AGA Two-Man Scramble Champs Richard Jesko (left) and John Krasnan
Howie Tiger
The “dynamic duo” of Richard Jesko and John Krasnan continued their fantastic two-man scramble play to capture their second consecutive Arizona Golf Association Club Team Championship title in the Super Senior (age 70 plus) division. The championship final round was held at the Blackstone Country Club on December 14.
This year’s journey started on September 3 at the PebbleCreek Men’s Golf Association’s qualifier event. Richard and John shot nine under par 63 and advanced to the regionals.
The regional tournament was held at Arrowhead Country Club on November 30. Both players were very familiar with this golf course as they won last year’s AGA regional there. The team birdied four of their last five holes to shoot 64 gross to win their flight and advance to the finals. It should be noted that their score of 64 was the lowest round of the day for all flights including the “flat-belly” gross-only flight. Five other teams from PebbleCreek had competed, but did not move on to the finals.
The finals were held on a rainy, cold and windy day. To make playing conditions even more difficult, the course was set up with many tricky pin-placements and blind shots into several greens. The green speeds were the type you would only see on weekends on the PGA tour with Stimp readings of 14 downhill and 10 uphill.
Even though the format of this event was stroke play, not match play, Richard and John knew that beating the team they were playing with was a must (if they were to have a chance to bring home any trophy). The match went back and forth throughout the entire round, with both teams making crucial chip shots or sinking curling downhill putts. After their first nine holes, Richard and John found themselves two strokes behind. They were still down by two strokes with three holes to go. They dug deep and birdied their 17th hole. Then, on their last hole, a par three, Richard stuffed an iron to within six feet. Richard putted first (in this scramble format), but missed. John then casually drained the final putt for a deuce and tied the match.
Upon completion of their round, they felt somewhat disappointed with their gross score of 69, thinking they played very well under the conditions, but not good enough to win. They waited what seemed like an eternity for all the scores to be posted. They were so surprised when the scoreboard showed that they tied for Overall Low Gross and won the Super Senior flight in a scorecard playoff (lowest gross score on the back nine).
Congratulations to Richard and John for defending their title and making PebbleCreek proud!
Is there a “three-peat” in the cards for next year?