Making a Name in the Pub Championship

The main event may be the big draw but there is nothing like the Pub Championship.

A mixture of skill, luck and excitement, the Pub Championship’s closest-to-the-pin format allows every player the chance win. A total of 98 players participated in the event, with everyone vying for the coveted Pub Championship Pewter Tankard and the $1,000 first-place prize.

The competition was fierce, but in the end it was Brandon Bell playing out of The Boulevard in Wichita, KS who beat Enzo Polidori from Sharky’s in Brantford, Ontario to take first place. Polidori took home $500 for his efforts. Rishi Puri from R Bar in Renton, WA received $250 for third and Clay Heneise from Lamppost Pizza in Fountain Valley, CA placed fourth to walk away $100 richer

"I’m really happy right now," Bell commented while holding his new trophy. "All I know is this is probably my third tournament ever and I’m finally up there [with the best]."

Bell also pocketed an extra $200 for himself, $400 for his bar, The Boulevard, and $400 for his operator Caro Amusements thanks to the Pub Pride Bonus! Any winner of the Pub Championship is eligible for the bonus as long as they are sporting their pub's official shirt or jersey.

A Team USA Dream Come True

With the final three Team USA spots on the line 40 players knew it was going to take nothing short of their best effort to make this prestigious team.

Being a part of Team USA and participating in the Golden Tee World Championship is one of the highest honors any player can earn. Players completed five games (commonly referred to as "the cycle"), one on each of the five Golden Tee LIVE 2007 courses, and the players with the three best total scores would make the team.

Despite an elite field of competitors, hometown hero Brant "Oso" Arrington from Las Vegas, Lynnwood, WA’s Michael Jaeger and Sonu Khatri who was playing out of Lenexa, KS all managed to make the cut and join Team USA. The honor was the second for both Arrington and Khatri, and the first for Jaeger.

The three new members join captain Graig Kinzler along with Jeff McClellan, Jason Matkovich, and Marc "The Mouth" Muklewicz from the Midwest Open and Andy Haas, Ryan McCook and Chris Litzinger from the Southeast Open.

Redemption in the Main Event

They say luck is everything in Las Vegas. But with $25,000 on the line these players weren't about to let luck play any part in who was walking away with the title.

The main event format consisting of a five-course qualifier where scores were tallied to generate a leaderboard ranked best to worst. The player who ended up with the best overall score would be crowned "King of the Hill" and receive a bye to the final. Those finishing 2-9 would play off in an 8-man, single-elimination tournament to face the King and play for $5,000 and the Regional Championship trophy.

Besides the prize money at stake, players also had chances to win bonus prizes throughout the day. The player with the best score on each course received a $100 GT gift card, and any player who hit a hole-in-one or double eagle received their choice of prizes from the sponsor table, which included Golden Tee LIVE sunglasses from PRATO and Golden Tee LIVE golf balls from Top Flite®.

Prior to the start of the main event, tournament emcee and IT Marketing Director, Gary Colabuono, announced that all 162 players would win at least $25. Danny Beall from Wichita, KS was awarded a set of Ben Hogan irons for being the Western Open top online qualifier. And Dayton Root from Houston, TX was the lucky winner whose name was drawn in the raffle for a Golden Tee Proshop.com golf bag.

With the TouchTunes Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG charity jukebox filling the room with music, two squads of players began a quest to beat the field and leave Las Vegas $5,000 richer.

 
"I've been second a lot of times and after last year, to put myself in the same position, I would have been really disappointed if I didn't win," Goertz commented after his victory. "It's a great feeling to beat a top field like this and finally get a win."

Khatri took home $2,000 for second place while Goertz finally got to hold the GTLRC trophy and $5,000 check that had eluded him a year ago.