By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The prestigious Faulconer golf tournament at the Lake Monticello Golf Course is scheduled as a two-day event. This year’s day one, Saturday (May 11), was a perfect day for golf; day two, Sunday (May 12), not so much. Last year bad weather reduced the tournament to a one-day event. This year it rained Saturday night and off and on all day Sunday. Nonetheless, the golfers persisted and managed to complete 18 holes in the rain.
The champion this year is Brian Bassett, who fired a very impressive two under par 70 on Saturday and then shot 78 playing from the pro tees on Sunday for 148, five strokes better than his nearest competitor. Bassett’s 70 was the best round of the tournament. Bassett is a repeat winner. He also won in 2017. Bassett, who is 46 years old and plays out of Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, was accompanied on the course by his daughter, Charlotte. He played football in college at Columbia University in New York City, rather than golf.
Second and third place went Adam Marshall and Taylor Ratliff who both shot 76 and 77 for 153. Marshall was awarded second place based on a better score on the back nine on Sunday. Scott Garrison and Greg Kozy tied for fourth. Both shot 79 and 75 for 154, with 75 as the best score from the blue tees. Players in the first flight in the Champions division played from the white tees – 6,296 yards on Saturday – and then moved back to the blue tees – 6,930 yards on Sunday. This length is comparable to the shorter courses played by the PGA professionals, and is a serious test for top local amateurs.
In the seniors division, the winner was Michael Hays who plays out of Virginia Beach. He shot 73 and 74 for 147. Second place went to Phil Mahone with a 148 score on rounds of 73 and 75. Mahone is a longtime top amateur in Central Virginia. He won the Champions division in 2014 and 2015. Third place in the seniors went to Steve DeMasters who shot 74 and 77 for 151.
In the super seniors division, Bill Bascom was the winner, shooting 73 and 75 for 148. John Casstevens and Randy Leyshon both were close behind at 150. Casstevens was awarded second place based on a comparison of scores on the final nine holes on Sunday.
The award for the best score by a junior player went to Preston Burton, who shot 81 and 85 for 166. The award for best score by a Lake Monticello resident went to Eric Parlet, who shot 167 and won on a comparison of score cards over former Lake Monticello police chief Tom Boisvert, who also shot 167.
The Faulconer tournament had 93 golfers signed up to play this year. Thirty played in the Champions division, 30 in the seniors and 33 in the super seniors: a very full and competitive field. Many players thanked Lake Monticello pro Mark Marshall for the efficient way the tournament was conducted and serious kudos go out to the course superintendent Jim Prucnal and his staff for keeping the course in playable condition in light of Sunday’s weather issues.
