Melissa Holland, Nora Phillips, Kim Robinson, Rebecca Huber, Brent Cook, Wes McNulty, Greg Connell, and Ben Loftis took home top honors in their respective divisions Sunday at Ponce de Leon Golf Club in Hot Springs Village.
By: Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
September 18, 2023
The ASGA handed out trophies to eight winners and eight more runners-up at the State Stroke Play Championships at Ponce de Leon Golf Club in Hot Springs Village on Sunday.
Melissa Holland, Nora Phillips, Kim Robinson, Rebecca Huber, Brent Cook, Wes McNulty, Greg Connell, and Ben Loftis took home top honors in their respective divisions.
In the women’s Mid-Am division, Holland defeated Laura McKinney by two shots in round three to break the tie at the top and avenge her second-place finish at this year’s Match Play.
“It's always an honor to play in any of these ASGA events with these fine ladies,” Holland said. “The course, played very tough today, but a win is a win. But most importantly, I got to play with some lifelong friends.”
In the senior competition, Nora Phillips claimed the trophy over second-place finisher Rise Alexander. Both players will be competing in the USGA Women’s Senior Am in a few weeks in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Phillips was the only player to shoot three rounds in the 70s and she tallied two birdies in each of the rounds.
“Do you believe I'm a senior now?” Phillips said with a smile. “[Like Holland said,] it is an honor to play in these events.”
Robinson, who claimed her second Major of the year after a Match-Play title in July, echoed her fellow players’ statements.
“It means a lot because I know all three of us and many of the ladies work hard on their game,” Robinson said. “And so it's always nice to see a benefit and we're just really thrilled to be here. It feels really good.
Huber was unavailable for comment. She shot the best rounds in the division on both days two and three and walked away with an 11-shot win.
On the men’s side, Mid-Am Champion Brent Cook, like Robinson, claimed his second ASGA Major of the season after winning the Match Play in the same division.
“Drove the ball great,” Cook said. “Hit a lot of 3-woods out there, which I don't normally do — Usually just trying to hit driver— hit 3-wood on six of the par fours, hit the fairway with every one of those over all three days, iron play was pretty good as well. Golf Course was great, hard.”
Cook fired three rounds in the 70s and improved during each round of the tournament — 77, 74, and 72 — even though many players believed the course played its most difficult on Sunday.
“There's really nobody that loves golf more than I do,” Cook said. “I Follow golf, I work in the golf business, professional golf, amateur golf, I love to play golf, but this is my favorite. It wasn't a nice day out there. I promise you, it wasn’t a nice day, It was a hard day. It was a trying day. If you're giving any effort, if you care at all, It's gonna be hard and it was, and I feel good about it.”
Cook usually caddies for Warren Stevens, the CEO of Stephens Inc. at the Alotian Golf Club Member-Member Tournament, where Cook is the Caddie Manager, but this week, Mr. Stephens told Cook to go win himself a trophy instead.
“He wanted me to come do this,” Cook said of Stephens. “Our member-member was this weekend, I typically caddy, [but] he was insistent that I come play. This is one of the state's best people, I hope everybody knows that. This man was more worried about what was going to happen for me rather than me going to work for the last three days. So I'm really grateful for Mr. Stephens, his wife, his children. These are some of the state's finest people and we're lucky to have them.”
In the senior division, Wes McNulty, who played in the final group of this year’s State Am on Sunday, won by 10 strokes.
His first round of even-par included an ace on the 302-yard par-4 sixth hole.
Despite the hole-in-one, McNulty said he was unhappy with how he struck the ball over the opening 18 holes. During the next 36, he improved measurably.
He notched a 4-under-par 68 in Round 2 and a 73 in Round 3, however, he said Sunday was his “best day on the golf course.
"Today was playing challenging,” McNulty said. This golf course was set up hard today. And there wasn't a shot out there that didn't have a little angst in it. And you know, I really played well, I played conservative. You know, it was just a good day all around, even though I shot my worst score, it was my best day on the golf course .”
“Once I got through the third hole, I knew the place was playing really difficult,” McNulty continued. “And I thought that even par would be a great score. And I was just trying to play conservative off the tee and conservative into the greens, and I mishit one shot today. And you know, it cost me bogey on that one hole. But other than that I really played solid golf today.”
McNulty said this is a tournament he’ll cherish.
“It means a lot,” McNulty said. Any time that you can beat the field we had here this week on this golf course, It was a great week. I'm very proud, it was my first senior State Am. So it’s something that I'll always remember.”
In the super-senior division, an emotional Greg Connell came from behind to stand atop a leaderboard where just three shots separated the top eight players.
“I started the tournament with a triple-bogey on the first hole,” Connell said. “And that was a bit of a challenge mentally. But I played with some of the best guys that you can ever play with. I was playing with Mark Bradshaw and Bobby Baker for the first two days and they’re the finest gentleman you’ll meet anywhere. And I wound up shooting 70 yesterday, and it was just, ‘hold on by your fingernails’ today. They were pins the way they should be on a championship Sunday type deal. And it was fun, I'm still in shock, But it was fun.”
Connell cited a Tony Finau quote as he fought back tears.
“Golf is such a fickle game, you just keep playing it,” Connell said. “The quote that meant the most to me in the past years, I remember when Tony Finau went on a winning streak there and he had come in second like a dozen times. And he just said, ‘A winner’s a loser that didn't give up.”
With his victory, Connell wrapped up the year-long race for the Simmons Bank Super-Senior Player of The Year.
“You dream of that when you tee it off in the first tournament every year," he said. "Still can't believe it.”
In the Legends division, Ben Loftis led after the first round with a 71 and rode that momentum to a three-shot win.
“I hit my irons good today,” Loftis said after Sunday’s final round. “I didn't hit my driver particularly well, but I recovered really well. Playing with this group here, it’s fun to win.”
Loftis said coming back to his home state and playing golf after a quarter-century in the armed forces has been “a blessing.”
I know just about everybody [in the field] and it's very prestigious for me. I was in the air forcefor 25 years. Coming back to Arkansas, it's been a blessing.”
As the season winds down, take a look at the current Player of the Year races in all divisions here.
The ASGA's annual Hall of Fame and Player of the Year banquet is set for the night of Oct. 5 at Fayetteville Country Club.
