Toscana Country Club team members Emmett Murphy, Kurt Ney, Norm McIntyre, Warren Pineo.
During one of the closest competitions in the 29-year history of the Jack Nicklaus Cup Matches, the host team from Toscana Country Club (Indian Wells, Calif.) edged out Desert Mountain–Renegade (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Barrington Golf Club #2 (Aurora, Ohio) by one point to win the tournament held in September at Toscana Country Club.
Eighteen teams—consisting of one golf professional and three members of varying skill levels—representing Nicklaus Design courses from around the nation gathered at spectacular Toscana Country Club to compete in the 54-hole tournament. Teams competed in scramble, best-ball and modified chapman formats. Each player accumulated Stableford points for his or her net team score.
The Toscana Country Club team of Norm McIntyre, Emmet Murphy, Kurt Ney, and Pro Warren Pineo posted a score of 263 to finish just ahead of the team from Desert Mountain–Renegade (the 2011 champions) Alton Jones, Bill Murphy, Stephen Pook, and Pro Steve Watt. Toscana also narrowly edged out Barrington Golf Club #2 (Aaron Smigelski, Jim Mehallis, Jeff Moore, and Pro Vinnie Paolozzi. Desert Mountain—Renegade and Barrington #2 tied with 262 points, so the runner-up was determined by a scorecard playoff. Ties were broken by a cumulative matching of all three back-nine scorecards from each of the three formats, starting with the last nine holes and continuing with the last six holes, the last three holes, and finally the 18th hole.
After each bracket of their second round on the South Course, all 18 teams qualified for the annual “shootout” competition. The team from Bracket One—Toscana—and the team from Bracket Two—The Golf Club at SouthShore (Henderson, Nev.)—won the hole-by-hole elimination event. The Barrington #1 team of Tom Gallagher, Dave Ganzhorn, Scott McMillen, and Pro Mark Sierak also came away with a victory in the putting contest.
Contact Susan Lewter if you are a Nicklaus Design course that is interested in playing in or hosting the 2013 Jack Nicklaus Cup Matches. When the host site is finalized, a save-the-date will be sent.