Lockheed engineers finish 1-2 in Fort Worth City Golf Championship
The greens at Meadowbrook Golf Course and Pecan Valley rolled true for Brett Forte, an engineer at Lockheed Martin, who posted matching rounds of 70 on Saturday and Sunday to win the 2016 City of Fort Worth Men’s Championship.
Forte’s opening round of 70 at Meadowbrook on Saturday had him tied with 2015 champion Colby Amparan for the lead by two strokes heading into Sunday’s round at Pecan Valley.
Forte was able to avoid trouble for the most part on Sunday, while Amparan played what he called his worst nine holes of golf since high school on the front nine, which led to a final-round 78 and ninth-place finish.
The third member of the final threesome, Ted Waldrip, who also works at Lockheed, shot a 72 on Saturday and a 70 on Sunday to finish second by two shots.
“It’s a great field of golfers, and I couldn’t be happier,” Forte said. “The golf courses were in phenomenal shape; the best I’ve ever seen in 15 years in Fort Worth. I felt like I rolled the ball really well all weekend. The greens rolled true.”
Forte, who is a member at Waterchase Golf Club near Arlington, birdied Nos. 1 and 8 and played the front nine in 1-under 34.
He was up by four strokes on Waldrip at that point but ended up needing all three pars he made to keep Waldrip and Dave Davis, who finished third, at bay after a double bogey on No. 15.
“I always think of 15 as a par four-and-a-half or a par-5, so I can’t get terribly disappointed by making double there,” Forte said. “But I felt like I came through in the clutch there. I made a couple of really good up-and-downs on 16 and 18. For all the putts that lipped out, I made those that counted there at the end.”
Waldrip pulled off what may have been the shot of the tournament on his third shot on the par-5 18th. Each of the final threesome found trouble to start the finishing hole and ended up playing shots near the trees in the right rough.
Forte and Amparan had to punch out with their second shots. Waldrip had a lane available to get it close to the green with a low liner on his third. He swung full, nearly clipping a tree trunk at the top of his backswing and hit a ball that looked to be heading for the creek that intersects with the 18th fairway.
His ball carried just far enough to get a favorable bounce off a rock near the creek bed and onto the green. He two-putted from about 40 feet for the final par.
This story was originally published September 4, 2016 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Lockheed engineers finish 1-2 in Fort Worth City Golf Championship."