Patrick Bowman shot 105 over the two-day USFJ tournament to capture the Captain's Flight title and end the three-year run by Chong Delisi. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan – At last, somebody finally solved the Chong Delisi puzzle.
Patrick Bowman, manager of the Tama Hills golf course and leader of Team Tama, dethroned three-time champion Delisi in Sunday’s second of two rounds in the U.S. Forces Japan interservice golf tournament at Atsugi’s Whispering Pines course.
The 44-year-old from Cape Cod, Mass., birdied three holes on the back nine, rallying from a three-stroke deficit after nine holes to edge out Sean Cawthorne of Okinawa’s Taiyo Golf Club 105-101 to win the top-tier Captain’s Flight.
The tournament was played using the modified Stableford scoring system, which nets positive points for birdies, eagles and above and negative points for bogeys or worse.
“It’s always about trusting what you know, and quick recovery” from a bad hole, said Bowman, for seven years the Tama course manager. “You don’t dwell. If you make a mistake, you forget about it.”
He made few mistakes on the back nine, netting birdies on the 212-yard, par-3 13th hole; the 543-yard, par-5 15th and the 455-yard, par-4 18th. Cawthorne carded bogeys on those three holes and that six-shot swing made the difference.
“Those were bad bogeys,” said Cawthorne, 29, a Marine Corps staff sergeant based at Camp Hansen. “This course had really tight fairways. You miss a fairway, you’re in a bad spot 100 percent of the time.”
Tommy Wingert of Atsugi took third, followed by Ryan Christensen of Tama. In fifth was 17-year-old Momoka Koyama, a woman playing in the Captain’s flight; she finished nine strokes behind Bowman with a 96.
“Muzukashii (difficult),” Koyama said of Whispering Pines.
The tournament also featured DODEA-Okinawa’s reigning high school golf champions. Junior Matthew Burn of Kubasaki, the two-time island champion, took 10th in the Captain’s Flight with an 87, while junior Emma Conroy of Kadena, the three-time island titlist, placed fourth in the women’s flight, carding a 64.
“The first day, it was just one unlucky hole,” Burn said of a double-bogey 7 on Tama Hills’ 495-yard, par-5 eighth. “Today, the narrow fairways, the wind and the green conditions were tougher.”
As for Delisi, 55, a civilian assigned to USFJ at Yokota Air Base, his run of three straight Captain’s Flight titles came to an end. But he appeared undaunted. “I’ll be back next year,” he said.
Team Tama continued its run of team titles, capturing the symbolic tournament belt for the fourth time in four iterations of the event.
Other flight winners were Atsugi’s Miles Hockman in the A Flight, Kailan Smith of Banyan Tree in B Flight, Taiyo’s Eric Perkins in C Flight, Tama’s Gregory John Howland in D Flight, Camp Zama’s George Ferrer in E Flight, Atsugi’s Mark Dean in F Flight and Zama’s Jason Senders the G Flight.
Yoko Lofton of Tama won the women’s flight in a runaway 89-66 over Taiyo’s Anna Borum. Banyan Tree’s Scott Satterlee was the men’s senior flight winner 102-91 over Tama’s Timothy Fearney.
17-year-old Momoka Koyama if Misawa, Japan, carded a 96 and finished fifth in the USFJ tournament. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Matt Burn of Kubasaki, the two-time DODEA-Okinawa island champion, carded an 87 Sunday and finished 10th in the USFJ tournament. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Sean Cawthorne of Taiyo Golf Club led by three strokes after nine holes Sunday, only to have Patrick Bowman rally past him to win the USFJ tournament's Captain's Flight. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Three-time defending champion Chong Delisi had his winning streak snapped on Sunday in the USFJ tournament. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Forces Japan championships
(Modified Stableford scoring system)
Men
Captain’s Flight
Patrick Bowman, Tama, 50-55—105
