TUXEDO PARK, N.Y. (September 6, 2012)– It was a triumphant day for Peter Ganley of Wheatley Hills and Lee Ann Lewis of Southward Ho at The Tuxedo Club as they won the 49th MGA/MGWA Mixed Pinehurst Championship by one stroke. The duo finished with a score of 2-under 69, edging out Jeff Thomsen
and Margaret Ference of The Cherry Valley Club. The Ganley-Lewis team, who has finished as runner-up in the event four times, reported that they played a stress free round which allowed them to play consistently today. “We always had one ball in a good spot, which definitely helped us,” Lewis claimed. Ganley added that they carded three birdies and only bogey. Thomsen and Ference shot 1-under 70 to finish as the runner-up team. Liam Quinn and Margy Hogan played well at their home course today, ending up as the third place team with a score of 3-over 74.
Robert Cardone and Christine Derienzo of Bethpage State Park took home first-place honors in the low net division with a net score of 9-under 62.
Defending champions Michael and Valerie Reardon did not have their best day of golf, shooting an 81, despite having the home-course advantage. Mike stated that it was nice to have members wish them luck in the past few weeks, and that it was great to win the event last year but tough to play as defending champions.
This year’s championship saw the addition of a professional division, in which either the man or woman golfer can play as the professional. Mark McCormick, who qualified for and played in the U.S. Open this year, and Roberta Potter, an amateur from Suburban, beat John Clarizo and Marina Unis in a match of cards after both teams shot 2-over 73. In the pro-pro division, in which both partners were professionals, Chris Muldoon, at his home course of Tuxedo, and Sarah Stone of Trump National – Westchester came out as the winners of another match of cards over Adam and Rebecca McDaid of Friar’s Head after both duos shot 1-over 72.
The Pinehurst format is one in which teammates both hit drives, play a second shot from each other’s ball, and then make the choice of which ball to play to finish the hole. This is the first year that the MGA partnered with the WMGA to host the event, and the historic Tuxedo Club, set up to play as par 35-36-71 at 5,394 yards, provided an excellent and challenging track for the championship.
