Forest Creek proved itself to be more of a test of golf skill than most ASGA members expected and solving the course's distance woes and tricky greens produced high scores at the next individual tournament in the East/West series. Jerry Horton scored the lowest of the East team with a net 70. He was followed by Cliff Rierson's 71 and Lee Van Burkleo's 72. This trio helped the East to a much needed victory although the 79.34 to 79.50 win was the highest team score in the series but also one of the closest. The victory by the East pushed their win-lost record to 6-7 and within one match of the West who stands at 7-6.
Also helping the East were Lawrence Noble, Don Visness, William Boyd, and Don Theiss with 74s. Samuel Jenkins and Paul Redden with net 75s completed the top ten on the East squad.
Players for the West had similar scores in their losing effort and were led by Frank Segura with a 70 and Bill Zuraitis and Jim Abercrombie with 71s. Barkley Edwards, Robert Moore, and Jack Scruggs finished with 72s while Shawn Higgins and Bobby Johnson were close behind with 73s.
In the second match of this series, the West rebounded to defeat the East by a 71.61 to 72.04 score and up their lead in the series to 8-6 while the East fell to 6-8. The West was led by the current Champion of the Grand Prix, Jack Slayton, with a net 62. Bill Zuraitis, another contender in the Grand Prix, followed with a net 63 while Shawn Higgins shot a gross 71 and a net 64 to power the West to the win. Bill Burke and Curtis Higgs also finished with a net 64s. Barkley Edwards aided the cause with a 65 along with Eddie Nunez who shot a net 66.
On the East side, last year's Grand Prix champion, Terry Rodriguez, along with Ralph Villela, shot net 63s. Wayne Patterson and Lewis Marshall turned in net 65s and Robert Stojanik and Larry White scored 66s even in a losing effort.
In the biggest match of the series, the Annual Tournament, the East powered back and won the two-day contest, 144.14 to 145.15, and narrowed their deficit to the West by one match, 7-8 to 8-7. Don Pratt, a past ASGA champion, repeated again with gross score of 136, averaging 68 for the two-day event, and leading all scorers for the tournament. Helping out for the East were Randy Alexis and Paul Redden with net 133s while LD Washington had a 134 and Don Visness finished with a 136. Richard Martinez and Ken Garrett finished with 138s and Don Hafner a 139.
George Robbins led the West squad with a net 134 and was followed closely by Shawn Higgins, Don Akers, and Ed Stokes with 135's. Closing out the top scoring for the West, Barkley Edwards, among the scoring leaders in this series, shot a 137 as did Denis Ching while Frank Segura finished with a 138.
The next individual tournament at Bluebonnet will be the final one of the year and will go along way in deciding the East/West Championship. The East needs a win to tie for the championship at 8-8 while the West just needs a tie or a win to be called the champions of the yearly contest.
Following the last tournament report the mythical All-Stars of this East/West series will be named as well. Stay tuned!
