Kevin Cannon & Jeff SmithBoom at Desert Mountain

31st Trans-Mississippi Four-Ball Championships

A Publication of the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association - Vol. 29, No. 4 - Winter 2011

‘‘Scottsdale’s Kevin Cannon spent six years working at Desert Mountain Golf Club.That experience paid big dividends during September’s Trans-Mississippi Golf Association Four-Ball

Championships as Cannon made 10 birdies in anopening-round 63 that started he and partner JeffSmith on the path to victory in the 31st annualevent.

“I tied my career low; I had 10 birdies and a bogey,” said the36-year-old Cannon, a former golf professional now working asa hospice liaison for Smith’s company in Phoenix.“It was justone of those days that I made a lot of putts and if I didn’t makethem they were burning the edges. Geronimo has always beenmy favorite course up here so when we’re playing it I’m outhere having fun. I hadn’t played the course in a while but Iknew it pretty well. I’ve played a lot of golf out here but it hadbeen a while.

“I told Jeff, ‘I’m not working. I’m playing golf, with greatcompany, on a great course.’ I just want to thank Jeff for inviting me to play with him. For me I was just a big kid inDisneyland.” Smith and Cannon, after their nine-under-parround on the Geronimo course, would add six-under 66 onCochise the following day and then hang-on for a one-under71 as they made their way around the Geronimo layout in the final round and claim a one-shot victory over two teams.

“Kevin’s a great player and basically carried us to victoryhere…it’s just a fun team; we had a great time,” said Smith,48 and a member at Desert Mountain.“The Trans is a greatorganization and they put on a great tournament. I couldn’t be happier than to be involved in the Trans-Miss.”

Kevin Cannon (r) watches as partnerJeff Smith plays to a par three duringtheir final round run to the Trans-MissFour-ball title.

Geronimo’s revengeCannon and Smith entered the third round of the Four-

Ball with a three-shot lead after that second-day 66 on theCochise course. Paired with fellow Scottsdale golfers JoshJohnson and Joe Lloyd, the leaders got off to a perfect starton Geronimo’s opening par 5 when Cannon hit his sec-ond shot to 18 feet and rolled in the eagle putt.WithJohnson and Lloyd missing birdie putts on the hole,Cannon and Smith suddenly enjoyed a five-shot margin.

“I told Jeff I just really liked that (second shot) – a littlefade with that hybrid in there,” said Cannon, who plays atvarious courses in the Phoenix area and at Skagit Golf andCountry Club in the state of Washington.“It’s kind offunny when you picture it and it works out the way youwant it to. I got a little lucky and made that putt.”

But there would be no 63 on Geronimo this day asCannon and Smith saw their fast start slow down a bitwith no birdies and a couple bogeys during an even-par36 on the course’s front side. Cannon made a “goodbogey” from the desert tangle on the par-4 third hole andeach player made bogey six at the par-5 ninth.

“That bogey felt like a birdie,” Cannon said of his escapeon the third hole. Smith agreed.

“We both hit bad tee shots, but that was an importanthole right there…that Kevin was able to grind out abogey,” he said.

Johnson made a birdie at the ninth after pitching histhird shot to about 4 feet and sinking the putt.That got histeam back within two at the turn.

“For me it was a struggle all day,” Smith said.“I nevergot comfortable all day long and obviously Kevin playedwell at times to keep us in it.”

He and Cannon parred the first three holes on the backnine before the latter made birdie from about 12 feet atthe par-4 13th and from just inside 20 feet on the par-16th to give the team a three-shot margin overJohnson/Lloyd with just two holes remaining.

“I saw that putt on 16...Jeff gave me the line and heknows how to read these greens so well,” Cannon recalled.“That really helped me, having Jeff confirming it. He toldme where it was and I just felt really calm over that puttfor some reason. I was aggressive and it went in.That wasprobably my best putt all week.”

Cannon and Smith made par at the 17th and sustained a bogey on the par-3 finishing hole. But their one-under71 on their second trip around Geronimo was goodenough to post 16-under 200 for three spectacular days inScottsdale and that gave them a one-shot victory.

“That’s where I’m happiest – on the golf course,” anelated Cannon said.“And playing in this tournament is agreat experience, especially when it’s giving back to thekids who want to get educated and make our golf courses better. Seeing good golf courses and helping kidswho want the education…it’s just that much better giving back.”

