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World Team Wins Championship Cup |
Jeff Harlow Wins World Champion Title and Pockets $15,000
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On
November 14th-16th, 2004, 16 of the United States greatest video golfers
faced 16 of the Worlds preeminent video golfers in the 2004
Golden Tee
World Championship. It was an international exhibition of competition and
camaraderie that will go down in history books as THE YEAR.
The world has finally caught up to America. I am guaranteeing a World
Team victory in 2004! -Tim Glenn, Team Canada
What was simply thought to have been an idle threat from former World Team
Captain, Tim Glenn, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, came to fruition in front
of the shocked eyes of the crowd at Fridays Front Row in Orlando,
Florida. While history has shown that Team USA has traditionally out
pointed the World Team in the Ryder Cup style team competition, this
years results tell a different tale.
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2004 Golden Tee World Champion, Jeff Harlow, accepts
his $15,000 check, championship trophy and
Golden Tee Society Leather Bomber Jacket |
World Team 24.5 | Team USA
23.5
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By the smallest of
margins, the 2004 World Team beat the formidable Team USA and removed the
silver cup from American soil for the first time in history. I knew we
could do it, but I still cant believe we did it! said 2004 World Team
Captain Anthony Goertz of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, during the
post-match press conference. I am just proud of the team and I am honored
to be a part of it, he said.
The path to victory was not easy for the World Team and required an
outstanding effort from each player to occur. While Canadas unprecedented
contribution of 12-points served as the foundation for the victory, South
Africas 1.5-point contribution their first ever in World Championship
history may have been the extra charge to push the World Team over the
top.
Prior to the event, the team captains strategically filled out pairing
sheets, which would be used to determine the match-ups throughout the
contest. Team USA Captain, Chris Eversole, of Atlanta, Georgia, teamed
World Championship veterans and rookies together, while Goertz used an
all-or-nothing approach of pairing top players together and stacking
them in the end. Ultimately, the gutsy World Team strategy worked in their
favor and may have been one of the deciding factors in the win.
While the World Team won the battle for global pride, there was still a
matter of crowning a Golden Tee World Champion and awarding the $15,000
prize to the greatest player on the planet.
2004 Golden Tee World Championship - Individual Competition
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World Team Captain, Anthony Goertz, accepts the
2004 World Championship Cup from IT executives
Elaine Hodgson and Richard Ditton |
For
the first time in World Championship history, all players competed in a
36-hole qualifier on Sunday, November 14th, to determine the seeding for
the individual competition. As an added incentive, top-qualifiers in both
the Team USA and the World Team bracket received a set of $700 irons
courtesy of Top Flite®. Anthony Johnson, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was
Team USAs #1 qualifier with a 51 and Enzo Polidori, of Brantford,
Ontario, Canada, earned the top seed with a 48 in the World Team bracket.
For the second straight year, Tim Glenn worked his way to the top of the
World Team bracket and received a chance to fight for the title in the
championship round. Tim defeated fellow countryman J.D, Keele, of Kamloops,
British Columbia, Canada, to move on to the finals.
On the U.S. half, Jeff Harlow, of Florissant, Missouri, was the days hot
hand. Jeffs impressive path to the top of the Team USA bracket included
victories against four-time Player of the Year, Dean Liakakos, of Dayton,
Ohio, and the 2003 Golden Tee World Champion, Chris Eversole, of Atlanta,
Georgia.
As the championship round began, all eyes were on Harlow and Glenn,
including camera crews from the Golf Channel and NBC. Harlow or Glenn
needed to win two of three matches to be crowned the Golden Tee World
Champion.
Round one went on to sudden death and took 31-holes and nearly one hour to
declare Harlow the victor. In order to keep pace with Glenn, Harlow
drained two tough chips on Ridgewood Country Club and ultimately ended the
match with an impressive eagle on #13 to win.
Round two was neck-and-neck on Oak Hollow until Harlow nailed #10 for a
hole-in-one to take the lead. Glenn used every tool in his box to try and
catch up, but proved to not have enough to stop the 30-year-old bagel
bakers mission to become the newest Golden Tee World Champion.
This has been the greatest weekend of my life! said the overwhelmed
champion as he interviewed with news cameras after the match.
Harlow took home $15,000 for his performance, while Glenn earned a $5,000
prize for second place. J.D. Keele took home the third place trophy and a
$3,000 check, while William Lee of New York City earned $2,000 for his
fourth place finish.
Congratulations to Jeff Harlow and all of the Golden Tee World
Championship Competitors!
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PHOTO GALLERY ................................................................
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Competition Gallery |
Qualifying Gallery |
Team Competition Gallery |
