WESTERN GOLDEN TEE PLAYERS VIE FOR $25,000

16 states and 1.5 million square miles of land make the Western region the largest of the four in the GTLRC. From Kansas to California, 150 of the biggest Golden Tee LIVE fans in the west made the pilgrimage to the Riviera Hotel and Casino to compete for the $5,000 payday and the honor of being called the best in the west.

In all GTLRC finals, the "main event" format consists of a five-course qualifier where scores are tallied to generate a leaderboard ranked best to worst. The player who qualifies #1 is crowned "King of the Hill" and receives a bye to the final while those who finish 2-9 playoff in an 8-man, single elimination tournament to face the KOH and play for $5,000 and the Regional Championship trophy.

Western Open competitors received added prize incentives throughout the day, including a Ben Hogan golf bag courtesy of Top Flite® for top shooters on each course. Also, any player who hit a hole-in-one or double eagle received their choice of prizes from the sponsor table, which included: Golden Tee Home Plug-n-Play Editions from Radica®, 2-for-1 golf trips courtesy of JDR Tours, Golden Tee LIVE edition sunglasses from PRATO and Golden Tee LIVE golf balls from Top Flite®. Nearly 100 prizes were awarded throughout the weekend.
 

Jeff Vordahl and his new set of Ben Hogan BH-5 Irons

Additionally, a special prize was given to the top online qualifier, Jeff Vordahl, for his impressive qualifying average of -29.54 coming into the event.  Jeff received a Ben Hogan golf bag fully stocked with a brand new set of Ben Hogan BH-5 golf irons courtesy of Top Flite.

Brant Arrington wins the Golden Tee LIVE golf bag

Not to mention that the Goldentee.com Pro Shop was on-site selling the official GTLRC shirt and raffled away a limited edition Golden Tee LIVE embroidered golf bag, which was won by Brant "OSO" Arrington
of Henderson, NV.

The first squad kicked-off the main event action on Saturday morning on 36 tournament-ready Golden Tee LIVE machines, leaving 10 machines open for free play and practice throughout the day.

With trackballs spinning, players cheering and the party picking up speed, the buzz was amazing inside the Riviera event center.  Unlike the Midwest where nearly a third of the field were Golden Tee veterans, 80% of the attendees were Golden Tee tournament neophytes and their energy was great.  Golden Tee tournaments of this magnitude are scarce for the game's western fans so the format of the GTLRC main event was a real treat.

Based on their tournament experience, there were some players with better odds coming into the event but no one was pegged as a clear favorite.  Danny Beall, one of the projected favorites, indeed set a blistering pace for the first squad standing atop the heap with -120 and 85,054 Great Shot Points (GSP).  With the top mark set by Graig Kinzler at -130 in Joliet, and many of the event’s top shooters coming up in the second squad, Beall had some concern that his -120 would stand through the second squad.

Former Team USA members, Tournament of Champions competitors and past GT Player of the Year finalists made up many of the western elite competing in squad two.  While they performed well, none of them could match the force from the north that emerged on Saturday afternoon in the Riveria.  The Canadians - who were given the opportunity to compete through ITS Canada and IT - proved  dominant over the Americans making up nearly 50% of the top nine players in the field.

Former Team Canada member, Anthony Goertz, lead the charge with a GTLRC leading score of -133 and 124,540 GSP.  American Michael Jaeger gave Goertz a run in the qualifier but fell seven strokes short with a final score of -126.  Former Team Canada member J.D. Keele edged former Team USA member Brant Arrington by a mere 25,611 GSP after they tied with a score of -125 for third and fourth.  Beall's first-squad-leading -120 proved solid enough for him to retain 5^th place and receive a chance to compete in the finals.  The event's #1 qualifier, Jeff Vordahl, ended up 6^th with Canadian Andrew Cosgrove in 7^th.  Former Team USA member Marc Sameroff finished 8^th ahead of Canadian, Barry Tanguay, who earned the last coveted spot in the final nine with a score of -115 with 58,268 GSP.

                            CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 5-COURSE QUALIFIER LEADERBOARD!

Winners of the Ben Hogan golf bags for shooting top scores were J.D. Keele with his -27 on Coral Vista and Mike Jaeger with a -27 on Heather Pointe.  Lyle Woodbury edged Brandon Bell by 44,226 on Whispering Valley after the duo tied at -28.  And the day’s hot hand from Kitchener, Ontario, Anthony Goertz took home two golf bags for his -29 on Kangaroo Trail and -28 on Cumberland!

Along with his new golf bags, Goertz earned a bye to the final round as the Western Open King of the Hill, locking him in at a minimum payday of $2,000!  But Goertz would have to subdue one of the eight fierce competitors beneath him who were fighting tooth-and-nail just for the chance to take him down in the final round.

The western region players, not wanting their counterparts from the north to steal the show on their home turf, stepped it up in the first round of bracket play.  All three of the Canadians were taken down in round one as Mike Jaeger defeated Barry Tanguay, Mark Arrington bested Andrew Cosgrove and Marc Sameroff eliminated J.D. Keele.  Along with the three Canadians, Jeff Vordahl was eliminated by squad one’s top shooter, Danny Beall.  The four took home $600 for their efforts.

As the crowd watched the final four duke it out for the honor to advance, the $5,000 payday weighed heavily on their minds.  Hometown shooters and close friends, Brant "OSO" Arrington and Marc "Tut" Sameroff played their match on the big screen in front of a rowdy crowd.  After tying stroke-for-stroke through 18, the twosome moved on to “sudden death” where Sameroff sunk an incredible eagle on the first hole to beat his longtime friend.  Arrington received $900 for his 4^th place finish along with Michael Jaeger who was defeated by Beall.

Beall and Sameroff - a storied pairing dating back to the 2003 Team USA qualifier when Sameroff took away Beall's Team USA spot by a mere 1,764 GSP - teed off on the big screen with excited fans following their every swing.  While Sameroff was hot coming off a big win over Arrington, the hometown hero couldn't protect his turf from Wichita's Danny Beall.  Dannyboy defeated Sameroff and got his chance to face one of the toughest players in the game today, Anthony Goertz.

Not an eye in the room was off the big screen as the duo slugged it out for the big payday and a chance to hoist the golden USA-shaped trophy. Goertz, a 4-time member of Team Canada and a grizzled veteran of World Championship play, showed his force by jumping out to an early one-stroke lead and Beall clawed his way back to tie. Then on the back nine of Cumberland, Goertz missed a tough chip and Beall took advantage of the slight opening to gain a one-stroke lead. While he didn’t think that it would hold until the end, that one extra roll of the trackball was worth $3,000 as Dannyboy Beall went on to defeat Anthony Goertz to become the Western Open Champion!

"I didn't think I could really win this thing today," Beall stated in a post-match interview.  "Every match was tough and I am extremely happy to have won!"

<<< Beall headed back to Wichita $5,000 richer while Goertz
earned $2,000 for his unbelievable performance throughout the day.

DANNY BEALL wins the 2006 Golden Tee LIVE WESTERN Open