‘Seasoned’ team just misses tieA pair of final-round, seven-under 65s boosted two

teams into second place in the Championship division atthe Four-Ball.The entries of Cota de Caza, Calif.’sRichard Yoon and Irvine, Calif.’s Gregory Lopez, and Tulsa, Okla.’s Michael Alsup and Carmel, Ind.’s David Tudor each had the division’s low round of the dayto finish at 15-under 201.

“We’re a little bitter,” joked Tudor, a 55-year-old whoplays out of Crooked Stick, after his team came up justone stroke out of a playoff.“We had a great time.We’rebest friends and we had a great week.This is all about(helping the Trans Scholarship program).We’re just happyto be here.We don’t play for a living; our names are noton our bags.”

Alsup, a 52-year-old financial advisor playing out ofCedar Ridge in Tulsa, made birdies at Nos. 1, 2 and 4, andan eagle at the par-5 ninth hole in moving the team to 13under for the Championship and into serious contention.Alsup had four more birdies on Geronimo’s back nine asthe team finished its 65 and posted 15-under 201. Butthree-putt bogeys at the par-4 13th and 16th holes left theseasoned golfers wondering what might have been.

“We make two bogeys with three-putts so that’s whywe’re a little down,”Alsup lamented.“Because you can’tthree-putt in a four-ball.”

Alsup and Tudor had a five-under 67 on their first triparound Geronimo in the Championship’s opening round.“This is probably the best two-course place I’ve ever beento with the way everything was set up,”Alsup said.“Theway everything was put together is was very, very good.”

The team came back with a three-under 69 on Cochisethe second day.

“We played pretty good the first day,”Tudor said.“Yesterday we were lucky to shoot 69.We scraped itaround…pretty scruffy.We were happy to have a shot at it.”

Johnson and Lloyd, who made three birdies and onebogey on the final day, settled for a tie for fourth place at202 after their final-round 70.Also at the figure wereCanyon Lake, Calif.’s Robert Funk and David Bartman ofLos Angeles after they turned in a final-round, six-under66 that included nine birdies. Funk, the 2006 Trans MatchPlay champion at Brook Hollow, won the 2003 Four-Balltitle with Dennis Reiland at Pumpkin Ridge. Bartmanwon the 2005 Match Play at Prairie Dunes.

Texans go low enough for Senior win this time

At the 2010 Four-Ball at Pinehurst, Dallas golfersWarren Huddleston and Lee Sandlin fired a 17-under-par199 to finish second in the Senior division. But that shinyscore, which included an eight-under 64 on Pinehurst No.4, was still a distant seven shots off the winning score post-ed by John Pigg of Austin,Texas, and Eddie Lyons ofShreveport, La.

This time around, Huddleston and Sandlin sandwiched afive-under 67 on the Geronimo course with 64s on eachof the layouts.That got the Texans to 21-under 195 for theChampionship and they captured a six-stroke Senior divi-sion victory.Their eight-under 64 the final day on theGeronimo track, two shots better than any of the otherSenior teams that day, allowed Huddleston/Sandlin tobreak away from Georgetown,Texas’s Jay Pumphrey andOklahoma City’s Bob Sine, who’d matched the winnerswith 64/67 the first two days.

Texans Lee Sandlin (l) and WarrenHuddleston (r), motivated by their runner-up finish at Pinehurst in 2010 used a bril-liant short game to claim by a large margintheir first Trans-Miss title.

clipped that thing perfect. It went in for birdie and thatgot us going. …I hit it on and birdied (No. 7/16th hole ofthe round), birdied (8/17) with a good wedge shot inthere and then on (9/18) I knocked it on in two and two-putted. But really, I think the shot that set us apart wasWarren’s chip in...”

The Desert Mountain victory was continued Trans suc-cess for Sandlin, who led after one round of qualifyingwith a 69 and was a No. 2 seed at the TMGA SeniorChampionship this May at Brook Hollow in Dallas. Hereached the semifinals of match play before falling to even-tual champion Chris Maletis of Portland.

