Each pairing in the AGB Open represented a mini tournament of sorts and here is how those went, in no particular order.
I won’t list all players in each pairing, but if you want to see those full pairings, click here.
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Kyle Reading won the fourth pairing by five shots, his 83 bettering Stan Mahlatini’s 88.
Mahlatini led the group with a 38 on the front nine that included two birdies, but Reading switched from his erratic driver to a 3-wood on the back nine and rallied to victory. Two 3-wood shots set him up for 20-foot eagle putt at the 14th, Reading wrote in a text. He two-putted from there for a birdie.
Other highlights from the group included the best drive in the history of the 14th hole by Chris Daigrepont and a perfectly played 12th hole by Torgeir Robertson.
“Our group probably had the most fun out there, cracking jokes and laughing on every hole, regardless of birdie or bogey,” Reading wrote in a text. “I had never played with any of the guys in my group, but after today we will definitely try to make it happen again.”
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Perhaps the most hotly contested pairing resulted in victory for Dave Jennings. He edged Paul Smith by a stroke and Brad Ross by three. Jennings was tied with Smith going into the 17th hole and led Ross by just one. Jennings parred the last two, which was good enough to secure victory.
“Course played tough today, especially the front (nine),” Smith wrote in a text. “Wind wouldn’t have been so hard if it wasn’t so bi-polar.”
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Ross McCarthy birdied the 18th hole to close out a three-shot win over Marcus Dolejsi, who trailed by one on the final tee and finished with bogey.
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Adam Baxter’s 75 vaulted him to No. 3 in the AGB rankings and won him the first pairing by four shots over Jung Han, who carded a 79.
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Trey Miller and Mark Adams each shot 82 in the sixth pairing. The tie breaker went to Miller, who was ranked higher than Adams at the start of the day.
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Dave Kester won the fifth pairing by three shots over Michael Anderson, who endured a tough two-stroke penalty at one point for playing the wrong ball.
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Then of course, there was Benjie Sumulong winning the final pairing by 11 shots over Rick Boyles, who was tied with Sumulong at the seventh tee. Sumulong birdied seven to go up one shot and relentlessly cruised from there.
