-par to capture the Tournament of Champions Open Division, John Perez of San Antonio overcame a four shot deficit in the final round to capture the Senior Division title.
Golf Course: Champions Golf Club was created and opened by World Golf Hall of Famers and Masters Champions Jack Burke Jr. and Jimmy Demeret. Opened in 1956 the Cypress Creek designed by famed golf course architect Ralph Plummer. The Jackrabbit course followed closely behind, opened in 1959 and designed by George Fazio and renovated in 2002 by Tom Fazio. Champions Golf Club has hosted some of golfs biggest events including the Ryder Cup, U.S. Open and Women’s Open, the U.S. Amateur, and many more.
Weather: Saturday’s first round saw players tee off at a temperature of 94 degrees, temperatures reached up to 98 degrees, humidity was at 42%. Sunday’s final round was equally hot with the temperature again reaching 98 degrees.
Top Finishers: Logan Fox, Open Division champion, qualified for the Tournament of Champions as the Hill Country Medalist Player of the Year accumulating 1,050 players of the year points throughout the three events. Fox opened the event with a colorful scorecard with five birdies to match five bogeys. Fox had the only birdie of the day on the par 3 hole number 4 that was playing at roughly 178 yards. Fox also claimed the only birdie on the day on hole 17 the second longest par 4 of the tournament at 454 yards. Fox was tied for the lead heading into the final round with two other players Wesley Walker of Houston and Bryce Womack of San Antonio. Fox opened his second round with a flurry of birdies on holes 2, 4, and 5. He would also go onto birdie hole number 9 narrowly missing the eagle putt on the right edge. Fox was able to grind out a back nine one-over-par 36 to take the victory by three strokes. Fox was the only player in the tournament this year to shoot rounds of even par or better.
John Perez, narrowly qualified for the Tournament of Champions through the Medalist Hill Country finishing in a tie for third place to get into the event. Perez opened the Tournament of Champions shooting a 77. In his first round on hole 8 Perez hit 9 iron from 139 yards for a hole in one. In his final round Perez made four birdies to only three bogeys to chase down round one leader Brad Greebon and force a playoff for the championship. In the playoff on hole one Perez nearly won it chipping from just off of the green needing one more rotation for the ball to drop for birdie, both players made par and moved onto hole 2. On hole two Perez hit his approach into the green to about thirty feet, Greebon followed him hitting his ball to thirteen feet. Perez stepped up to his putt and drained the thirty footer, Greebon missed his putt right and Perez walked away from the playoff champion.
Finishing in a tie for second place in the Open Division was Bryce Womack of San Antonio and Jack Byrd of Montgomery. Womack entered the final round tied with Fox. Womack continued to fight Fox for the lead making the turn to hole number 10 one stroke behind at two-under. A blunder on hole 10 making double bogey would end Womacks chances at claiming the championship finishing three strokes back of Fox. Byrd entered the final round two strokes back of the lead group, his front nine ended his chance at a win however his back nine 32 shot him right back up the leaderboard into a top 3 finish. Finishing in fourth place was Ben Carter of Dallas who shot rounds of 74-70.
Finishing second in the Senior Division Brad Greebon of San Marcos. Greebon entered the final round with a four stroke lead and narrowly missed out on the victory losing to Perez’ thirty foot birdie putt on hole two of the playoff. Rounding out the top three in the Senior Division was Donald O’Connor of McKinney, the North Region Senior Medalist player of the year.
What’s Next: With the conclusion of the TGA Regional series and Tournament of Champions, the next TGA event will be the Texas Four-Ball hosted by BraeBurn Country Club in Houston. Texas Mid-Amateur Last Chance qualifying will take place August 26th at Oakmont Country Club in Corinth with the Texas Mid-Amateur taking place the following week September 6-8 at Denton Country Club.
More Info: The Tournament of Champions is an invitation only event through our regional Medalist Series events. The top seven player of the year point earners in the Open Division and top three earners in the Senior Division in each region receive an invitation to the event. The Texas Golf Association extends its sincere appreciation to the staff, members of Champions Golf Club their time and effort made the Tournament of Champions a memorable and successful event. For more information on the Tournament of Champions, click here.