The Two-Man Match Play Championship took place on Thursday, September 26th. The event featured Darin Allen and Ted Roberts (both with 16 handicaps) against Larry Jocelyn and Eric Beitlich (16 from the Gold Tees and a 23 handicap).
The match was close overall, with both teams having the lead. Allen and Roberts secured their victory on the eighteenth hole.The match began with a tie on the first hole, as both Roberts and Jocelyn scored par. Allen took the lead on the second hole with a birdie. Jocelyn responded by winning the third hole with a birdie and the fourth with a par.
Roberts brought the match to a tie by winning the fifth hole with a par. The sixth and seventh holes were halved, keeping the match all square going into the eighth hole. Jocelyn’s bogey on the eighth hole gave his team a one-shot advantage, as Allen and Roberts couldn’t match his effort. The ninth hole ended in a tie, leaving Allen and Roberts one point down at the turn.
Jocelyn extended his team’s lead to two points with a birdie on the tenth hole. The eleventh hole saw a tie between Allen, Roberts, and Jocelyn, maintaining the two-point difference in favor of Jocelyn and Beitlich.
Roberts’ bogey on the fourteenth hole put his team down by a point. On the fifteenth hole, Roberts’ hit a beautiful chip shot over the bunker that allowed him to make par, tying the score.
The sixteenth hole ended in a tie as both Roberts and Beitlich holed out for six, setting up a dramatic finish. The seventeenth hole saw Allen, Roberts, and Jocelyn all shoot par, keeping the match tied.
On the eighteenth hole, Allen hit a solid drive to the right rough, about 200 yards from the flag. Roberts’ drive landed in the pond on the left, while Beitlich’s drive went out of bounds past the pond. Roberts’ second shot also found the pond, and Beitlich’s second drive went out of bounds. Jocelyn’s drive from the Gold Tees ended up in the water to the right.
This left Allen in a strong position to manage the course, and he secured the championship for Allen and Roberts by winning the eighteenth hole. The match was very close and both teams played well!