“Once we got on the greens on this course we felt likewe could birdie every hole,” Sandlin said.“And that justputs faith in every shot, every drive, every iron shot…wefelt like we could hit it close. It really resonated. I had areally good three days of hitting greens.”Sine and Pumphrey had three back-side birdies and wenton to shoot a two-under 70 the final day at Geronimo.Their 15-under 201 total was good enough for solo sec-ond place.

Mesa’Ariz.’s Steve Dallas and Prosper,Texas’s JamesHayes placed third at 202.The Senior division championsat Denver’s Cherry Hills Country Club in 2009 had nofewer than 14 birdies during rounds of six-under 66 oneach of the courses to begin the 2011 championship. Butthey managed just three birdies on Geronimo the final day

“We thought we played well last year… This year we feltlike if we hit good wedge shots and putted well, we feltlike we could make a lot of birdies and we did,” saidHuddleston, 57, in real estate and playing out ofBridlewood in Flower Mound,Texas.“Sometimes you hitthe ball well, you hit the wedge shots close and you makesome putts…it’s wonderful to experience.”

Those conditions led to a sack full of birdies for the twoplayers and a Trans championship trophy this time around.“(Winning) is important given the history of the Trans,being more than 100 years old,” Huddleston said.“It’s aspecial golf organization….the second oldest in the coun-try.We have a high level of respect for the whole organiza-tion.”

The final day saw Sandlin make birdies on Nos. 12, 13and 14 – the team’s third, fourth and fifth holes of the dayas Senior division contenders went off Geronimo’s 10thtee. Later, Huddleston would chip on No. 6, the team’s15th hole of the day, and that would ignite the leaderswho would go on to birdie the final four holes of theround – including a 2, 3, 4 finish by Sandlin – in posting21 under par.

“What really turned the match, I thought, was I’d hit itup there pretty close at (our 15th hole) and Warren missedthe green, he was short,” said Sandlin, 57 and a manufac-turer’s rep in the telecom industry who plays his golf atRoyal Oaks in Dallas.“He had a little 8-iron; he just

For more action shots of Trans-Miss contestants, see the photo galleryat www.trans-miss.com under the Four-Ball tab. Shown here are (l to r) Josh Johnson, Joe Lloyd, Patrick Malone and Pat Meares.

least to start, as they were just one under through the firstseven holes.

“Yesterday Jeff was the man…we kind of ham-and-egged it,” Cannon said.“The first day was me; the secondday was Jeff.”

Smith hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole closeand made the eagle putt to ignite his team’s round.Theduo added four birdies on the front in a round of six-under 66.

“I had an eagle on 18; I hit 5-wood to about 5 feet andthat kind of jump started us,” Smith said.“That got usstarted in the right direction. I think I made two or threebirdies after that and Kevin made a couple.”

Cannon and Smith shared low round of the day withFunk and Bartman.The Californians found the Cochiselayout to their liking with four birdies on the front nineand two more on the back in a bogey-free 66.

Johnson and Lloyd had six birdies and one bogey intheir second-round 67 on Cochise.Also at the numberwere the teams of Incline Village, Nev.’s Ryan Mitchell/JoeSanders, Justin Walker of Broken Arrow, Okla./JasonWright of Tulsa, Okla., and Oklahoma City, Okla.’s J KellyHudelson/Cooper Johnson.

and settled for a 70 to finish at 14 under par.Two more teams were another shot back at 13-under

203.They included San Diego’s Frank Flanagan/RanchoSanta Fe, Calif.’s Kent Thompson (69-68-66) and Carefree,Ariz.’s Jeff Zieky/Scottsdale’s Dan Fitas (66-69-68).

Eagle on 18 at Cochise jump starts second-round 66

The Championship division opened play on theGeronimo course at the 2011 Four-Ball. But Cannon andSmith’s sizzling nine-under 63 gave the Scottsdale duo justa one-shot lead as several teams turned in low rounds inspectacular, late-summer scoring conditions.

The Dallas entry of Leo Corrigan and Patrick Malonemade eight birdies in a round of eight-under 64.Anothershot back at seven-under 65 were the teams ofJohnson/Lloyd, who had a front-side 31, and Eric Josephof Longview,Texas,/Neal Barfield of Dallas, who managed32 on the back.

