Mike Genovese and Todd Bailey need four extra holes, but a short birdie putt sealed the Alabama/NW Florida Section Team Championship victory.
Playing a scramble on the first day and best-ball on the second day, the Genovese/Bailey team shot rounds of 62-70, while the team of Jordan Debonis/Kevin Klein had rounds of 65-67 to force the playoff at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama.
The field the for Alabama/NW Florida Section Team Championship consisted of 21 teams for the final event of the section’s 2020 schedule. The event was a shotgun start both days.
Genovese/Bailey won $2,400 and the runners-up pocketed $2,000.
Genovese/Bailey and Jay McLelland/Jake Narro each shot 62 to take the first-round lead. Troy Raybon/Garrett Powell were a shot back at 63, while Matt Sheppard/Zach Casto finished with a 64. Debonis/Klein and two other teams were three shots back with an opening 65.
Almost a Three-team Playoff Section Team Championship
Things got interesting the best-ball portion of the tournament on the second day. A few teams struggled – Raybon/Powell shot 76 and McLelland/Narro had a 74 – and fell out of contention, while Debonis/Klein surged with their second-round 67, along with the team of Curtis Ohrn and Jake Greer, who turned in a 66 for the day’s best round. But the Ohrn/Greer team came up one shot shy of making it a three-team playoff.
Genovese/Bailey scratched out a 70 to get into the playoff.
Genovese finally ended the playoff with a 7-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole.
The Alabama/NW Florida PGA section conducted 15 tournaments in 2020. The Alabama Chapter held 10 events and the Gulf Coast Chapter held 13 events.
Todd Bailey of the Dewsweepers Performance Academy topped the section’s Omega 2020 Player of the Year points list, followed by Todd McCorkle of Old Overton.
By Alabama Golf News staff
Featured image: Alabama Golf Association
