Club Life Firecracker Special Issue 7.6.23

J U L Y 6 , 2 0 2 3 W W W . C C C O U N T R Y C L U B . C O M Hotgolfonhotdays attheFirecracker 2023 FIRECRACKER SPECIAL ISSUE

Harper-Leavellecapture top Firecrackertitleafterplayoff

SanAntonio-basedproTexasHarperandamateurpartnerJasonLeavelle wontheFirecrackerChampionshipflightafterHarperdraineda25-foot birdieputtonthesecondplayoffhole...#2...earlySundayevening.

Onehundredandtwelvegolferscompetedinfiveflightsoverahotand muggyweekendattheClubinthetwo-man,best-balltournament.

HarperandLeavelleshot68-68andasdidStevanHinojosaandDan MacDonaldtoforcetheplayoff.

Otherflightwinners:

Firstflight:JamesAlemanandTannerJohnson,shot73-67towinby threestrokes.

Secondflight:DougPetersonandMarkLaRue,shot68-72towinbyone shot.

Thirdflight:ClifAlexanderandRobertDeLeon,shot75-72towinby threestrokes.

Fourthflight:JerryRamirezandJamesGuerrawon1stgross

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Left: Texas Harper pulls his birdie putt out of the cup on second playoff hole. Right, Pro Brent with Harper and partner Jason Leavelle.

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witha80-77.TheteamsofJimmyFreeman/ClayCampbellandHank Hall/EmmettHarristiedfor1stnet.

NeelAhujawonclosesttotheholeon#14Sundaywithhisfirst-everace, hittinga7-ironfrom180yards.“Itwasstraightdownwind.Itbouncedand funneledin,”saidAhuja,whonowlivesintheHoustonarea,butgrewup playingattheClub.

Championshipflight

HinojosaandMacDonaldhadtheleadonSunday’sbacknine.Theybogeyed 17andparred18tofinish8-underforthetournament.

HarperandLeavellewereplayinginthefinalgroupbehindthem,paired withDanSciantarelliandTreyCrain.

Whenthosetwoteamscametothe18thtee,bothwere8-underandathreewayplayoffwaspossible.

Sciantarellihithissecondshotintothe18thgreen,ithittheflagpoleand ricochetedbackoffthegreen,bringinggroansfromthegolf-cartgallery surroundingthe18th.

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Golf cart gallery grew around #18 as final groups in the Championship flight finished.

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SciantarelliandCrainbogeyedthe hole,leavingHarperandLeavelle needingabirdietowinorparto forceextragolf.

Harperdidn’tmakepar,leaving Leavelleandhis4-to-5-footpar puttstandingbetweenaHinojosa andMacDonaldvictory.

Hedrainedtheputt. Bothteamsparredthefirsthole beforeHarperwonthetournament on#2.

“I’vealwaysenjoyedthe Firecracker,”saidHarper,who playedittwicebefore,finishing secondbothtimes.Butthiswasthe firsttimeheplayeditsincethe ChetWilliamsrenovations.

“Thecourseisincredible.The greenswerefirmandperfect.What they’vedonewiththecourseis great,”Harpersaid.

HerecentlywonhisCanadianTour card,qualifyinginthattour’sQ SchoolwithLeavelleonhisbag. Theyknoweachotherfromplaying attheDominionClubinSan Antonio.Thiswasthesecondtime they’veplayedatournament togetherandhavewonbothtimes.

Onthefinalplayoffhole,Harper triedtohitalongdrive,butpushed

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Pro Brent gets the playoff started on #1 Jason Leavelle tees off on first playoff hole.

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itright.Hisballwasunderneathtrees.

HarperwasinthesamespotearlierinthedayanddebatedwithLeavelle abouthittingwedgeintothefairwayortryingalowhard-cutshottowardthe green.Hehitthewedgeandstillmadebirdieonthepar-5hole.

“ThistimeIsawwheretheothertwoguyswereandknewweneededfour,so Ihitahard-cut,low4iron,”hesaid.

Hisballstoppedjustshortofthegreen,nearMacDonald’s.

MacDonald’ssecondshotendedupthereaftergettingarulingfromPro Brentafterhisteeshotwentleftintothetreesandtherewasaquestionabout hisstanceonanirrigationline.

Harperthoughthischipcouldgoin,butitdidn’t,beforereleasingdownhillto 25feetaway.

