THE WESTERN GOLF ALLIANCE
Keeping It Long and Straight Since 2002 ™
© Copyright 2002-2012, Western Golf Alliance, LLC. All rights reserved
WGA Open "Memorable Moments"
The Historic Events at the WGA Open
The Western Golf Alliance Open has had a rich and wonderful history. Events, achievements, and moments both on and off the course have added to the luster and allure that is this grand golfing tradition. We commemorate those notable memories here, for future generations to ponder.
2002 - The (blind) eagle has landed: Playing in fog so dense visibility is down to 50 yards, Brian Gray hits a perfect drive on the par 5 14th hole, and decides to take a shot at the green from 215 yards out despite no knowledge of where it is. His blind shot hits the green, and he sinks the subsequent 40 foot eagle putt, securing the championship.
2002 - Sssssssnnnnnnnake: While winning the inaugural WGA Open, Brian Gray loses the "snake" side bet in all three rounds, paying out a total of $54 on just that wager alone.
2004 - How low can you go: After shooting NET 4-under in the opening round, and NET 7-under in the second round, Peter McGarry stands at NET 11-under-par, at the time a scoring plateau record for lowest cumulative NET score at any moment in a WGA Open.
2004 - King-Jack is the second worst starting hand: On three successive hands of Texas Hold Em, Matt Wakefield wins the pot against an opponent who is dealt King-Jack and loses. On the very next hand, Matt is dealt King-Jack ... and wins against an opponent who is dealt pocket aces.
2004 - Parking lot tiebreaker: On the 72nd hole - a par 5 played to an island green - Brian Gray and Peter McGarry are tied at NET 3-under, and with the championship at stake both achieve NET birdies on the hole. In the parking lot, after cross-checking all scores, the club's "defending champs must yield" tiebreaker rule is created by Brian, who magnanimously yields the championship to Peter.
2006 - Club meeting = boot factor four: After the biennial club meeting, the group continues a night of beer and poker. The fateful combination ultimately leads to a very unfortunate incident whereby Mike Mittelsteadt introduces what had once been his dinner to the bathroom floor at the Marriot.
2006 - "The Charge": Playing 36 holes in 110 degree heat during 'day 2', Brian Gray shoots an inhuman NET 11-under-par. No one else in the field even shoots even par for the day. The resulting margin is too much for anyone to overcome, and eventually Gray cruises to a 19 stroke margin of victory, a WGA Open record.
2006 - Oh Billy Billy Billy Billy Billy: During the final round, with second place hanging in the balance, Robert Gibson lips out an astonishing seven birdie putts, including a five footer on the island par 3 17th at PGA West TPC Stadium. Gibson still survived to hold onto second place, and reportedly the putter also survived.
2008 - Where ARE those guys?: On the night of the biennial club meeting, four members making their way to Bandon from California get stranded on Portland, Oregon, due to a broken airplane. The ensuing problems result in the loss of Mark Herms' clubs - the first time in WGA Open history that someone's clubs have been lost in transit - resulting in a difficult handicap for Herms to overcome.
2008 - An inconceivable streak: In the opening round, Trever Esko shoots a NET 13-under par. He does this by shooting NET 1-under on the front, followed by an astounding NET 12-under on the back, which includes a string of eight straight pars. While he would come back to the field, ending the tournament NET 1-over par, his "59" is the best NET round in WGA Open history to-date.
2008 - She's gonna blow, cap'n: During the final round, once again Peter McGarry and Brian Gray fight it out for the title. Worn down by McGarry's consistency, Gray attempts to drive the green on the par 4 16th hole. He succeeds, placing his drive just left of the green, but then chips his short approach into a pot bunker, effectively ending his run and sealing the victory for McGarry.
2010 - One tough wolf: In the second round, the Wolf Creek course was amazing, beautiful, and brutal. As an example, the most famous hole is #8 - a par 3 played from a butte to a deep ravine that is 220 yards from the blue tees (248 from the tips!). Despite a club rule that meant the maximum score anyone could post on this hole was a 6, the average score for the field on this hole was 5.4.
2010 - And one windy wolf: The Wolf Course at Paiute Resort was blowing hard on day 3 with a 40+ yard wind! This made the 15th hole especially tough, as players were required to hit long irons into this island green par 3 that is only 135 yards on paper. While everyone played the round NET over par, surprisingly everyone played within a reasonable margin from their handicaps.
2010 - On concerts and board games: As the weekend wound down, Saturday night in Vegas was dominated by two non-golf activities. The first was a Scrabble tournament between Peter McGarry, Doug Atchison, and Peter's brother who came out just for the game. The second was the B52s/Blondie concert at the Mandalay Bay pool. These two events could NEVER have any connection to each other under any other context.
