Club Life Firecracker Special Issue 7.6.23

Harper-Leavellecapture top Firecrackertitleafterplayoff

SanAntonio-basedproTexasHarperandamateurpartnerJasonLeavelle wontheFirecrackerChampionshipflightafterHarperdraineda25-foot birdieputtonthesecondplayoffhole...#2...earlySundayevening.

Onehundredandtwelvegolferscompetedinfiveflightsoverahotand muggyweekendattheClubinthetwo-man,best-balltournament.

HarperandLeavelleshot68-68andasdidStevanHinojosaandDan MacDonaldtoforcetheplayoff.

Otherflightwinners:

Firstflight:JamesAlemanandTannerJohnson,shot73-67towinby threestrokes.

Secondflight:DougPetersonandMarkLaRue,shot68-72towinbyone shot.

Thirdflight:ClifAlexanderandRobertDeLeon,shot75-72towinby threestrokes.

Fourthflight:JerryRamirezandJamesGuerrawon1stgross

Left: Texas Harper pulls his birdie putt out of the cup on second playoff hole. Right, Pro Brent with Harper and partner Jason Leavelle.

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witha80-77.TheteamsofJimmyFreeman/ClayCampbellandHank Hall/EmmettHarristiedfor1stnet.

NeelAhujawonclosesttotheholeon#14Sundaywithhisfirst-everace, hittinga7-ironfrom180yards.“Itwasstraightdownwind.Itbouncedand funneledin,”saidAhuja,whonowlivesintheHoustonarea,butgrewup playingattheClub.

Championshipflight

HinojosaandMacDonaldhadtheleadonSunday’sbacknine.Theybogeyed 17andparred18tofinish8-underforthetournament.

HarperandLeavellewereplayinginthefinalgroupbehindthem,paired withDanSciantarelliandTreyCrain.

Whenthosetwoteamscametothe18thtee,bothwere8-underandathreewayplayoffwaspossible.

Sciantarellihithissecondshotintothe18thgreen,ithittheflagpoleand ricochetedbackoffthegreen,bringinggroansfromthegolf-cartgallery surroundingthe18th.

Golf cart gallery grew around #18 as final groups in the Championship flight finished.

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SciantarelliandCrainbogeyedthe hole,leavingHarperandLeavelle needingabirdietowinorparto forceextragolf.

Harperdidn’tmakepar,leaving Leavelleandhis4-to-5-footpar puttstandingbetweenaHinojosa andMacDonaldvictory.

Hedrainedtheputt. Bothteamsparredthefirsthole beforeHarperwonthetournament on#2.

“I’vealwaysenjoyedthe Firecracker,”saidHarper,who playedittwicebefore,finishing secondbothtimes.Butthiswasthe firsttimeheplayeditsincethe ChetWilliamsrenovations.

“Thecourseisincredible.The greenswerefirmandperfect.What they’vedonewiththecourseis great,”Harpersaid.

HerecentlywonhisCanadianTour card,qualifyinginthattour’sQ SchoolwithLeavelleonhisbag. Theyknoweachotherfromplaying attheDominionClubinSan Antonio.Thiswasthesecondtime they’veplayedatournament togetherandhavewonbothtimes.

Onthefinalplayoffhole,Harper triedtohitalongdrive,butpushed

Pro Brent gets the playoff started on #1

Jason Leavelle tees off on first playoff hole.

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itright.Hisballwasunderneathtrees.

HarperwasinthesamespotearlierinthedayanddebatedwithLeavelle abouthittingwedgeintothefairwayortryingalowhard-cutshottowardthe green.Hehitthewedgeandstillmadebirdieonthepar-5hole.

“ThistimeIsawwheretheothertwoguyswereandknewweneededfour,so Ihitahard-cut,low4iron,”hesaid.

Hisballstoppedjustshortofthegreen,nearMacDonald’s.

MacDonald’ssecondshotendedupthereaftergettingarulingfromPro Brentafterhisteeshotwentleftintothetreesandtherewasaquestionabout hisstanceonanirrigationline.

Harperthoughthischipcouldgoin,butitdidn’t,beforereleasingdownhillto 25feetaway.

MacDonald’schipalsowentpasttheholeandHarpergotagoodreadoffhis birdieputtthatmissed.

