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Incredible Technologies, Inc. The Golden Tee LIVE Regional Championships – Vegas Style!

Riviera Casino Hosts Western Open – Over 150 Players Compete for Title

(Arlington Heights, IL) With a head of steam more powerful than a locomotive, the Golden Tee LIVE Regional Championships powered its way to the second stop on its nationwide tour with the Western Open at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. “Sin City” turned into “Spin City” as 50 Golden Tee LIVE machines and hundreds of video golf fans descended on the entertainment capital of the world to take part in the largest Golden Tee tournament in history!

They came from every corner of the western United States, even some from as far as Canada. Over 150 qualifiers of all walks of life and varying levels of skill came together to compete for $25,000 in prizes and the honor of being recognized as one of the best players in the country.

While the competition may have brought them to Vegas, the friends, the fun and – of course –Golden Tee are what brought them together for this historic event.

Team USA Hopefuls Shootout for Western Bid
After welcoming remarks from the event’s emcee, Gary Colabuono, the weekend kicked-off with the Team USA Shootout, where the winner would receive a coveted roster spot on Team USA for the 2007 Golden Tee World Championship. The top 16 online qualifiers in the region made up the field and an intense head-to-head, single elimination format would be the deciding factor for who would move on to join the Midwest winner, Matt Estepp, and the reigning world champion, Chris Eversole on Team USA .

Western Region Team USA Shootout Qualifiers

As the “Best of the West” teed off in the first event of the weekend, the Riviera crowd was able to watch every swing on an amazing sixteen-foot screen above a featured Golden Tee LIVE machine. Players were seeded according their qualifying rank with #1 playing #16, #2 versus #15 and so on.

Whispering Valley was randomly selected as the course for the first round. The most notable matches included Danny Beall’s defeat over former Team USA member Marc Sameroff as well as Chisolm Woodson’s upset over the event’s #1 qualifier, Jeff Vordahl.

The excitement continued on Heather Pointe in round two, most notably between the Kansas and Washington contingent. Danny Beall eliminated his Wichita buddy Brandon Ball while former Team USA member Mark Firestone took down his Washington cohort, Chris Care. Ninth-seed Rod “Sothpa” Critchlow defeated Chisolm Woodson while Marc Zwygart lost to former Team USA member Brant “OSO” Arrington on his home court.

Coral Vista was selected for the semi-final round between Critchlow vs. Arrington and Firestone vs. Beall. Critchlow, an old school name in Golden Tee, proved himself yet again as he defeated one of the event’s undisputable favorites, Brant Arrington. Beall moved on to defeat Firestone to receive a chance to play Critchlow in the final round.

“Sothpa” and “Dannyboy” teed-off on Kangaroo Trail in front of an excited and anxious Riviera crowd. Beall, one of the favorites for the Team USA spot before the weekend began, gave Critchlow a run for his money but his efforts fell short as Critchlow edged the Wichita player to earn his first spot on Golden Tee Team USA.

“It’s a tremendous honor to make the team,” said Critchlow. “I don’t want to let my teammates or my country down, so I have a lot of practicing to do. I can’t wait to meet some new faces at the Worlds next year.”

Critchlow received an all-expenses paid trip to the Golden Tee World Championships next spring and is guaranteed a minimum prize of $1,000 for competing on the game’s global stage.

Barroom Champions Compete for Western Gold
The Midwest Pub Championship was one of the most talked about portions of the kick-off Regional event in Joliet, IL. While qualifying for the GTLRC was easy, becoming a pub champ was not. Champs were required to hold the highest 50-game average on one specific machine to be invited to this exciting event and compete for an additional $1,850 in prize money.

80 pub champions from the West, some decorated head-to-toe in their local pub’s gear, faced-off in a bracketed closest-to-the-pin tournament. Spectators watched the action on the giant screen as players of all skill levels battled on the par 3’s of the new Golden Tee LIVE 2007 courses.

A blind-draw was used to whittle the 80-man field down to an even 64-man bracket and single elimination worked the field down to the final four. As always, a little skill, a little strategy and a little luck were necessary ingredients to succeed in this intense format.

The final four was comprised of one old hat and three new Golden Tee sharp shooters. Lance Harris, a former Golden Tee Player of the Year finalist, brought his A-game but his skills proved to be no match to the fresh hot hands of the competition.

Phillip Spencer moved on to win the Western Region Pub Championship, in his first-ever live Golden Tee event. “I can’t believe it,” Spencer said. “I never thought I would have walked out of herewith a thousand bucks! This is great!”

Western Golden Tee Players Vie for $25,000
16 states and 1.5 million square miles of land make the Western region the largest of the four in the GTLRC. From Kansas to California, over 150 of the biggest Golden Tee LIVE fans in the West made the pilgrimage to the Riviera Hotel and Casino to compete for the $5,000 payday and the honor of being called the best in the west.

In all GTLRC finals, the “main event” format consists of a five-course qualifier where scores are tallied to generate a leaderboard ranked best to worst. The player who qualifies #1 is crowned “King of the Hill” and receives a bye to the final while those who finish 2-9 play off in an 8-man, single elimination tournament to face the KOH and play for $5,000 and the Regional Championship trophy.

Western Open competitors received added prize incentives throughout the day, including a Ben Hogan golf bag courtesy of Top Flite® for the top shooters on each course. Also, any player who hit a hole-in-one or double eagle received their choice of prizes from the sponsor table, which included: Golden Tee Plug-n-Play Home Editions from Radica®, 2-for-1 golf trips courtesy of JDR Tours, special Golden Tee LIVE edition sunglasses from PRATO and Golden Tee LIVE golf balls from Top Flite®. Nearly 100 prizes were awarded throughout the weekend.

