2023 LV Winter Classic Tournament Results

APT Las Vegas held the 2023 Las Vegas Winter Classic this past weekend with 88 players competing at the iconic Rio Secco Golf Course in Henderson, Nevada. We would like to thank our Platinum Sponsor, UNIVERSAL RETIREMENT, who had provided some great door prizes including three new wedges, golf balls, gloves, and many more.  

The Rio Secco is home to the Butch Harmon golf school and has hosted the Wendy’s Three Tour Challenge in the past. The number of PGA and LPGA tour members that have trained here is endless. The staff at the Rio Secco had the golf course in perfect condition for the tournament with the greens rolling fast and true. 

We had a challenging weather but still manageable to play over the two days and the top players prevailed to be crown the Champions. 

Division 1 
10 players battled hard over the two days with 5 players within 2 shots of each other going into the final round. With the wind blowing early in Sunday’s round things started to tighten up, but Tony Wise [147] pulled away from his nearest competitors to secure the Winter Classic championship by 3 shots firing a closing 74 to go with opening round 73. Second place was shared with Jonathan Minkoff [150] and 15-year-old, Austin Wang [150], who made a great eagle shot at 98 yards on hole #17 to put him tied for second. Congratulations Tony for winning the 2023 Las Vegas Winter Classic. 

Division 2 
Taking a 1 shot lead into Sunday’s final round Stephen Gordon [155] played very steady golf to capture the championship by 8 shots over second place finisher Steve Wallace [163]. Taking third place was Charlotte chapter owner, Phil VanGeersdaelen [164], and fourth going to Utah’s Jeff Clifford [165].    This is Stefan’s first win on the APT tour and given his performance I am sure there are more championships ahead. 

Division 3 
Starting the day one shot behind Tony Solano [168] played solid golf and ended tying day one leader Kody Conover [168] to take the things to extra holes. Tony dropped a 4-foot par saving putt on the first hole to secure the Championship. This is Tony’s first win on the APT tour – Congratulations Tony. Kody Conover finished second, Shawn Larson [170] third and Matt Baiza [171] fourth. 

Division 4  
Starting the day 9 shots behind, the champion, David North [181], played solid golf on Sunday to secure the win by 3 shots over second place finisher, Mark Maniora [184). Taking third was Rohit Desai [187]. 

David is a force who plays steady golf on the Utah APT tour and is excited to win more tournaments in 2023. 

Division 5 
One shot behind going into Sunday’s final round Matt Walden [198] played very solid on the last three holes to secure a one-shot victory over second place finisher Brodi Strong [199]. Matt’s brother Ben Walden [200] and Shayne Del Rosario [200] tied for third. Matt is excited to start the 2023 with the victory. 

Senior Net 
Senior net went to a playoff between division one champ Tony Wise and division 2 champ Stephan Gordon. Playing the 18th hole, Stephan hit his tee shot into the desert on the right but made a great up and down for par. Tony’s tee shot was in the middle of the fairway and placed his approach to about 16 feet behind the hole. Tony took his time and lined up his birdie putt and down it went for the victory – What a finish. Congratulations Tony for taking both Division 1 and Senior Net Championships. 

Congratulations to all this year’s Champions.       

Next APT Las Vegas tournament will be the Boulder City Open on Sunday, February 5th.