by DAVID HERZOG

Congratulations to Team Tara for winning the 19th Annual MonTara Cup Invitational Tournament by a score of 49.5 to 34.5.  The MonTara Cup is a three-day Ryder Cup style tournament for the top male golfers in SLV and was held on May 29th through the 31st.Team Tara was Captained by Nelson Hagy and was comprised of individuals from Savannah Point(4), Shenandoah(4), Tara (3), and Magnolia (1).  Team Monti was led by Rick Cromwell with all 12 players from Monticello.
Day 1 saw Team Tara jump out to anearlylead with a 9-3 victory in the first sessionBestBall matches.  Tara expanded their leadin the afternoon Alternate Shot matches with another 9-3 victory giving them commanding lead of 18-6 heading into Day 2 matches.
Tara continued its winning ways by capturing Day 2’s morning Stableford matches by a score of 8-4.  The afternoon Scramble matches were suspendedfor 1 ½ hoursby a downpour, all players toughed it out and Tara completed the sweep of Monti in the first four session with a 7-5 victory.This gave Tara an impressive but not insurmountable lead of 33-15 heading into the 12 Singles matches worth 3 points each.
Day 3 singles matches were very competitive with Team Monti winning 5 matches, Team Tara winning 4and three matches ending in a tie giving Team Monti a 19.5 to 16.5 win for the day.  The final result was not known until the tenth match of the day was completed.Of note, all the competitors appreciated all the spectators who came out to watch the conclusion of the matches on the 18th hole at Monticello.
Team Monti was led by Scott Nelson who was the only Monti player with a winning record.Other team members includedMike Hunter, Reid Trumble, Dale Howe, Jim Haynes, Dave Blasik, Bill Reynolds, Rick Wethington, Jim Sliger, Barry Fairly, Dave Herzog, and Rick Cromwell.
Players with winning records for Team Tara includedBill Bowyer, Dave Ross, Scott Baier, Brad Andrew, Greg Walker, Paul Dehlinger, Kevin Heath, John Nesmith, and Gregg Bridges. Other team members were Nelson Hagy, Jim Stroup, and Russ Both.
Again, congratulations to Team Tara for their win.Both teams look forward tonext year’s competition.