Saturday’s tournament was not ordinary golf. It was not best ball. It was not a scramble. It was not the kind of format where one player can quietly disappear for four holes and hope his partner carries the wreckage. This was two-man alternate shot with a twist: both partners hit tee shots, then each player had to hit his partner’s ball for the second shot. Only after both second shots were played could the team choose one ball and alternate from there until the ball was holed. No player could hit two consecutive shots on a hole. Not on a par 3. Not on a par 4. Not on a par 5. Even if both tee shots found the green, the second shot still had to be played by the partner. In other words: trust your partner, inherit his trouble, clean up your own mess later, and never, ever get too comfortable. By the end of the day, eighteen teams had survived the format, two flights had crowned winners, and $480 in total purse money had been allocated. But the scorecard only tells part of the story. The rest was written in pressure, recovery, patience, and the occasional heroic two-man escape act. Flight 1: Delbon and Ferguson Win the War of Attrition Flight 1 turned into a tense knife fight, with the top three teams separated by a single net shot. At the top stood David Delbon and Ed Ferguson, who posted a net 66, four under par, to claim first place and the $100 purse. Their round was not a casual stroll. It was a grind with sharp edges. They went out in 42, then came home in 40, and the scorecard shows the kind of finish that wins alternate-shot events: they did not flinch late. The signature moment was the 2 on the 17th hole, a lightning strike at exactly the stage of the round where teams usually start protecting, steering, and second-guessing. Delbon and Ferguson did not merely win Flight 1. They survived the format better than anyone else. Right behind them came Brian Cresta and Tim Cleary, who finished second with a net 67, three under par, and earned $80. Their gross 73 was one of the cleanest cards in the entire tournament. A 37 on the front, a 36 on the back, and very little drama in the wrong direction. Cresta and Cleary played the kind of round that looks almost too composed for this format. In alternate shot, smooth is rare. They were smooth. Third place in Flight 1 went to Jason Pollard and Michael Shaffer, also at net 67, earning $60. Their highlight was a blistering front nine of 35, the best opening nine in the flight. Pollard and Shaffer came out swinging like they intended to end the tournament before the turn. The back nine pushed back, as back nines tend to do, but they had done enough early to stay on the podium. In this format, a fast start matters. They delivered one. Saad Saleem and Randy Gubert finished fourth at net 69, one under par. Their round had grit. A gross 82 with a net score under par means they kept answering the format’s questions. There were bumps, including a difficult closing hole, but Saleem and Gubert stayed inside red numbers for the day. In alternate shot, that is not a small thing. They were one clean stretch away from the money. Artie White and Joe Cioni came in at net 71, one over par, but their card deserves credit for the response after the turn. After an outward 43, they fought back with a 39 on the back. That is the mark of a team that did not surrender to the format. White and Cioni absorbed the early punches, reorganized, and played their best golf when the round could have gotten away from them. Paul Karson and Daniel Murray also finished at net 71, and their round was one of the most symmetrical in the field: 40 out, 40 in, gross 80. Karson and Murray were steady. No theatrics, no collapse, no wild flight pattern. Just a team that kept the ball moving, kept the scorecard intact, and forced every other team to earn its position. Jerome Jacky and Marc Lopez posted net 72, two over par, but their highlight was the back-nine response. After a front-side 45, they came home in 41. That is a four-shot improvement after the turn in a format that usually gets harder as the day gets longer. Jacky and Lopez did not get buried by the front nine. They fought their way back into the clubhouse with a much stronger finish. James Abayon and Alfred Bogenhuber also finished at net 72, with matching nines of 43 and 43. That kind of balance matters in alternate shot. Abayon and Bogenhuber did not ride a roller coaster. They played a controlled, even round, and when the format tried to create chaos, they answered with stability. Their card was a model of persistence. Bill Capote and Art Klein rounded out Flight 1 at net 72, and they too had a story of survival. Their front nine of 42 kept them right in the middle of the battle, and although the back nine was tougher, they finished in the same net number as two other teams. Capote and Klein were right there in the cluster, proving again how little separation there was in this flight. One bounce, one putt, one cleaner alternate-shot sequence, and the standings could have shifted. Flight 2: Evans and Brosnan Deliver the Round of the Day Flight 2 produced the lowest net score of the entire tournament. Bret Evans and Michael Brosnan fired a net 64, six under par, to win Flight 2 and take home $100. Their gross 80 was