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Steve Tanton wins the West Texas Open

in Lubbock, Tx

The Texas Putting Tour held the West Texas Open at the Lubbock, Texas course on April 9^th and 10^th 2005. The weather is always a question in West Texas during the early spring.  You can get anything from 100 degree days to snow storms. The putters got gusty winds this time around with gusts ranging from 15 to 30 miles per hour over the two days.

The first day of competition saw three players distance themselves from the rest of the field. Rodney Phillips fired a 27 under par 81 over three rounds to hold a one stroke lead over Steve Tanton. Gary Reed was in third three strokes in back of Rodney.  The next set of players included John Tritz and Joel Woodall who were six and seven strokes behind Rodney respectively. A poor opening round by Rodney and great opening round by John Tritz to start the second day of competition jumbled up things considerably. Steve Tanton now held the lead by one stroke over John Tritz with Gary Reed and Rodney Phillips sitting two back of Steve. The fifth round saw Lee Messinger and Joel Woodall make charges to try and get into contention. Lee fired an 11-under 25 which was best on the day and tied for lowest round for the weekend while Joel shot a 10 under 26. Another solid round in the fifth from Steve left him in the lead going to the last round while John Tritz faltered in the fifth to fall six off the pace. Steve’s lead going to the last round was now two over Gary Reed and Joel Woodall with Lee Messinger in fourth four strokes back. It looked like both Joel and Lee were out of contention early in the last round. Both players had poor front nine’s but Lee was able to make five of the last six holes to salvage an 8 under 28. As Steve and Gary came to the 15^th it looked like Steve had a lock on the tournament. He was four strokes up on Gary going into the tough 15^th hole and was already seven under for round. A Double bogey by Steve pulled Gary to within two. Even though Gary managed to make two of the last three holes it wasn’t enough as Steve came back beautifully from his double bogey making the last three holes to give him an event total of 61 under 169 for six rounds of play. The win also gave Steve both a state and world spot. Gary Reed finished second three strokes back and Lee was in fourth four in back of Steve. Both Gary and Lee earned state spots. The last available state spot went to Joel Woodall who defeated Rodney Phillips in an 18 hole playoff.   

In the amateur division Mark O'Guinn took the first day lead at the West Texas Open firing a first day total 87,   Greg Cole and Carey Bailey were five strokes back tied for second, and Donald Halpain was another stroke back at 93.  Trevor Lewin and David Chisum were tied for fifth at 96, while Adam Sahmel was in at 102.  Mark O'Guinn continued his roll on Sunday shooting a second day total of 86 to finish at 173 and take the win by one stroke over Donald Halpain. Donald’s second day score of 27 under 81 was the best score on the day for both divisions but not quite enough to catch Mark for the win.  The two were separated from the field, with Carey Bailey the closest competitor 13 strokes behind Donald Halpain at 187.  Greg Cole finished forth at 188 with David Chisum fifth at 190.  Trevor Lewin finished at 194, and Adam Sahmel finished at 203. State tournament spots were awarded to Mark O'Guinn, Donald Halpain, Greg Cole and David Chisum.

April 19-20, 2005 - West Texas Open - Lubbock - Course 2
Pro Average:					177.78
Amateur Average:					187.00
Place	Pro	Money	Spot	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total
1	Steve Tanton	$220.00	1	27	25	30	31	28	28	169
2	Gary Reed	$120.00	1	28	25	31	31	28	29	172
3	Lee Messinger	$80.00	1	31	29	31	29	25	28	173
4	Joel Woodall	$15.00	1	31	30	27	29	26	35	178
	Rodney Phillips	$15.00		28	28	25	34	32	31	178
6	John Tritz			28	29	30	27	33	32	179
7	James Taylor			32	28	32	35	27	29	183
8	Mike Chisum			33	29	32	30	30	30	184
	Wade Sahmel			33	31	30	30	32	28	184
Place	Ama-Player		Spot	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Total
1	Mark O'Guinn	$30.00	1	29	25	33	30	29	27	173
2	Donald Halpain	$15.00	1	31	29	33	28	27	26	174
3	Carey Bailey	$15.00		30	33	29	31	29	35	187
4	Greg Cole		1	27	35	30	35	29	32	188
5	David Chisum		1	27	35	34	31	28	35	190
	Trevor Lewin			32	32	32	33	31	34	194
6	Adam Sahmel			32	35	35	42	31	28	203