2018 Herald Sun Classic – Friday Update

Herald Sun Classic Round Two Match Play Update

The temperatures subsided slightly with moments of reprieve from the heat making the golf today much more enjoyable for the players. The Senior Championship Flight had Lea Couch taking Ronnie Powell to the last hole all square and due to an errant tee shot, Ronnie loses one down. Lea now faces Cecil Lockley who has great length and strong play winning his match against Rick Schloss 4 and 3. Ted Maynor who took Dink Andrews 20 holes before coming away victorious now has defending champion Johnny Adams in his sights. He’ll have to play well as Johnny showed great form today with a 6 and 5 win over Dante Berini.

Senior President’s Flight showed great play as well with Danny Bailey wining solidly 3 and 1 over Gene Smith. Danny now takes on Warren Henderson fresh off his strong win of 6 and 5 over Paul Harris. Louis Herndon wins his match over Craig Fielding 3 and 2 and now takes on Geoff Thornburn who came away with a win over Chris Thompson 3 and 2.

Second Flight Had a lot of outstanding play. John Ivey fell victim to Cedell Alexander’s consistent play losing to him 7 and 5. Cedell now faces John Naillon who has to keep reserving his hotel room due to his fine play! John wins 5 and 4 over Chris Thompson. Drew Haywood wins the 18th hole to go 2 up over Doug Hall and now faces Kiel Blanton who outlasted Brian Stewart.

The First Flight had Barry Roberts win over Kyle Garrett 4 and 2 and now has Barry facing off with Gary Newcomb who has played steadily in his first two matches. Travon Davis has worked hard on his golf game and its showing too. He won his match over Richard Wagner 3 and 2 and now has a challenge with long time Herald Sun competitor Jack Tomkovick. Jack won his match against Galen Maultsby 2 and 1.

The President’s Flight has David Perry winning a tough match against Bobby Semler but did come out on top 2 and 1. David now plays against William Lapp who continues his steady short game play after winning against Chad Bryant. Andrew Hanna took on Robin Blanton and won his match 2 and 1 with a great up and down on the 17th. Andrew will now go up against Brian Campbell who beat young Brycen Swain 4 and 3.

Fireworks flew today in the Championship Flight. James Hockman had Drew Harward four down at one time but Drew had something more to give his match. He brought it back gallantly only to lose one down. James now has Nick Karageorgos to play against tomorrow. Nick won his match two up over Matt Roberts. Brian Gann and Destin Barnes had a good match but Destin fell to Brian 2 and 1. Brian now takes on the other Barnes playing in the Championship Flight, Melvin Barnes who had a difficult time with Ronnie Williams after Ronnie won the 15th hole with a good up and down when Melvin failed to convert his par putt of 10 feet. Melvin chose a more aggressive play off the 16th moving his ball much farther down the hole than Ronnie. Ronnie had a putt of 12 feet but left it short and Melvin’s play from the rough had him in close range for birdie and after sinking his putt Melvin was back on top. It all came down to the 18th for Ronnie who had to win the hole to extend the match. But it was Ronnie this time who could not convert from a short chip shot and he lost to Melvin one down.

More great golf is on the way tomorrow so stay tuned for the 2018 Herald Sun Updates!

Karl Kimble, PGA