Devlin Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win the Inaugural TMGA Mid-Master & Mid-Amateur Championship
Powell Butte, OR - The inaugural Trans-Mississippi Mid-Master & Mid-Am Championship saw players from across the country teeing off at the 54-hole individual stroke-play championship. The Mid-Master had been a division of the TMGA Senior Championship for many years, but with the expansion of the Senior and the increasing demand among the 40-plus-year-olds, the event was spun off into its own championship. The tournament also included a Mid-Amateur division.
The young guns were outclassed by their older golfing participants, with Mid-Master Christopher Devlin firing 20-under-par (196) to win the Mid-Master division by fourteen strokes and the overall title by nine strokes. Starting the tournament with a course record 63 (9-under-par) followed up by rounds of 67 and 66, Devlin was never really challenged. Devlin was born in Ireland and has spent the last thirty years in the States, calling Birmingham, AL home. Atlanta’s Carson Pilcher played consistently throughout the tournament and earned the runner spot, finishing at 6-under-par for the tournament. Chris Thayer of Golden, CO, finished in third place at 3-under-par for the tournament.
The Mid-Amateur also had to deal with a fast start, with eventual winner Paul Mitzel of Gig Harbor, WA, firing a first-round 65 (7-under-par). Paul managed to fire two more under-par rounds and finish at 11-under-par (205), four shots ahead of runner-up Forbes Collins. At one point during the final round, Collins had it to 5-under-par for the day through 10 holes to narrow the gap, but Collins made a double bogey on the 13th hole. Mitzel made three birdies and a bogey on his last nine holes to secure victory. Collins, of Irvine, CA, was one of the Mid-Amateurs to fire three rounds under par, along with third-place finisher Harrison Moir, of Portland, OR, who finished at 5-under-par.
Brasada Ranch Canyons Golf Club was a fantastic venue to kick off this new Trans-Mississippi Golf Association Championship. The golf course was in magnificent condition, and the hospitality from the resort staff was second to none. Tournament Director Amanda Kolb said that the TMGA would certainly like to revisit Brasada Ranch Resort as a host site for tournaments in the future.
Trans-Mississippi Golf Association: Started in 1901, the TMGA currently conducts four championships a year at some of the best golf venues in the country. The schedule includes a Junior-Senior Four-Ball Championship, the Senior Championship, the Amateur Championship, part of the Elite Amateur Golf Series, and the new Mid-Master & Mid-Amateur Championship. The mission of the TMGA and its Turf Scholarship Fund is to provide scholarships and internships to students pursuing a degree and career in agronomy. The TMGA has funded over 1 million dollars in scholarships and grants in the last ten years.
Contact:
Amanda Kolb
Tournament Director
akolb@trans-miss.org