Additionally, a special prize was given to the top online qualifier, Jeff Vordahl, for his impressive qualifying average of –29.54 coming into the event. Jeff received a Ben Hogan golf bag fully stocked with a brand new set of Ben Hogan BH-5 golf irons courtesy of Top Flite.

The Goldentee.com Pro Shop was on-site selling the official GTLRC shirt and raffled away a limited edition Golden Tee LIVE embroidered golf bag, which was won by Brant “OSO” Arrington of Henderson, NV.

The first squad kicked-off the main event action on Saturday morning on 36 tournament-ready Golden Tee LIVE machines, leaving 10 machines open for free play and practice throughout the day.

With trackballs spinning, players cheering and the party picking up speed, the buzz was amazing inside the Riviera event center. Unlike the Midwest where nearly a third of the field were Golden Tee veterans, 80% of the attendees were Golden Tee tournament neophytes and their energy was great. Golden Tee tournaments of this magnitude are scarce for the game’s western fans so the format of the GTLRC main event was a real treat.

Based on their tournament experience, there were some players with better odds coming into the event but no one was pegged as a clear favorite. Danny Beall, one of the projected favorites, indeed set a blistering pace for the first squad standing atop the heap with –120 and 85,054 Great Shot Points (GSP). With the top mark set by Graig Kinzler at –130 in Joliet, and many of the event’s top shooters coming up in the second squad, Beall had some concern that his –120 would stand through the second squad.

Former Team USA members, Tournament of Champions competitors and past GT Player of the Year finalists made up many of the western elite competing in Squad Two. While they performed well, none of them could match the force from the north that emerged on Saturday afternoon in the Riviera. The Canadians - who were given the opportunity to compete through ITS Canada and IT – proved dominant over the Americans making up nearly 50% of the top nine players in the field.

Former 4-time Team Canada member, Anthony Goertz, lead the charge with a GTLRC leading score of –133. American Michael Jaeger gave Goertz a run in the qualifier but fell seven strokes short with a final score of –126. Former Team Canada member J.D. Keele edged former Team USA member Brant Arrington by a mere 25,611 GSP after they tied with a score of –125 for third and fourth. Beall’s first-squad-leading –120 proved solid enough for him to retain 5th place and receive a chance to compete in the finals. The event’s #1 qualifier, Jeff Vordahl, ended up 6th with Canadian Andrew Cosgrove in 7th. Former Team USA member Marc Sameroff finished 8th ahead of Canadian, Barry Tanguay, who earned the last coveted spot in the final nine with a score of –115.

Winners of the Ben Hogan golf bags for shooting top scores were J.D. Keele with his –27 on Coral Vista and Mike Jaeger with a –27 on Heather Pointe. Lyle Woodbury edged Brandon Bell by 44,226 great shot points on Whispering Valley after the duo tied at –28. And the day’s hot hand from Kitchener, Ontario, Anthony Goertz took home two golf bags for his –29 on Kangaroo Trail and –28 on Cumberland.

Along with his new golf bags, Goertz earned a bye to the final round as the Western Open King of the Hill, locking him in at a minimum payday of $2,000. But Goertz would have to subdue one of the eight fierce competitors beneath him who were fighting tooth-and-nail just for the chance to take him down in the final round.

The Western Region players, not wanting their counterparts from the north to steal the show on their home turf, stepped it up in the first round of bracket play. All three of the Canadians were taken down in round one as Mike Jaeger defeated Barry Tanguay, Brant Arrington bested Andrew Cosgrove and Marc Sameroff eliminated J.D. Keele. Along with the three Canadians, Jeff Vordahl was eliminated by squad one’s top shooter, Danny Beall. The four took home $600 each for their efforts.

As the crowd watched the final four duke it out for the honor to advance, the $5,000 payday weighed heavily on their minds. Hometown shooters and close friends, Brant “OSO” Arrington and Marc “Tut” Sameroff played their match on the big screen in front of a rowdy crowd. After tying stroke-for-stroke through 18, the twosome moved on to “sudden death” where Sameroff sunk an incredible eagle on the first hole to beat his longtime friend. Arrington received $900 for his 4th place finish along with Michael Jaeger who was defeated by Beall.

Beall and Sameroff - a storied pairing dating back to the 2003 Team USA qualifier when Sameroff took away Beall’s Team USA spot by a mere 1,764 great shot points - teed off on the big screen with excited fans following their every swing. While Sameroff was hot coming off a big win over Arrington, the hometown hero couldn’t protect his turf from Wichita’s Danny Beall. Dannyboy defeated Sameroff and got his chance to face one of the toughest players in the game today, Anthony Goertz.

Not an eye in the room was off the big screen as the duo slugged it out for the big payday and a chance to hoist the golden USA-shaped trophy. Goertz, a 4-time member of Team Canada and a grizzled veteran of World Championship play, showed his force by jumping out to an early one-stroke lead and Beall clawed his way back to tie. Then on the back nine of Cumberland, Goertz missed a tough chip and Beall took advantage of the slight opening to gain a one-stroke lead. While he didn’t think that it would hold until the end, that one extra roll of the trackball was worth $3,000 as Dannyboy Beall went on to defeat Anthony Goertz to become the Western Open Champion.

“I didn’t think I could really win this thing today,” Beall stated in a post-match interview. “Every match was tough and I am extremely happy to have won!”

Beall headed back to Wichita $5,000 richer while Goertz earned $2,000 for his unbelievable performance throughout the day.