Morley Field Course Championship

The 2009 edition of the Morley Field Course Championships was held this past weekend, and at the top there was a return to the normalcy of years past.  That’s right, Micah Dorius came through with another display of “Morley Mastery” giving him a wire-to-wire victory in the Open division.  Micah’s rounds of -12, -6, -14, and -4 in the finals gave him a final score of -36, five strokes better than 2008 champion Chris Vilmorin.  Chris was able to make up two strokes on Micah in the final nine thanks in part to an ace on Hole #2, but the perennial champ’s lead was simply too large to surmount.  George Spracklin took third place at 26-under and Big Josh Damron was perhaps the dark horse in the final group, finishing up at 23-under par.

For many players, the course setup for the second round on Saturday was one of the biggest stories of the weekend.  TD and Course Pro Snapper Pierson pulled out all the stops with one of, if not the toughest setup ever seen at the 31-year-old course.  All holes used the longest pin positions and all long pads in the second round, with 2 pin positions never seen in regular play (hole 6 on street and hole 12 back right).  No player went bogey free in the second round, and under par scores were few and far between.  Mike Slonim (top finishing master age player) had only 1 bogey, while champion Micah Dorius posted a 6-under.

In the Amateur division, Jeremiah May shot three under par rounds and a 17-under overall to win the title, eight strokes ahead of second-place finishers Danny Zwolenski and Tim Hanau.  Danny Z’s final round of 7-under was the best amateur score on Sunday.  In the Women’s Division, it was Emily Hardy who reigned over four competitors, finishing at 17-over to take home the title. Another solid win to add to her competitive year!

The Course Championship holds additional importance for the role it plays in earning players a spot on the Morley Field Team for the Southwestern Team Championship Tournament, held every December at Morley.  Qualifying for the team so far, based on their performance in the Course Championship Tournament or monthly tournaments are the following players:  Micah Dorius, Chris Vilmorin, Carlo Pelg and George Spracklin in the Open division;  Dave Devine, Snapper Pierson and Mike Slonim in the Masters and Grandmasters Division, and Emily Hardy for the Women’s Division.  The three remaining Open spots and one remaining Masters spots will be filled through a series of head-to-head elimination matches, referred to affectionately as “the grinder.”  Players competing in the grinder are expected to include:  Josh Damron, Josh Egbert, Angel Garcia, Mike Lust, Kevin Gomez, Willie Lister,  Alex Torriente, Aubrey Daniels and Donny Olow for the Open spots.  The last Masters spot will be up for grabs by John Heaton, CVK, Jeff Nichols, Kent La Gree or Greg Olsen.

For full results from the Course Championship Tournament, go to www.morleyfield.com.

Patrick Paramore, Jeff Nichols and Mark Wilson contributed to this article.