Richard Jesko (left) and John Krasnan
Howie Tiger
John Krasnan and Richard Jesko, PCMGA members, won the super senior flight (age 70 plus) of the Arizona Golf Association Club Team Championship. The format was a two man scramble which calls for both players to tee off, then keep taking the best shot between them until the hole is complete. The championship final round was played at The Country Club at DC Ranch in Scottsdale on December 8.
John and Richard competed against 10 teams from around the state and shot 62.4 to take home the low net prize. They had never played this course before and said the greens were super slick. They made three eagles on their road to the finals and added one more in the championship final round. FYI, John is the current PCMGA President and both John and Richard are past PCMGA club champions.
The Club Team Championship qualifying process began on September 4 in a local event held at our Eagle’s Nest Course. Forty three teams competed for low gross and low net scores. Four teams in the all-age flights and two teams in the super senior flight advanced to a regional qualifier. The all-age teams that advanced included Bruce Carlyle and Al Chesky (low gross score 64), Brian Maine and Thom Bohnke (low gross score 64), Dennis Howell and Allyn Sayre (low net score 59.6) and Rick Horst and Dave Shenton (low net score 60.6). The super senior teams that advanced included Mike Der Manual and Ron Hansen (low net score 56.7) and John and Richard (low gross score 63).
Several regional qualifiers were played throughout Arizona. In our area, teams in the all-age flights had a choice to play at either Wigwam (November 12) or Arrowhead (November 17). The super senior flight played at Arrowhead.
All six PebbleCreek teams gallantly competed and well represented our community at the regional events; however, only John and Richard advanced to the championship final round.
In order to advance to the finals, John and Richard had to compete against 15 other teams. They described their play as a great example of ham and egg. If one of them hit a poor shot, the other one took up the slack. Along the way of shooting a round of 66, they had two eagles. John said that Richard’s clutch putting was the key to their success. Richard countered by saying that John’s hole-out on the fourteenth hole for an eagle two at the Eagle’s Nest local qualifier was critical to getting them to the regionals. Their round of 66 at Arrowhead tied them for overall low gross score enabling their advance to the finals.
Congratulations to John and Richard for bringing home the trophy to PebbleCreek!