Teeing off on No. 10, the leaders found the secondround on the Cochise course a little more challenging, at

Everyone in the golf world knows when you come tothe Phoenix/Scottsdale area the golfing opportunities areplentiful.The Valley of the Sun has become one of themost highly regarded golfing destinations in the UnitedStates. Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain Golf Club and two ofits six challenging layouts were the latest stop for theTrans-Mississippi Golf Association as its 31st Four-BallChampionship was contested in mid September.

It’s always nice when the Trans comes to a facility wherea former scholarship winner plies his trade and that’s defi-nitely the case for the private golfing community that isDesert Mountain. Director of Agronomy Shawn Emerson,who manages a staff of more than 150 on the half dozencourses, is a former Trans scholar and his staff includes twoothers who received academic aide from the organizationthat annually supports aspiring turf students through itsscholarship program.

“I think it was back in 1986 and ’87…,” recallsEmerson, now 48 and having graduated from theUniversity of Arizona.“We have three Trans scholars onour staff.The Trans has been around so long and it hasgreat history to it. It’s been at Phoenix Country Club andother places around so we were excited…

“They’ve been such a great supporter of golf, not justplaying the game but growing the game and making sure(students) are current with the research and use technolo-gies to work along with the environment.”

Storming backAnd that Sonoran Desert environment almost derailed

the 2011 version of the Four-Ball when one of the area’s“monsoon” storms dumped more than an inch of rain inless that 20 minutes on the Cochise and Geronimo courseson Saturday night.The resulting wash damage left thechampionship’s future in jeopardy, but Emerson and hisstaff focused their efforts on getting the two layouts backin shape.

Monday’s practice rounds were delayed a bit, but thetournament teed off on time on Tuesday morning andcompetitors enjoyed three rounds on the finely manicuredlayouts as if nothing had ever happened.“It’s an orchestra of events and you witnessed it here thisweek with the storm,” says Emerson, who’s spent the last16 years at Desert Mountain, after stints at Coronado in ElPaso and PGA West in Palm Springs.“We probably hadfour or five (golf course’s staffs) working on these twocourses the last day and half getting them ready.”

To say Desert Mountain is a huge facility is no overstate-ment. From stunning vistas on either of the Cochise andGeronimo courses,Trans Four-Ball competitors could takein some of the more than 8,000 acres that encompass theproperty’s six golf courses.According to Emerson, each ofthe Nicklaus-designed layouts is built in a 200-acre enve-lope and has about 85 to 90 acres of managed turf.

“Each is a little bit different. People always ask us whywe have six Nicklaus courses and we say ‘He knew what

he did so he could change each course accordingly,’”Emerson says.“There are somewhere around 2,000-2,100home sites on the property.There’s about 1,000 feet of ele-vation change on the property from the low end to thehigh end and it’s really a golf property that wants to livewith the Sonoran Desert and the community. Nothing’strying to be intrusive to it, and let golf be natural outhere.”

Airflow and lots of sunshineEmerson says each course has its own superintendent,

two assistants and a staff of approximately 25 employees tomaintain the desert courses.The courses include 419bermuda grass tees, fairways and roughs (320 bermuda atChiricahua).

Greens, which range in size from the approximately4,000 square foot putting surfaces of Geronimo to themassive 16,000-foot double greens of Renegade, are most-ly dominant bentgrass, Emerson says.The Desert Mountainstaff has developed a program the last two years where fourcourses are over seeded each fall and two are left dormant.

“The good thing is there is plenty of airflow through theproperty and Scottsdale,Ariz. has plenty of sunshine,”Emerson says.“It’s 340 or 350 days a year of good golfweather.The negatives…we use effluent water, about 850million gallons of water a year, but it is reclaimed.Theproblem with it for us is it carries a lot of salts with it. Sowe have to do a lot of flushing and agronomic practices toget rid of the salts.”

For the Trans, Emerson says the staff increased mowing frequency as it does for most big tournaments.“…for example,we typically cut the greens 10 times a week, but for the Trans or any major event we may cut them 13 or 14 times week…we may cut them twice a day,” he says.“We really focus on increasing the number of (maintenance practices), not changing thegreens.”

Half dozen courses on Trans scholar’s plateSix Nicklaus designs keepDesert Mountain staff busy