REDEMPTION IN THE MAIN EVENT

In Las Vegas luck is everything. But when $25,000 is on the line you try to do anything you can to take luck out of the equation and let your skill take over.

Players knew that it was going to take a whole lot of skill to separate themselves from the field. Especially with the format consisting of a five-course qualifier where scores were tallied to generate a leaderboard ranked best to worst. The player who ended up with the best overall score would be crowned "King of the Hill" and receive a bye to the final. Those finishing 2-9 would play off in an 8-man, single-elimination tournament to face the King and play for $5,000 and the Regional Championship trophy.

Besides the prize money at stake, players also had chances to win bonus prizes throughout the day. The player with the best score on each course received a $100 GT gift card, and any player who hit a hole-in-one or double eagle received their choice of prizes from the sponsor table, which included Golden Tee LIVE sunglasses from PRATO and Golden Tee LIVE golf balls from Top Flite®.

But when people go to Vegas they want to win money. Preferably sooner rather than later and tournament emcee and IT Marketing Director, Gary Colabuono, gave everyone the treat of being a winner by announcing that all 162 players would win at least $25. Danny Beall from Wichita, KS was awarded a set of Ben Hogan irons for being the Western Open top online qualifier. But he's going to have to beg Dayton Root for a Golden Tee Proshop.com golf bag to put them in. Root, from Houston, TX, was the lucky winner whose name was drawn in the raffle.

With the TouchTunes Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG charity jukebox filling the room with music, two squads of players began a quest to beat the field and leave Las Vegas $5,000 richer.

Walking into the room, World Team member Anthony Goertz from Kitchener, Ontario knew he had unfinished business. At the 2006 Western Open, Goertz was King of the Hill after qualifying with a staggering score of -133. But one missed chip in the finals left "Pony" with the sour taste of second. He was determined to get redemption. And a -28 on Indigo Mound along with a top score of -129 sure helped get him back to where he wanted to be. He was King of the Hill again, now he just had to finish what he started.

But standing in his way were eight qualifiers. Brandon Bell of Wichita, KS, Nick Feijo from Canada, Michael Jaeger out of Lynnwood, WA, defending champion Danny Beall from Wichita, Sonu Khatri playing out of Lenexa, KS, three-time national champion Ryan Bourgeois of Houston, TX, Andrew Cosgrove from Canada and John "Fuzzy" Thurston from Houston all knew they were a few good rounds away from taking on Goertz.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 5-COURSE QUALIFIER LEADERBOARD!

Nine men stood inside the ballroom of the Hilton with their sights set on one prize. Outside, the Vegas nightlife was turning on and thousands were trying to make their fortune. But for these nine men, fortune wasn't going to be about luck. Each had shown they were the best in the field and now they all were fighting for the same goal - $5,000 and Golden Tee immortality.

But four of the biggest names failed to get past the first round on Moose Landing. Friday night's Pub Champ, Bell, fell in sudden death. Then it was the defending Western Open champion Beall who was eliminated. Bourgeois' return to the game also met its end, but not before he would hit the shot of the tournament. Down one on hole #18, Bourgeois hit a hole-in-one to force sudden death. And Cosgrove, trying to come back from one down on hole #18, found some tough luck when his tee shot hit the green and awkwardly rolled up against the rock wall for what the game considered an unplayable lie. It was a one-in-a-million fluke, but it ended any shot at a come back. All four won $600 for their efforts.

After an exciting and dramatic first round no one knew what to expect in round two. But what they got was some of the most solid Golden Tee playing of the event. Jaeger and Feijo went back and forth on Rustic Bridge until some bad luck struck Feijo on the treacherous 17th hole. Despite putting a good stroke on the ball, Feijo's tee shot just wouldn't stay on the green - or dry. The water ball forced Feijo to make bogie and fall two more behind Jaeger, who made birdie on the hole. From there Jaeger cruised into the semifinals where he would meet a hot-handed Khatri who methodically and efficiently took out Thurston. Their 4th-5th place efforts earned Feijo and Thurston a $900 payday.

The night before, Khatri and Jaeger were celebrating together as Team USA members. Now they were competing for a shot at taking on Goertz. But for Jaeger, the competition was over after four holes. After watching Khatri effortlessly stick his tee shot on the dangerous 4th green, Jaeger knew he would have to do the same. This exact shot had doomed so many already this year and he didn't want to be another "Glacier #4" casualty. Unfortunately, he became another name on the list. Jaeger found the water twice to drop four strokes and he never recovered. Jaeger's remarkable run pocketed him $1,500 for third place.

And then there were two. Goertz and Khatri - two of the top players in the world. Some tagged the match as a 2008 World Championship preview. While it may have been too early for that, the match was everything a finals should be - exciting, dramatic and good to the last shot.

Going into the match, the last thing Goertz wanted was déjà vu.

After the final match a year ago he watched the trophy get handed to someone else. There was no way he was going to allow that to happen again.

"Pony" struck blood first when he holed out hole #4 of Moose Landing from the deep rough for eagle. But Khatri countered with a birdie on hole #8 to tie up the match.

But like so many times before, hole #18 would provide the most drama.

Clinging to a one-stroke lead, Goertz was in position to walk away with the win when his tee shot spun just off the green into the rough. Having missed an opportunity like this earlier, this time Khatri pounced on it - sticking his tee shot and making eagle. Goertz could still win with a chip-in, but when his shot just missed he just put his hands on his head and walked away from the machine. It was 2006 all over again! A missed chip may have cost him the title. After composing himself, Goertz said he was ready for sudden death.

Hole #2 had been the make or break hole in the previous two playoffs on Moose Landing - and it struck again in the third. As rain dampened the hole, Khatri left his tee shot just off the green while Goertz stuck his 12 feet away - a very makeable putt despite the conditions. If Khatri was going to force a third hole he was going to have to do what Goertz couldn't on #18 - make his chip. Lining it up, Khatri put roll on the ball to combat the wet, slow green. He pulled back with confidence and fired a shot that was perfectly on line… but the wet green stopped it just a few feet short. With a new excitement in his step, Goertz took his place at the trackball. After an entire year of waiting, redemption was finally in his grasp. He calmly pulled back the trackball, paused and rammed home the winning putt - Goertz was finally the Western Open champion!

"I've been second a lot of times and after last year, to put myself in the same position, I would have been really disappointed if I didn't win," Goertz commented after his victory. "It's a great feeling to beat a top field like this and finally get a win."

Khatri took home $2,000 for second place while Goertz finally got to hold the winning $5,000 check that had eluded him a year ago.

After all the top players and all the close matches, it was fitting to see the 2007 Regionals end on a dramatic last hole. Since its inception, the Regional Championships have been the largest and most exciting event on the calendar for every Golden Tee player. It's a chance for players to immerse themselves in the competition and excitement of the game, to gain immortality as one of the best or to prove, if just to themselves, how good they can play.

For Anthony Goertz, the 2007 Regionals were all of the above.

It may have been a year later than he would have hoped, but Goertz finally finished what he started. "Pony" rode off with the title, and capped off an amazing year of Regionals action.

Congratulations to Anthony Goertz on a Phenomenal Performance
And to ALL of the Western Open Competitors!

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