Firecracker Golf Tournament expands

Tom and Bobby Kalinowski prepare to putt on the 9th green at Conquistador Golf Course during the Firecracker Tournament. The pair won the Silver Bullet Pro Flight.

Sam Green/The Journal

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Tom and Bobby Kalinowski prepare to putt on the 9th green at Conquistador Golf Course during the Firecracker Tournament. The pair won the Silver Bullet Pro Flight.

Sam Green/The Journal

Steve Gomez blasts out of the sand trap on the 18th hole during the Firecracker Tournament at Conquistador Golf Course. The flags were changed out on the 9th and 18th green for the Fourth of July.

Sam Green/Cortez Journal

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Steve Gomez blasts out of the sand trap on the 18th hole during the Firecracker Tournament at Conquistador Golf Course. The flags were changed out on the 9th and 18th green for the Fourth of July.

Sam Green/Cortez Journal

Since 1991, the Firecracker Golf Tournament has been a yearly highlight at Conquistador Golf Course.

According to course pro and manager Micah Rudosky, the event is comparable in size to the Ute Mountain Oil Classic and behind just the Pinto Bean when it comes to the number of participants and out-of-town players.

He said that this year’s championship flight was one of the strongest the event has ever seen.

The 2016 Firecracker featured seven different flights, including a pro flight, ladies flight and five amateur flights.

“A lot of places don’t have the ladies flight,” Rudosky explained. “But it is important to me that we host these ladies as well. And that sure brings our field up and they have a lot of fun.”

Mie K. Blakely and Amy Fladt were the first place gross winners in the ladies flight with a score of 165, and Arlene Curtis and Lanette Mitchell were the first net winners with a 136.

Rudosky played in the Silver Bullet Pro flight with Brian Grubbs, and the pair finished second with a 123, behind Bob and Tom Kalinowski who won with a 117.

“We couldn’t hang with Bob and Tom,” Rudosky explained. “They really got on fire and they’re tough, but we played solid. We didn’t have a good front nine today, but we came back on the back nine and shot eight under and that kept us in there.”

Rudosky said that while he loves playing and enjoys having a pro flight, the tournament is really about the amateurs.

One of the highlights in this year’s amateur play was Scott Twilley’s hole-in-one on No. 16 during Saturday’s best ball play.

There were gross and net winners in each of the five amateur flights.

First gross winners in their respective flights were: Jim Stephens and Dave Lambert (161), Sam Jarvis and Kevin Lovett (153), Fred Campuzano and Sam Sparks (147), Brendon Adams and Tim Williams (141) and Shea Sena and Gavin Lyons (128).

First net winners of their flights were: Quincy Natay and Erickson Honie (122), Chuck Rodstrom and Sonny Wells (127), Kelly McCabe and Chuck Pierce (125), Mickey Walsh and Zach Williams (125) and Bob Barnhardt and Sean Griswald (123).