MPMGA takes third place in annual putting tournament

Jim Donat

For the last five years, SaddleBrooke One’s Men’s Putters has hosted a putting tournament at their facility. The tournament consists of 18 four-man teams representing various clubs from around Tucson. The tournament was held on September 13 this year on SaddleBrooke One’s putting green.

SaddleBrooke TWO’s men’s league, MPMGA, entered two teams in the tournament. The MountainView team was captained by Leo Croteau and included Tony Blunt, John Bidegain, and Bob Eder. The Preserve team was captained by Bruce Fink and included Larry Fox, Bill Webster, and Warren Tiahrt. MPMGA determines teams by taking the individuals with the lowest number of putts during two qualifying events that took place during the month of August. During the qualifying events, the best putting resulted in rounds of 32 or better, with best carded by Leo Croteau at 28.

This year’s putting tournament winning team shot a 161. MPMGA’s Preserve placed third with a 165 via a tie-breaker. Over the last five years, MPMGA has qualified two teams for this event with at least one team placing third or better each year. On an individual basis, Larry Fox had the best individual putting performance among our eight players, shooting 39, just three shots from first. Congratulations to everyone who competed and especially to Larry Fox and the Preserve team.