Peter Benton: Cohen, McDonnell team to win LVCC tournament

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

WITHOUT DOUBT, the most popular and eagerly awaited event on the Las Vegas Country Club calendar is the annual member/guest tournament.

It was played recently on a course in absolutely pristine shape and under weather conditions that could only be described as idyllic.

The first day of play -- a practice round plus derby qualifying -- was followed by a better ball of partners with 90 percent of handicaps. The final day was combined low net with full handicap.

Winning overall honors with a score of 203 was long-hitting Gil Cohen and guest Jack McDonnell. They played consistent golf and complimented one another perfectly.

In the Spades flight, Frank Larsen and Rob Mullaney ham-and-egged it to perfection, coming in first with a 205. At 209 and second place was the Coe Power/Bill Daddono duo, followed by Nawaz Qureshi/Ken Dorney and J.A. Oberweis/Bob Christensen. Their scores were 210.

Pat Laverty and John Tennant captured low gross honors at 225, followed by Bill Fain/Paul Jaramillo at 235.

Pat Murphy, playing inspired golf, along with companion Steve Wright won the Clubs flight with a 206. The Harold Falkner/John Hendrickson duo, not at all happy with the way they were playing, were pleasantly surprised with their second-place showing and final score of 210. Third at 220 was Jim Pettis and Bob Jones.

Last year's overall victors, Dan Ayala and partner David Miller, captured the Hearts flight with 213, edging Bill Weinberger/Larry Altshul and Allen Vogel/Ira Beer who were breathing down their necks and finished with 214s.

Howard Ickes and Rollie Sturm won the Diamonds flight with a 208 score. Second at 211 were Dan Shapiro/Julian Dugas and Joe Wilcock/Mark Sirianni.

There were many great shots played during the member/guest, but none were better than Dan Ayala's. He aced the 179-yard No. 17 with a perfectly struck 3-wood. It was his second hole in one.

In the Derby, where two-man teams played alternate shots against other teams with at least one pairing being eliminated on each hole, Bill Blackard and Glenn Hurst edged J.P. Oberweis and Frank Reed on the final hole. Jim Hagen and James Merlo came in third in this fin-to-watch side event.

The 1996 President's Cup, which pitted a 12-man team from the USA against an International squad (excluding the British Isles and Europe), was won by the American contingent and raised $800,000 for charity.

Distribution of these proceeds will be through PGA Tour Charities Inc. Each player and captain's designated portion is approximately $30,000 and will go to the charity of their choice.