Sun Country PGA Match Play Championship Held Over 3 Days at Ladera
Scott Lieberwirth, the former NMSU golf coach now heading the UTEP golf program, won the Sun Country PGA Match Play Championship, beating UTEP alumnus and Lone Star Golf Club Assistant Golf Professional Devin Miertschin 1-up.
The Inn of the Mountain Gods’ Daniel Nunez won the senior championship bracket of the Sun Country PGA Match Play, beating Carlton Blewett of Roswell’s Spring River Golf Course 1-up.
The Sun Country PGA Match Play Championship, sponsored by Mazek Rocky Mountain Golf Cars, was played May 21-23 at Ladera Golf Course on Albuquerque West Side. On Day 1 of the event, the skies opened up causing a delay in the competition, which resumed when skies cleared.
Leiberwirth got to the final round by beating Pat Murphy of Santa Ana Golf Club 2-and-1. Nunez made it to the final match in the senior bracket by beating Don Yrene of the Canyon Club at Four Hills 2-and-1.
In the consolation bracket, Thomas McMullan of Las Cruces’ Picacho Hills Country Club beat Allan McDermott of Twin Warriors Golf Club in a match that went 20 holes. McMullan got to the final round by beating Kevin Amhaus of GolfTec in a match that went 19 holes.
In the senior consolation bracket, Ron Allen of Los Altos Golf Course beat Taos Country Club’s Tad Bourg 6-and-5. Allen got to the final round of the bracket by beating Cochiti Golf Club Director of Golf Kenny Blake 2-and-1.
Lieberwirth’s win puts him in a tie with Los Altos Golf Course’s David Muttitt in the Sun Country PGA Section’s 2018 Omega Player of the Year points race, followed by Ladera’s Bill Harvey, the Sun Country Section’s head of player development, Gerome Espinoza, and Santa Ana’s Steve Manning. Muttitt was the 2017 Omega Player of the Year.
Harvey leads the Omega 2018 Senior Player of the Year points race, followed by Nunez. Harvey placed in the top 10 in the Club Car Pro-Official Team Championship and Pro-Assistant Team Championship in April – events in which Nunez either did not participate or did not finish.
Dan Vukelich, editor of New Mexico Golf News, is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America and the Golf Travel Writers of America. Reach him at dan@newmexicogolfnews.com
