2014 FIRECRACKER OPEN

Cory's trademark:
HEAD DOWN!

The Firecracker Open ("one man mulligan" format) was played in a perfect day for golf, and, despite so many people having taken the three day weekend off to fish or visit family, we ended up with 64 players which were divided in six different flights, and among these, since we had the largest number of "championship flight" players in a while in an individual tournament, it was decided to to seed them in one flight in order to avoid any controversies should one of them play not as well, but end up winning another flight... the idea will need a little "tweeking" before we implement it again.

That said, the best golf was, as expected, played among those seeded players, beginning with Cory Smith, who showed that no matter how much he doesn't play, he still has that silky swing that delivers what it looks like "effortless" power. Cory ended up with a 60, which beat friend and just as good player, "Thumper" Gaylean (62) by two strokes and brother Russ Smith (64) by four. One shot back, at 65, was Joby Gray.

The "A" flight had three golfers ending with a 67 and off they went to a sudden death playoff. Heath Barnett did not make the playoff so he took third place. With a birdie on #1, Dakota Green, from Weatherford, OK, won first place over Craig Martin who took second. There were several 68's who were one short "off the money", among them Jeff Donaghey, Ann Cowan, Dr. Craing Phelps and Jason Barber.

The "B, " flight had three 71's on top of the flight, and it also required a sudden death playoff. Van Storm, Tyler Windsor and Brandon Thomas went out on #1. All three made pars on #1 and #2, then, on #3, both Van and Tyler made birdies, leaving Brandon in third. To the delight of the "playoff crazy" gallery, the playoff continued only one more hole, as Van made a 15 footer from the fringe on #4 to edge Tyler who missed a 4 footer to continue the playoff. Brian Hunt and Jason Minter were one back at 72.

The "C" Flight, was won by octogenarian and former member, Don Andrews who scored a 75. He beat close friend, Bob Griffith, by only one shot! In third place came in young Andy Peffer who shot a 77. Steve Barber, Juan Lopez and Tori Windsor were one shot back at 78.

The "D" flight had three 81's on top: Jace Hargrove (1st), Carter Muncrief (2nd) and Kim Jordan (3rd). There was no playoff. Brian Busby and Joe Williams tied one back at 82.

The "E" flight was won by T.A. Allen (Mangum, OK) who managed a 95. Terry Stone was next with a 98 and in third was Keith Blank with a 99.