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 an eight-team battle to the finish.
Matches 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been completed on 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., three others are from London, Toronto and Mexico) compete against each other in a series of matches, with one team earning the grand prize payout.
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.
In this simulator golf league, everyday players are competing for $150,000
The Format
Single-elimination bracket play is now in progress. Female competitors play 85 percent of the yardage of their male counterparts. Teams of three compete head-to-head by linking their simulators together over the Internet in a match-play format, with two of the best three player scores for each team counting on each hole.
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 4 Recap: Team Mexico vs. Team Houston
In this GOLFZON Tour international matchup, Team Houston and Team Mexico (Monterrey) battled on PGA National’s Champion course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — a longtime PGA Tour host and home of the famous “Bear Trap,” a challenging stretch of three holes (Nos. 15-17) the players must face on the course’s final stretch. The teams competed against each other in real time from their regional simulator locations.
Team Houston started strong, winning three of the first five holes holes to take an early 3-up lead. The teams then traded blows on the march to the turn, with Team Mexico getting their first win on the board on the 7th, Team Houston winning the 8th and Team Mexico winning the 9th. At the match’s halfway point, Team Houston enjoyed a 2-up advantage.
On the back nine, Team Houston won the 10th to push the match to 3 up with 8 holes remaining. But then, Team Mexico staged quite a comeback, with wins on the 12th and 14th holes to cut the deficit to 1 up. Team Houston’s robust lead was suddenly shaky as the teams entered the Bear Trap. The squads tied each hole on the difficult stretch, with Team Houston arriving at the 18th tee with a 1-up lead.
But Team Mexico wouldn’t quit. In an impressive comeback, two of Team Mexico’s three competitors birdied the 18th hole to claim the win and bring the match back to all square. That meant it was time for sudden-death extra holes, in which all three player scores count instead of the best two. Team Mexico’s first player found the water off the tee with driver, while all three Team Houston players elected to stay safe by hitting irons off the tee. Ultimately, a bogey and two pars was all it took for Team Houston to claim victory on the sudden-death hole and the match.
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