Last year, Spanish Oaks head pro Roy Christensen would have easily made it into the Novell Utah Showdown with the score of 66 he shot Monday in the qualifying tournament at Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course.

Or any other year, for that matter.

This year, however, it took a score of 65 or better to qualify for this weekend's tournament at Park Meadows Country Club.

Jay Overton of Palm Beach, Fla., fired a course-record-tying 10-under-par 62 at Wasatch Mountain's Lake Course to lead four qualifiers out of a field of 102 aspirants.

Roy Vucinich of Pittsburgh followed with a 63, while Dick Mast of Winter Garden, Fla., shot a 64 and Ed Brooks of Fort Worth, Texas, came in with a 65.

Christensen, who turned 50 in April, tied with former PGA Tour regular Mark Pfeil, Steve Stull and Clyde Hughey and won a playoff to earn second alternate status behind Pfeil.

It marked the third time this year Christensen missed qualifying by a shot. He also missed by one at Las Vegas and at Kansas City earlier this summer. On Monday he had the lowest score when he finished his round and thought his chances were pretty good.

"They were telling me I'd probably make it," he said. "But those other guys got it going."

Last year, the best score in the qualifying was 67, and the year before, although there was a 64, scores of 66 and 67 were good enough to make it into the Showdown.

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Several other Utah seniors tried yet failed to qualify Monday. Reid Goodliffe, who qualified in 1997, shot 70, Ron Branca shot 73, Jon Fister, who qualified two years ago, shot 75, Kean Ridd shot 78 and Greg Sharp shot 81.

Among former PGA Tour players who didn't make it were Lon Hinkle (68) and Rex Caldwell (70).

SHOWDOWN NOTES: Jim Holtgrieve won Monday's pro-am with a 67, followed by Walter Hall and John Jacobs with 68s. Hall of Fame baseball player Johnny Bench shot a 69 and captained the winning pro-am team, which included amateurs Jeff Dickenson, Thomas Tedeschi, Izzy Kirsh and Don Polen . . . Bench got one of four sponsor's exemptions along with two-time U.S. Open champ Andy North, Frank Conner and Utah's Bob Betley, a former regular on the Senior Tour . . . Tommy Aaron and Sammy Rachels both withdrew and were replaced by Larry Ziegler and Danny Edwards. Next on the alternate list is ex-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman . . . Pro-ams will be held Wednesday and Thursday with a junior clinic hosted by Dave Stockton scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. . . . There is no Celebrity Skins Game this year because of a lack of a sponsor.


E-MAIL: sor@desnews.com

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