“Itneverhadachancetomiss.Itwentrightin”saidHarper,whowas confidentstandingovertheputt.

Left: Pro Brent and Dan MacDonald discuss ruling after MacDonald's tee shot on #2 went into trees. Right: Harper and MacDonald had their second shots finish short of #2 green. Harper's chip rolled 25 feet past the pin, but shortly after he made that putt to close out the match.

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Firstflight

AlemanandJohnsonstartedSunday twooffthelead.

“Yesterdaywehadonebirdie betweenus,sowedidn’tplayour best.Itoldhim(Tanner)we’vegot toshoot68.Wedon’tshoot68, we’renotgoingtowin,”Aleman said.

Theydidonestrokebetter. “Webogeyedaneasyholeouthere andthenstartedmakingbirdies.We werebothplayingfromthemiddle ofthefairway.Wewerebothon greensinregulationandthensome theputtsstartedtofall,”hesaid.

AlemanandJohnsonbirdiedholes2, 6and8,butbogeyedthedriveable par-47th.Theybirdied11,15and16 ontheback.

Thepairstoppedwatchinglive scoringafterthe14thhole.

“Itoldhim,we’vegotfourholes left,”Alemansaid,tellinghis partnertonotcarewheretheother groupswere.“We’rejustgoingto keepgoingforward.”

Alemanalsotoldtheyounger Johnsontostayfocusedandnotlet thegrowinggroupofspectators botherhimthroughthefinalholes.

Pro Brent with first flight winners James Aleman and Tanner Johnson.

Tanner Johnson helps partner James Aleman line up putt on #18.

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Secondflight

LaRueandPetersonthoughttheyweretwobehindtheleadstandingonthe 18thtee.

“Wethoughtweneededbirdietogetintoatieforsecond,”LaRuesaid.

Theybothlippedoutputtsonthefinalgreen,butPetersonparredthehole afterhittinghisapproachtofivefeet.Itgavethemtheone-shotvictoryover WillWallaceandRobGrainger.

“Afterwegotbacktoourcart,somebodycameupandsaid‘congratulations.’ Ithoughttheyweremessingwithme.”LaRuesaid.“I'mgladIdidn'tknow. GladIwasjustplayinghardanddidn'tdoanythingstupid,”hesaid.

Thirdflight

DeLeonsaidthekeytohisvictorywithpartnerAlexanderwassimple.

“Wedidn’tmakethemistakeswemadeyesterday–andthismanshowed up,”hesaidofAlexander.

Theteamrackedupenoughbirdiestowinbythreestrokesafterenteringthe daytwobehind.

Fourthflight

Brothers-in-lawHallandHarrismadeabigbirdieoutofthebunkeron17 to wininamatchtheyknewthematchwastightallday.

“Itwasagreatmatchandweneverknewwhowasgoingtowin,”saidHall.

Mark LaRue (in photo) and Doug Peterson won the second flight.

Pro Brent with third flight winners Robert DeLeon and Clif Alexander.

CorpusChristiCountryClub FinalResults

ChampionshipFlight

*1st68-68-136-TexasHarper/JasonLeavelle$1500/Team

*Won2holeplayoff

2nd68-68-136-StevanHinojosa/DanMacDonald$1000/Team

3rd68-69-137-TreyCrain/DanielSciantarelli$700/Team

T4th69-71-140-JaimeGomez/MiguelDelAngel,Jr$250/Team

T4th74-66-140-RobertCardona/MarioCardona$250/Team

DayMoney-69-AustinAnderson/TroyLopez$200/Team

FirstFlight

1st73-67-140-JamesAleman/ TannerJohnson$1500/Team

2nd71-72-143-WillWallace/ RobGrainger$1000/Team

T3rd71-76-147-DavidGibson/ VictorGarcia$350/Team

T3rd71-76-147-DamianShipley/ SamuelBliven$350/Team

DayMoney-71-EthanDonahoo/ BruceTaylor$200/Team

Tanner Johnson, left and James Aleman celebrate their First Flight win on 18th green