built on a strong front nine of 39, and once they had that foundation, they made the rest of the flight chase them. This was the round of the tournament: disciplined enough to survive alternate shot, aggressive enough to separate, and steady enough to finish the job. Evans and Brosnan did not just win their flight. They set the day’s standard. Second place went to Tim Cole and Dave Koons, who posted net 66, four under par, earning $80. Their card had the shape of a mature alternate-shot round: 41 out, 43 in, gross 84, net 66. They stayed in control, avoided the kind of disaster holes that destroy this format, and forced their way into the purse. Cole and Koons were not far from the top. They were right there, applying pressure all day. Third place went to Walter Koning and Steve Rueda, also at net 66, earning $60. Koning and Rueda carried a 21 handicap into the fight and used it well, but this was not just a handicap story. They still had to execute the awkward rhythm of the format. They still had to play each other’s ball. They still had to alternate under pressure. Their net 66 put them firmly on the podium and gave Flight 2 a dramatic tie near the top. Just outside the money were Emil Picchi and Robert Liedtke, who posted net 67, three under par. One shot. That was the difference between standing in the purse line and walking away just short. Picchi and Liedtke were close all day, and their gross 88 with a net 67 showed they managed the format well enough to contend. In another year, or with one more putt falling, that score cashes. Kelly Ina and George Kellner also finished at net 67, and their front nine was especially strong. They went out in 41 and put themselves directly in the chase. The back nine was less forgiving, but the early work kept them under par net for the tournament. Ina and Kellner had the kind of start that makes the rest of the flight nervous. Joseph Canepa and Dave Baltor finished at net 68, two under par. Their round was steady and competitive, with a gross 88 and enough consistency to stay ahead of several teams in a flight where under-par net scores were everywhere. Canepa and Baltor did what the format demands: stay patient, keep moving, and avoid emotional collapse when the ball ends up in the wrong hands at the wrong time. Rick Salzer and Larry Shaw finished at even-par net 70. In a format designed to punish timing mistakes, even par is still respectable. Salzer and Shaw battled through a difficult back nine, but they kept the round together and brought it home. Their highlight was endurance. Not every dramatic tournament story is about winning. Some are about refusing to let the format win. Joshua Baltor and Kirk Hansen posted net 71, one over par, with matching nines of 44 and 44. That is remarkable symmetry. Baltor and Hansen played an even, balanced round and avoided the kind of wild split that can define alternate shot. Their card says they stayed composed from start to finish. No fade-out. No surrender. Just a steady march through eighteen holes. Skip Sanzeri and Joel Spielman closed the Flight 2 field at net 75, but they deserve mention for finishing the full test. Alternate shot can get cruel fast. One awkward tee ball becomes a partner’s second shot. One second shot becomes a shared decision. One shared decision becomes a forced alternation all the way into the cup. Sanzeri and Spielman absorbed the full difficulty of the format and kept going. That is part of the tournament story too. The Purse Winners The money was split across the two flights, with six teams cashing: Flight 1 Place Team Net Purse 1 David Delbon / Ed Ferguson 66 $100 2 Brian Cresta / Tim Cleary 67 $80 3 Jason Pollard / Michael Shaffer 67 $60 Flight 2 Place Team Net Purse 1 Bret Evans / Michael Brosnan 64 $100 2 Tim Cole / Dave Koons 66 $80 3 Walter Koning / Steve Rueda 66 $60 Total purse allocated: $480. Final Word This was not a tournament for soloists. This was a tournament for partnerships. For trust. For forgiveness. For the strange mental discipline of watching your partner hit your ball, then deciding together which path to take, then alternating through every consequence of that decision. David Delbon and Ed Ferguson conquered Flight 1 with a net 66 and a closing stretch worthy of the win. Bret Evans and Michael Brosnan conquered Flight 2 with the round of the day, a net 64 that stood above the entire field. But every team had its moment. Cresta and Cleary had surgical consistency. Pollard and Shaffer had the hot start. Cole and Koons had control. Koning and Rueda had podium toughness. Saleem and Gubert stayed under par. White and Cioni rallied. Karson and Murray were balanced. Jacky and Lopez fought back. Abayon and Bogenhuber stayed even-keeled. Capote and Klein stayed in the pack. Picchi and Liedtke came within a shot. Ina and Kellner flashed early. Canepa and Baltor stayed under par. Salzer and Shaw battled. Joshua Baltor and Kirk Hansen held steady. Sanzeri and Spielman endured the full test. That is what made the day memorable. Not just the winners. The format. The pressure. The partnerships. The chaos. And eighteen teams trying to solve one of golf’s most beautifully uncomfortable questions: Can you trust the next shot to someone else—and still find a way home?