2017-11-18_Birkdale

Final round of the RAGA Tour season is upon us on this cool, crisp mid-November Saturday. The low sun, crunchy leaves, and Birkdale will serve as a backdrop for this finally to a tight RVA Cup race. One last attempt for Rick to catch Steve for the overall points lead while Mike looks to make it back-to-back victories.

A three man round means it will be very difficult for Rick to overtake Steve for the RVA Cup but if the stars align, it could happen, but it first must start with a victory. Rick made his task far more difficult hitting back-to-back double-bogeys on the 1st two holes as Steve and Mike went par-par each. Rick was able to bounce back a bit on 3 with a par while Steve began a run of trouble, finishing out the front in a 50. Rick was able to steady the ship to wrap up the front 4 shots better (46) than Steve. However, Mike found 4 pars on the front and played mistake-free golf to shoot 4 shots better (42) than Rick after 9.

Rick would have to make up those 4 shots and knock in some birdies to make up the difference with Steve for the RVA Cup, which is based on a golfer’s 8 best rounds on points (see RVA Cup page for scoring breakdown). Steve started the back continuing the struggle, keeping that part of the aligned stars but Mike began with a par, pushing the other stars out of the way. Rick was able to par the par-3 12th but Mike was able to remain steady throughout the back 9 and his par on the par-3 16th put the lead too far out of reach. Mike took the final round of the year with a 6 shot victory in an impressive 82 (+11) for back-to-back wins. Steve birdied the par-5 13th completing his hold on the RVA Cup for the third straight year and remains the only player to achieve the season-long title.