MacDonald’schipalsowentpasttheholeandHarpergotagoodreadoffhis birdieputtthatmissed.

“Itneverhadachancetomiss.Itwentrightin”saidHarper,whowas confidentstandingovertheputt.

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Left: Pro Brent and Dan MacDonald discuss ruling after MacDonald's tee shot on #2 went into trees. Right: Harper and MacDonald had their second shots finish short of #2 green. Harper's chip rolled 25 feet past the pin, but shortly after he made that putt to close out the match.

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Firstflight

AlemanandJohnsonstartedSunday twooffthelead.

“Yesterdaywehadonebirdie betweenus,sowedidn’tplayour best.Itoldhim(Tanner)we’vegot toshoot68.Wedon’tshoot68, we’renotgoingtowin,”Aleman said.

Theydidonestrokebetter. “Webogeyedaneasyholeouthere andthenstartedmakingbirdies.We werebothplayingfromthemiddle ofthefairway.Wewerebothon greensinregulationandthensome theputtsstartedtofall,”hesaid.

AlemanandJohnsonbirdiedholes2, 6and8,butbogeyedthedriveable par-47th.Theybirdied11,15and16 ontheback.

Thepairstoppedwatchinglive scoringafterthe14thhole.

“Itoldhim,we’vegotfourholes left,”Alemansaid,tellinghis partnertonotcarewheretheother groupswere.“We’rejustgoingto keepgoingforward.”

Alemanalsotoldtheyounger Johnsontostayfocusedandnotlet thegrowinggroupofspectators botherhimthroughthefinalholes.

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Pro Brent with first flight winners James Aleman and Tanner Johnson. Tanner Johnson helps partner James Aleman line up putt on #18.

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Secondflight

LaRueandPetersonthoughttheyweretwobehindtheleadstandingonthe 18thtee.

“Wethoughtweneededbirdietogetintoatieforsecond,”LaRuesaid.

Theybothlippedoutputtsonthefinalgreen,butPetersonparredthehole afterhittinghisapproachtofivefeet.Itgavethemtheone-shotvictoryover WillWallaceandRobGrainger.

“Afterwegotbacktoourcart,somebodycameupandsaid‘congratulations.’ Ithoughttheyweremessingwithme.”LaRuesaid.“I'mgladIdidn'tknow. GladIwasjustplayinghardanddidn'tdoanythingstupid,”hesaid.

Thirdflight

DeLeonsaidthekeytohisvictorywithpartnerAlexanderwassimple.

“Wedidn’tmakethemistakeswemadeyesterday–andthismanshowed up,”hesaidofAlexander.

Theteamrackedupenoughbirdiestowinbythreestrokesafterenteringthe daytwobehind.

Fourthflight

Brothers-in-lawHallandHarrismadeabigbirdieoutofthebunkeron17 to wininamatchtheyknewthematchwastightallday.

“Itwasagreatmatchandweneverknewwhowasgoingtowin,”saidHall.

Mark LaRue (in photo) and Doug Peterson won the second flight. Pro Brent with third flight winners Robert DeLeon and Clif Alexander.

CorpusChristiCountryClub FinalResults

ChampionshipFlight

*1st68-68-136-TexasHarper/JasonLeavelle$1500/Team

*Won2holeplayoff

2nd68-68-136-StevanHinojosa/DanMacDonald$1000/Team

3rd68-69-137-TreyCrain/DanielSciantarelli$700/Team

T4th69-71-140-JaimeGomez/MiguelDelAngel,Jr$250/Team

T4th74-66-140-RobertCardona/MarioCardona$250/Team

DayMoney-69-AustinAnderson/TroyLopez$200/Team

FirstFlight

1st73-67-140-JamesAleman/ TannerJohnson$1500/Team

2nd71-72-143-WillWallace/ RobGrainger$1000/Team

T3rd71-76-147-DavidGibson/ VictorGarcia$350/Team

T3rd71-76-147-DamianShipley/ SamuelBliven$350/Team

DayMoney-71-EthanDonahoo/ BruceTaylor$200/Team

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Tanner Johnson, left and James Aleman celebrate their First Flight win on 18th green

