The way Tom Hart was playing, there was certainly no need for a fourth-quarter comeback by John Elway Thursday at Cherry Hills Country Club.
The former Denver Broncos quarterback teamed up with Hart to not only win the 29th annual Trans-Mississippi Four-Ball, but to lap the field in the process.
With Hart shooting a 6-under-par 29 on the front nine with his own ball, he and Elway claimed the mid-amateur division of the national tournament by eight strokes.
“I had a great partner,” said Elway, the 2008 club champion at Cherry Hills. “The way he was playing, it made it pretty much pressure-free.”
With a 5-under-par 67 on the final day, Hart and Elway broke 200 for three rounds, finishing at 17-under-par 199. David Bartman of Los Angeles and Robert Funk of Canyon Lake, Calif., came in a distant second in the best-ball event, at 207.
In the 55-and-over senior division, James Hays of Prosper, Texas and Steve Dallas of Mesa, Ariz., closed with a 69 for a 207 total and a one-stroke victory. Coloradans Sean Forey and Scott Radcliffe (70-208), and Hunter Nelson and David Moore of Houston (68-208) shared second place.
But it was Hart, a former golfer at both Kent Denver High School and the University of Denver, who put on a show at Cherry Hills. Besides his front-nine 29 on Thursday, he bogeyed the ninth hole on Tuesday for a 30 and was 8 under par through 17 holes in that round before making a mess of No. 18.
“This is the biggest thing I’ve probably ever done in my life,” Hart said of winning the Trans-Miss Four-Ball, which features top male amateurs who are members of clubs which belong to the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. “When you’re talking about Cherry Hills, playing with John Elway and winning a national championship, there’s something special about that.”
Hart, 29, helps runs Cherry Creek Country Club, which his family owns (Tom’s father is Stacey Hart). Though the Trans-Miss Four-Ball marked Hart’s first tournament of the year, it certainly didn’t look like it with the way he performed. In Thursday’s round, for instance, Hart drove the green on the 329-yard par-4 third hole, and drained a 20-foot putt for eagle.
Elway, a four-time club champion at Castle Pines in addition to the title he won last year at Cherry Hills, contributed to the team’s score here and there, but the twosome’s workhorse was clearly Hart.
“He made so many birdies that he made the game look easy,” Elway said. “When I’d make birdies, he’d usually cover them — or beat me to them.”
Elway has obviously gained plenty of national attention for his football exploits, but being part of a national championship in golf was a new experience.
“It’s great,” he said. “I’ve never really won one. I’ve played in a lot of them, so it’s nice to finally get a win.”
For complete scores from the Trans-Miss Four-Ball, go to http://www.trans-miss.com/four-ball/scoreboard
