Copenhaver and Holcombe win Stableford in Powell

The third year of the WSGA Stableford tournament offered an exciting weekend of golf for the players that made their way to Powell Golf Club.

The course presented the players a unique and difficult challenge as the two nines are very different from each other. The front nine is the Desert Nine and the back nine is the Pines Nine. The Desert Nine is very scenic with large landing areas with the signature hole being the 155 yard downhill par 3. The hole demands a solid iron shot and makes for a great hole for the Stableford format. The back nine is the older nine and compared to the Desert Nine requires more accuracy off the tee. On the back there are two risk reward holes in number 10 and number 14 that tease players into hitting driver but if the shot is not executed to perfection can make for a difficult par.

On the first day of the tournament, Powell local, Wade Hernandez had an incredible stretch on the back nine when he eagled both of the par fives in route to a 5 under 67 and a total of 41 points. Along with Hernandez, two other men accumulated 41 points with Powell’s own Mike Bohlman and Casper’s John Lafko each having great first days. Going into the second day of the tournament ten men were within five points and still right in contention for the championship. After 36 holes there was a tie for the top spot between Powell golfers Paul Dearcorn and Tracy Copenhaver. The two players shared a play-off on the difficult 430 yard 1st hole in a blistering wind. After each hit solid drives, the two just missed their approach shots with Copenhaver being long and Dearcorn short left. Copenhaver chipped it to fifteen feet and had a uphill putt for par while Dearcorn had an eight footer for par. Copenhaver lagged his putt close and tapped in for his bogey five leaving the door open for Paul Dearcorn with an eight foot putt for the win. Dearcorn made a confident stroke but lipped out leaving a three foot breaker to take the playoff to another hole. Dearcorn made a good stroke in the wind but the putt broke just below the hole making Tracy Copenhaver the third WSGA Net Champion for the men.

On the women’s side of the tournament, players from all over the state came to Powell to test their skills and make some points in the Stableford format. After the first day of the women’s championship, three players were tied for the lead with 41 points. They included Ashlyn Peason of Gillette, Mary Jo Lewis and Sonni Whitmore of Powell. Entering the second round, the championship was in reach for many players and it was Powell’s own Karen Holcombe who would seize the moment on her way to the championship. During her round she amassed an amazing 2 Net Eagles, 8 Net Birdies, and six net bogeys on her way to a second day point total of 45 points. Rounding out the top five for the ladies were Ashlyn Pearson from Gillette, Mary Jo Lewis, Jan Bailey, and Lana Sonny Whitmore all from Powell.

The WSGA would like to thank all of the players for making the third Wyoming Stableford Championship a successful tournament and Doug Conner and staff for all the help and support throughout the event. The WSGA would also like to applaud the golfers of Powell Golf Club for representing their golf club exceptionally well. In the men’s Championship, the final standings the men of Powell accounted for nine out of the top ten finishers while the women took five out of the top ten finishers.

Final Results