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SecondFlight

1st 68-72-140-Doug Peterson/Mark LaRue $1500/Team

T2nd 73-68-141-Bryan Grove/Steve Cruse $850/Team

T2nd 73-68-141-Bert Garza/Brian Barrett $850/Team

Day Money 69-Neel Ahuja/Jacob Garza $200/Team

ThirdFlight

1st 75-72-147-Clif Alexander/Robert DeLeon $1500/Team

2nd 73-77-150-Jesse Cotton/Sam Reid $1000/Team

3rd 77-74-151-Larry Aduddell/Sean Williams $700/Team

Day Money-75-Clint Bigenheimer/Aaron/O’Donnell $200/Team

One team found a way to keep cool during Sunday's round

1st80-77-157-JerryRamirez/JamesGuerra$1500/Team

2nd79-85-164-UweLeopold/RajanAhuja$1000/Team

T1st72-65-137-JimmyFreeman/ClayCampbell$1250/Team

T1st69-68-137-HankHall/EmmettHarris$1250/Team

DayMoney-79-TraceBuddy/KentNielsen$200Team

SaturdayClosesttotheHole #8-MarkLaRue7’8”, $200/Team

#17-DanielSciantarelli3’11, $200/Team

SundayClosesttotheHole #4-RajanAhuja1’5”, $200/Team

#14-HoleInOne,NeelAhuja, $200/Team,plusayear’ssupply ofclothingfromShortPar4

AllpayoutforamateursinPro Shopcredit

Neel Ahuja's first-ever ace on #14 won Closest to the Hole during Sunday's round.

ThePlayers

Note: These are the Sunday groups, not all names match photo from left to right

1 p m group: Jason Leavelle, Texas Harper, Daniel Sciantarelli Trey Crain

12:50 group: Jaime Gomez, Miguel Del Angel Jr , Dan MacDonald Stevan Hinojosa

12:40 group:Kevin Smith, Brian Smith, Billy Storms, Joe Degrande.

12:20 group: Jay Garcia, Michael G Fuentes, John Moore, Raymond Garcia.

12:10 group: Mason Miller, Curt Bowden, Jeffrey Davis, Lee Smith.

Noon group: Mario Cardona, Robert Cardona, Austin Anderson, Troy Lopez.

11:10 group: Ethan Donahoo, Bruce Taylor, Tom Crain, Collin Bacak

11:30 group: James Aleman, Tanner Johnson, Damian Shipley, Samuel Bliven.

11:40 group: Will Wallace, Rob Grainger, David Gibson, Victor Garcia.

11:20 group: John Reichert, Henry Lemaire, Domingo Zamparripa, May Villarreal.

11 a.m. group: Andrew Barrera, Michael Alvarado, Chris Wicker, John Lackey.

10:40 group: Dean Sartoris, Craig Kondoff, Mark LaRue, Douglas Peterson.

10 a.m. group: Butch Wisehart, Darel Blohm, Craig Thompson, Roger Martinez.

0:20 group: Trenton Amador, Miles Holcomb, Bert Garza, Brian Barrett.

0:30 g oup: ya G o e, Ste e C use, Jo Wallace, Jack Wallace.

10:10 group: Neel Ahuja, Jacob Garza, Miguel Del Angel, Yil Durak

9:50 group: Alex Khastehdel, David Salinas, Scott Sorrells, John Thompson

9:30 group: Jesse Cotton, San Reid, Clif Alexander, Robert DeLeon.

8:40 group: Uwe Leopold, Rajan Ahuja, Emmett Harris, Hank Hall.

9:10 group: Clint Bingemheimer, Aaron O'Donnell, Steven Keevan, Robert Epps.

9:20 group: Larry Aduddell, Sean Williams, Edwin Mitchell, Danny Brooks.

9 a.m. group: John Paul Arellano, Bryan Grove, David Hamilton, Paul Hines

8:30 group: Jerry Ramirez, James Guerra, Noe Gonzalez, Tommy Haddad.

8:20 group: Clay Campbell, Jimmy Freeman, Gary McKinny, Steve Moore.

Sign on the course in support of David Gibson and Victor Garcia

7:30 group: Ryan Cain, Matthew Swann, Lazaro Paredez, William McCall

7:50 group: Scott Sherman, Marshall Wilkerson, Lyle Murphey, Gary Pruett

8:10 group: Oscar Trevino, Josue Delagarza, Andrew Jimenez, Logan Kirkpatrick

7:40 group: Steve Stockseth, Bradley Lenz, Trace Bucey, Kent Nielsen.

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