Mike Allen shot 68 Sunday at Lakecliff Country Club in Spicewood, Texas to go with a first round 73 and post one under par for the tournament to capture the season ending Austin Amateur Golf Championship.
The AAG championship is the last in a series of tournaments in which players can accumulate points toward the AAG player rankings. The AAG rankings are used to select the Rudy's I-35 Cup team and award honors to individual players for their season long performances.
Kody King, the 2011 Men's City Champion and runner-up in the 2012 city championship, continued his great play over the last two years and shot 68 in the final round to capture the 2012 AAG Player of The Year title. Shown here on the left, King also won the player of the year honors in 2011. Steve Paterson finished second behind King in Mid-Am and Open points category while Robert Evans finished third in the Mid-Amateur category. Year end point totals will be posted on the AAG website in the next day or two.
The Austin Amateur Golf organization, consisting of a group led by Randy Reynolds, Robert Evans, and Steve Paterson, continue to provide the Austin Golfing Community with a valuable service. They donate their time, money and energy to organize a schedule of tournaments, provide on-line leaderboards, record individual scores for each tournament, provide players with statistical packages about their play, keep historical records of tournament results, maintain a points ranking and in general foster a sense of community among Austin golfers. Hats off to all associated with Austin Amateur Golf organization on another successful year of promoting amateur golf in Austin.
Explore their website to see how your friends and golfing buddies did this year or review past year's performances or player profiles. We encourage you to learn about their organization and support their efforts by contributing financially or becoming involved in their efforts to maintain their website, organize tournament schedules, or administer the Rudy's I-35 Cup Matches.
Turning back to the AAG championship….As the day began, the 18-20 mph gusty winds that plagued players in the first round were still blowing 15-18 mph but began to abate around noon and players completed their rounds with winds in the 10-12 mph range. Those conditions allowed improved scoring for the entire field. Six players shot under par in the second round as opposed to only one in the first round. Allen, Steve Trafton and Kody King recorded three under par 68's, Michael Goldwater and Mark Baldree posted 69, and Steve Patterson shot 70.
Headed into the final round Gene Black lead the tournament by two over Allen and three over Robert Evans. After nine holes the tournament had a group of players in contention for the title and bunched within a few shots of each other. Black recorded (39) on the front, Allen (34), Evans (35) and Steve Patterson (32). Michael Goldwater was within a shot or two of the lead.
Patterson's 32 on the front put him even par for the tournament after a first round 76 and tied for the lead with Allen. Evans was at one over for the tournament and Black was at two over. Allen, Evans and Patterson all picked up another birdie and after 11 holes Patterson and Allen were one under for the tournament while Evans stood at even par. Michael Goldwater, who eventually finished second was compiling a solid round and needed only another two shots to tie for the title.
As the back nine unfolded, Patterson and Evans encountered difficulty on the long par three 12th hole. The 12th was playing 215 yards over water into the wind to a green surrounded by bunkers and rough. Evans hopes were significantly diminished after he put a ball in the water and recorded a triple bogey six. However, he immediately recovered by making birdies on the next three holes and narrowly missed birdie putts on the last three holes to record one under 70 and finish at one over par for the tournament. Patterson also had difficulty on the 12th hole and eventually played holes 12-18 in four over par, resulting in 70 for the round. Goldwater bogied the final hole to record 69.
Meanwhile, Allen continued his steady play of hitting greens and fairways and picked up another birdie on the par five 15th to get to four under for the round and two under for the tournament. His only bogey came on the par four 18th when he narrowly missed going into the greenside water hazard and after pitching onto the green from the rough, missed a five foot putt for par. But by then, the tournament outcome had been decided.
Peach Reynolds led the AAG senior points category all year long and recorded an even par 71 in the final round to go with a 77 the first round. However, Allen's wins in the Austin Men's Senior Championship and the AAG championship provided a late season surge that allowed him to win the points race in the senior category for a second year in a row.
Tournament scores
73-68 = 141 Mike Allen
74-69 = 143 Michael Goldwater
74-70 = 144 Robert Evans
70-75 = 145 Gene Black
78-68 = 146 Steve Trafton
76-70 = 146 Steve Paterson
77-71 = 148 Peach Reynolds
76-72 = 148 Jonathan Alden
75-73 = 148 Peter McGibney
80-69 = 149 Mark Baldree
76-74 = 150 Jerry Thorn
75-76 = 151 Lee Broussard
75-81 = 156 Randy Reynolds
79-79 = 159 Johnny Jeffers
88-80 = 168 Jan Douglas
88-85 = 173 Jordahl Myron