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SecondFlight

1st 68-72-140-Doug Peterson/Mark LaRue $1500/Team

T2nd 73-68-141-Bryan Grove/Steve Cruse $850/Team

T2nd 73-68-141-Bert Garza/Brian Barrett $850/Team

Day Money 69-Neel Ahuja/Jacob Garza $200/Team

ThirdFlight

1st 75-72-147-Clif Alexander/Robert DeLeon $1500/Team

2nd 73-77-150-Jesse Cotton/Sam Reid $1000/Team

3rd 77-74-151-Larry Aduddell/Sean Williams $700/Team

Day Money-75-Clint Bigenheimer/Aaron/O’Donnell $200/Team

One team found a way to keep cool during Sunday's round

1st80-77-157-JerryRamirez/JamesGuerra$1500/Team

2nd79-85-164-UweLeopold/RajanAhuja$1000/Team

T1st72-65-137-JimmyFreeman/ClayCampbell$1250/Team

T1st69-68-137-HankHall/EmmettHarris$1250/Team

DayMoney-79-TraceBuddy/KentNielsen$200Team

SaturdayClosesttotheHole #8-MarkLaRue7’8”, $200/Team

#17-DanielSciantarelli3’11, $200/Team

SundayClosesttotheHole #4-RajanAhuja1’5”, $200/Team

#14-HoleInOne,NeelAhuja, $200/Team,plusayear’ssupply ofclothingfromShortPar4

AllpayoutforamateursinPro Shopcredit

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FourthFlight Gross

Net

Neel Ahuja's first-ever ace on #14 won Closest to the Hole during Sunday's round.

ThePlayers

Note: These are the Sunday groups, not all names match photo from left to right

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1 p m group: Jason Leavelle, Texas Harper, Daniel Sciantarelli Trey Crain 12:50 group: Jaime Gomez, Miguel Del Angel Jr , Dan MacDonald Stevan Hinojosa 12:40 group:Kevin Smith, Brian Smith, Billy Storms, Joe Degrande. 12:20 group: Jay Garcia, Michael G Fuentes, John Moore, Raymond Garcia. 12:10 group: Mason Miller, Curt Bowden, Jeffrey Davis, Lee Smith. Noon group: Mario Cardona, Robert Cardona, Austin Anderson, Troy Lopez.

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11:10 group: Ethan Donahoo, Bruce Taylor, Tom Crain, Collin Bacak 11:30 group: James Aleman, Tanner Johnson, Damian Shipley, Samuel Bliven. 11:40 group: Will Wallace, Rob Grainger, David Gibson, Victor Garcia. 11:20 group: John Reichert, Henry Lemaire, Domingo Zamparripa, May Villarreal. 11 a.m. group: Andrew Barrera, Michael Alvarado, Chris Wicker, John Lackey. 10:40 group: Dean Sartoris, Craig Kondoff, Mark LaRue, Douglas Peterson.

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10 a.m. group: Butch Wisehart, Darel Blohm, Craig Thompson, Roger Martinez. 0:20 group: Trenton Amador, Miles Holcomb, Bert Garza, Brian Barrett. 0:30 g oup: ya G o e, Ste e C use, Jo Wallace, Jack Wallace. 10:10 group: Neel Ahuja, Jacob Garza, Miguel Del Angel, Yil Durak 9:50 group: Alex Khastehdel, David Salinas, Scott Sorrells, John Thompson 9:30 group: Jesse Cotton, San Reid, Clif Alexander, Robert DeLeon.

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8:40 group: Uwe Leopold, Rajan Ahuja, Emmett Harris, Hank Hall. 9:10 group: Clint Bingemheimer, Aaron O'Donnell, Steven Keevan, Robert Epps. 9:20 group: Larry Aduddell, Sean Williams, Edwin Mitchell, Danny Brooks. 9 a.m. group: John Paul Arellano, Bryan Grove, David Hamilton, Paul Hines 8:30 group: Jerry Ramirez, James Guerra, Noe Gonzalez, Tommy Haddad. 8:20 group: Clay Campbell, Jimmy Freeman, Gary McKinny, Steve Moore.

Sign on the course in support of David Gibson and Victor Garcia

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7:30 group: Ryan Cain, Matthew Swann, Lazaro Paredez, William McCall 7:50 group: Scott Sherman, Marshall Wilkerson, Lyle Murphey, Gary Pruett 8:10 group: Oscar Trevino, Josue Delagarza, Andrew Jimenez, Logan Kirkpatrick 7:40 group: Steve Stockseth, Bradley Lenz, Trace Bucey, Kent Nielsen.