Sean Cawthorne, Taiyo, Okinawa, 54-47—101
Tommy Wingert, Atsugi, 42-55—97
Ryan Christensen, Tama, 51-45—96
Momoka Koyama, Gosser, Misawa, Japan, 47-49—96
Chong Delisi, Tama, 49-45—94
Kris Showalter, Atsugi, 40-51—91
Craig Mills, Banyan Tree, Okinawa, 42-48—90
Derek Mukai, Zama, Japan, 42-47—89
Matt Burn, Taiyo, 47-40—87
Keisuke Nakamura, Banyan Tree, 41-43—84
Justin Ford, Atsugi, 33-47—80
A Flight
Miles Hockman, Atsugi, 45-47—92
Andrew Good, Atsugi, 46-44—90
Ross McCarthy, Banyan Tree, 47-43—90
Andrew Ton, Taiyo, 43-44—87
Mark Ruhl, Gosser, 44-42—86
Jacob Wells, Gosser, 42-44—86
Mitchell Milliken, Gosser, 40-43—83
Bryse Weathers, Gosser, 41-40—81
Timothy Lafser, Taiyo, 41-39—80
Cole Grim, Gosser, 43-35—78
B Flight
Kailan Smith, Banyan Tree, 50-44—94
Danny Davis, Zama, 43-49—92
Austin Buchetto, Tama, 46-43—89
Daniel Hunt, Atsugi, 43-46—89
Leon Hatcher, Atsugi, 45-43—88
Richardo Vallejo, Banyan Tree, 41-45—86
Chris Price, Gosser, 41-43—84
Sean Tracy, Taiyo, 42-41—83
Rickey Cofield, Gosser, 42-40—82
Travis McDaniel, Banyan Tree, 38-43—81
Jon Stillabower, Taiyo, 41-38—79
Brian Downer, Tama, 41-35—76
Andrew Baldwin, Taiyo, 49-WD
C Flight
Eric Perkins, Taiyo, 48-38—86
Michael Conroy, Banyan Tree, 41-43—84
Daniel Boutillier, Gosser, 42-42—84
Kelly Cook, Tama, 43-40—83
Greg Holladay, Tama, 35-45—80
Eggie Borrero, Banyan Tree, 31-44—75
Matthew Denny, Banyan Tree, 36-39—75
Jeff Chang, Atsugi, 37-36—73
Austin Good, Gosser, 32-40—72
Jared Smer, Torii Pines, Iwakuni, Japan, 35-37—72
Hugh Montgomery-Jones, Tama, 31-32—63
Ryan Malia, Atsugi, 29-WD
D Flight
Gregory John Howland, Tama, 47-42—89
Scott Warner, Zama, 46-41, 87
Bino Barrientos, Atsugi, 44-41—85
Jared Laurin, Taiyo, 43-40—83
William Mead, Taiyo, 40-40—80
Joe Howell, Banyan Tree, 34-43—77
Wenz Batac, Banyan Tree, 36-41—77
Stan Murrell, Gosser, 41-36—77
David Shea, Tama, 35-37—72
Loyd Black, Zama, 36-35—71
Tayvaughn Brown, Gosser, 25-33—58
Eugene Scott, Gosser, 26-28—54
E Flight
George Ferrer, Zama, 35-44—79
Franz Magpayo, Tama, 36-39—75
Sterling Hill, Torii Pines, 39-43—73
James Crews, Tama, 35-37—72
Bret Dunn, Atsugi, 33-36—69
Archie Obiacoro, Tama, 38-31—69
Stanley Wilcox, Taiyo, 33-34—67
Jesse Guzman, Banyan Tree, 36-31—67
Chandler Masing, Taiyo, 31-35—66
Matthew Lawrence, Tama, 38-26—64
Atsushi Oba, Zama, 30-31—61
Jesse Adams, Zama, 26-33—59
Mark Kelly, Tama, 23-35—58
Jason Sheedy, Torii Pines, 24-33—57
F Flight
Mark Dean, Atsugi, 39-42—81
Hiroki Mori, Atsugi, 35-40—75
David Wilson, Atsugi, 31-39—70
Dario Morgan, Atsugi, 28-38—66
Billy Henry, Tama, 38-27—65
David Smith, Zama, 35-29—64
Larry Borum, Taiyo, 38-26—64
Alex Luke, Banyan Tree, 30-33—63
Todd Lynn, Taiyo, 29-31—60
James Friedhoff, Banyan Tree, 33=26—59
Clint Brown, Zama, 29-24—53
Byron Wrenn, Tama, 24-26—50
Jeremiah Stone, Tama, 26-23—49
Colton Knight, Tama, 19-29—48
David McAlroy, Tama, 23-24—47
G Flight
Jason Senders, Zama, 27-34—61
Kar Lee, Zama, 30-29—59
Burt Okamoto, Tama, 27-25—52
Kenneth Ferguson, Tama, 26-25—51
Charles Hopkins, Zama, 20-28—48
Tom Gushiken, Banyan Tree, 23-19—42
Charles Lafollette, Zama, 19-21—40
William Gallagher, Atsugi, 20-18—38
James Smith II, Atsugi, 15-22—37
Richard McElhaney, Tama, 16-16—32
Women’s Flight
Yoko Lofton, Tama, 46-43—89
Anna Borum, Taiyo, 35-31—66
Eriko Nichols, Zama, 37-29—66
Emma Conroy, Banyan Tree, 33-31—64
Mika Haas, Taiyo, 35-29—64
Rieko Gushiken, Banyan Tree, 26-25—51
Yuka Garnto-Mori, Atsugi, 31-16—47
Noriko Burn, Taiyo, 17-8—25
Men’s Senior Flight
Scott Satterlee, Banyan Tree, 51-51—102
Timothy Fearney, Tama, 43-48—91
Maurice Moore, Taiyo, 46-43—89
Bobby Campbell, Atsugi, 44-43—87
Donald Leppert, Taiyo, 42-38—80
Preston Lofton, Tama, 40-38—78
Brian Pritchett, Tama, 39-35—74
Troy Oliver, Tama, 36-35—71
Andrew Hoburg, Banyan Tree, 38-31—69
Michael Woods, Atsugi, 36-33—69
John Duffy, Taiyo, 35-33—68
Julius Marzan, Atsugi, 28-30—58
Allen Agra, Atsugi, 28-29—57
Luis Vargas, Taiyo, 24-24—48
David Morton, Atsugi, 21-20—41
Mike Dawson, Atsugi, 16-18—34
