This article was produced in partnership with GOLFZON.
What began as a 12-team, simulator-golf match-play competition for a $150,000 grand prize is now a three-team battle to the finish.
Nine matches have now been completed on the GOLFZON Tour — a new league in which regional teams of five players each from 12 selected GOLFZON host facilities (nine are in the U.S., the others are from London, Toronto and Mexico) compete against each other in a series of matches, with one team earning the grand-prize payout.
Missed the first round and quarterfinal action? Here’s a quick recap:
In this simulator golf league, everyday players are competing for $150,000
Team Orlando defeated Team Louisville in Match 1, while Team Minneapolis defeated Team Chicago in Match 2. Team London fell to Team New York in Match 3, and Team Houston defeated Team Mexico in Match 4. Match 5 featured another international battle, pitting Team Canada against Team Orlando in the first match of the quarterfinals. Team Orlando won in a sudden-death playoff to launch themselves into the semifinal round. In Match 6, Team Tulsa defeated Team Houston to become the second team to reach the semifinals, and in Match 7, Team Detroit was victorious over Team New York. The final team to grab a semi-final spot was Los Angeles, when they defeated Team Minneapolis in Match 8.
And in the first semi-final match of the tournament, Team Detroit took on Team Orlando.
The Format
In this single-elimination bracket play tournament, teams of three players compete head-to-head by linking their simulators together over the Internet in a match-play format, with two of the best three scores for each team counting on each hole. Female competitors play 85 percent of the yardage of their male counterparts.
If, after 18 holes, there’s a tie, the match goes into a sudden-death playoff where all three players’ scores count. The first team to score lower than the other on a hole wins.
GOLFZON Tour Match 9 Recap: Team Detroit vs. Team Orlando
The GOLFZON Tour semi-final matchups are played at an iconic venue: Pebble Beach Golf Links, an annual host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour and site of multiple U.S. Open championships. The teams competed against each other in real time from their regional simulator locations.
Team Detroit got on the board first, winning the first two holes to go 2 up, but Team Orlando bounced back with a string of victories on holes 3, 4 and 5 to take a 1-up lead themselves.
Team Detroit won the 6th to tie the match, then won the 9th hole to take a 1-up lead at the turn.
Team Detroit maintained their advantage until Team Orlando won the 13th hole to tie the match once again.
Then, Team Detroit made their move, winning 14 and 15 to take a 2-up lead with just three holes to play. Team Orlando won the 16th hole to cut the deficit to 1, but they were not able to overcome Detroit’s advantage. On the 18th green, Detroit won the match, 1 up.
