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 four-team battle to the finish.
The first eight matches have 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.
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.
With the last semifinal spot up for grabs, Team Los Angeles took on Team Minneapolis.
The Format
Single-elimination bracket play is currently in progress. 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 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 8 Recap: Team Los Angeles vs. Team Minneapolis
In the final GOLFZON Tour quarterfinal matchup, Team Los Angeles and Team Minneapolis played each other at an international favorite: Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland, a longtime host course at the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The teams competed against each other in real time from their regional simulator locations.
Team Los Angeles was one of four teams that earned a bye in the first round of match-play during the qualifying stage, while Team Minneapolis already had a head-to-head win on the resume after defeating Team Chicago in Match 2.
Team Los Angeles got on the board first, with a win on the 1st hole. Minneapolis punched back with a win on the 2nd to bring the match back to all square. The teams tied the 3rd hole, with Team Los Angeles gaining the advantage again with wins on the 4th and 5th holes. Then, Minneapolis got one back on the 6th to cut the deficit back to 1. The teams tied the 7th hole, then Team Los Angeles won the 8th and 9th holes to go 3 up at the turn.
That meant Team Minneapolis had a significant deficit to clear and only nine holes to do it. And unfortunately, the hole they were in only got deeper, as Team Los Angeles won the 10th hole to go 4 up. Minneapolis fought back with a win on the 11th to get back to 3 down. The 12th hole proved to be decisive, as Team Los Angeles won to go back to 4 up, and then they won the 13th hole too, to go 5 up. That meant Minneapolis would need to win five holes in a row just to go to sudden death.
