Cooley Converts 5th Extra Hole for Memorial Win
Cooley and Withey are presented winners check by Tournament Sponsor Erika Meland
Down the stretch the leader-board of the The Memorial churned and the teams of Chris Cooley / Chuck Withey and Bill Gordon / Dan Gubachy came out tied at the top at 3 under par. Cooley and Withey made 5 birdies to charge to the lead, but came home in an ambulance with 2 bogeys in their last 4 holes. Meanwhile Gordon and Gubachy birdied their final hole (the 13th) to slide into the playoff. In the playoff, acting Commissioner Mike Prieskorn laid out a tough course and both teams made clutch saves on the way to a 1 over par regulation 4 hole aggregate. On the first overtime hole, Commissioner Prieskorn relented with a straight forward set up and Chris Cooley, in his second playoff in as many weeks, dropped a dramatic ace on the first shot. Gubachy’s attempt to match drifted right and Gordon left his effort an agonizing 3 inches short of the hole. The win marks Cooley and Withey’s 2nd Green Towel victory and they become the 3rd team in tournament history to win twice as a team (Caruana – Martin 2001,2003 and Carter – Akunuri 2011,2014). The teams of Kline/ Raymond, Carter/ Graunke, and Dunmore / Dunmore all finished tied for 3rd at 2 under par. On course prizes went to Mike Nicholas, Rich Dunmore, Helen Puffenberger, and Karl Carter. Dave Oliver and Rookie Justin Bennett, playing as an amateur team took Low Am honors with a notable 2 under par actual score. The win is Cooley’s 9th in 99 starts on Tour and 3rd Major, while Withey gets his 7th win in 103 starts and 2nd Major.
