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2001
U.X. Open™ Alternative Golf Championships
Ends with a Fantastic Finish
Finals
to be Televised by The Golf Channel on
December 5 at 10 PM and December 12 at 3:30 PM
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 NEW
YORK, NY, OCT. 8, 2001 - Imagine golf without all
the antiquated traditions. That's right -- throw
away the manicured fairways, rigid dress codes,
extensive rules and hefty price tags. Now, picture
golf like this. High up on a rugged mountain slope,
with gondolas instead of golf carts. And how about
hiking boots and jeans instead of more conservative
golf attire? What are you left with? Golf in its
newest form: the U.X. Open Alternative Golf Tour.
The championship of this nontraditional golf tour
held at Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville,
NY on Oct. 6, included all the excitement that traditional
sports offer and more. The 2001 U.X. Open Alternative
Golf Championship presented by Beefeater was
not decided until the final shot on the final hole
… twice.
A total of eight (8) players earned their way to
the championship tourney from one of the three qualifying
events at 49 Degrees North in Chelewah, WA, SkyLine
Ski Area in Friendship,WI and Holiday Valley in
Ellicottville, NY. The other participants include:
Peter Bird (age 36, Webster, NY); Kim Walker (age
43, Chewelah, WA); Eric McHone (age 30, Olean, NY)
and Mike Steinbach (age 43, Chewelah, WA).
The 2001 U.X. Open Championship was played in a
single-elimination shootout format with the high
scoring player on each hole being eliminated. If
two players finish with the same high score on a
hole, a "chip-off" for closest to the
pin from a designated spot would break the tie.
Remarkably, through the first six holes, no chip-offs
were needed.
In a fantastic finish, 52-year-old avalanche forecaster
Peter "Mongo" Schory of Chewelah, WA,
dethroned the 2000 champion, Jim Ryan of Rochester,
NY, (age 43), in a pitch-off. This immediately followed
both players "pitching-in" their final
shots in regulation from over 100 yards out, to
force the sudden death playoff. Bruce Levinson of
Cazenovia, NY (age 36) finished third, while David
First of Erie, PA (age 44) finished fourth.
"Golf has become a very cool sport among the
younger generation, thanks to Hollywood, popular
music, and fashion influences…and Tiger Woods,"
said U.X. Open founder Rick Ryan. "Over the
past two years, the U.X. Open has provided an alternative
to traditional golf. It has also given these magnificent
ski resorts exciting off-season activities U.X.
Open golf is on its way to becoming to traditional
golf what snowboarding is to downhill skiing."
Throw out the rulebook: The U.X. Open is an
experience unlike any other. Get ready for golf
played up, down, and across a 10-hole mountain course,
with 10 simplified rules catering to the rocky terrain.
Instead of putting, participants must pitch the
ball onto a temporary green (a painted circle 20-30
feet in diameter.) Other rule simplifications include
a four-club limit, less severe penalties for lost
balls, "winter rules" to improve lies
everywhere and no dress code. And you can forget
about yardage markers and golf carts - laser rangefinder
binoculars and ski lifts replace those!
The 1999 U.X. Open at Mountain Creek in Vernon,
NJ saw Kevin Cahill of Berwyn, PA, earn the crushed
red velour Beefeater Championship Jacket. Last year,
Snowshoe Mountain, in Snowshoe, WV hosted the top
12 players from four qualifying events from around
the country and Jim Ryan earned the Beefeater Jacket
and the coveted trophy. The 2000 U.X. Open Championship
event, was broadcast on espn2. |
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Click here for U.X. Open 2000
Championship Results.
Click here for U.X. Open™ 2000
Photo Gallery.
Photos courtesy of UXGA Tour Properties,
LLC
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