Toscana Country Club, both at 9-under.
The victory earned Block a berth in the
PGA Tour's CareerBuilder Challenge in
January and enabled him to pass
Kenny Pigman of Goose Creek GC to
win the SCPGA Player of the Year
honors in the season-long
points race. (See Youngman's
19th Hole column HERE.)
Pigman, the 2017 SCPGA
Player of the Year, had a 120-point
lead in the standings heading into the
season-ending Section championship.
He had already won the SCPGA Match
Play Championship at The Crosby and
the SCPGA Assistant PGA Professional
Championship at Red Hill CC.
"I knew I had to win the Section to be
Player of the Year, because Kenny had
the points lead and probably was going
to finish in the top three," Block said.
"Player of the Year is a big deal to me; I
take it very seriously. So winning was
my only option."
Turns out, Pigman tied for eighth at
4-under and finished second in the POY
points race by 300 points. He was not,
however, surprised Block rose to the oc-
casion, even at age 42.
"No, I'm not surprised," Pigman, 30,
said in a phone interview. "He's a great
player; he can score. We're actually
good friends and play a lot of prac-
tice rounds together."
Their rivalry will continue in
2019.
"Tell him I'm coming for him,"
Pigman said, laughing.
Block said there were plenty of tense
moments coming down the stretch in
the final round at La Quinta Country
Club, because he struggled with his
driving all day. But when he rolled in a
25-footer from the fringe for a birdie on
the difficult par-4 16th hole, he said to
himself, "I've got this."
"There was a scoreboard on the tee
at No. 17, so I knew I had a two-shot
lead with two holes to go," he said. His
nearest challengers had already fin-
ished.
But Block hit what he called "the
worst hybrid of my life" off the tee on
No. 17 that left him stymied behind a
tree, on the way to a bogey that sliced
his lead to 1. Then he "blocked a hybrid
a little to the right" on No. 18 and ex-
pected to find it in a fairway bunker.
"But when I got up there, it's in the
middle of the fairway," he said. "I must
have got a fantastic kick."
Block hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet
and 2-putted for the win, becoming the
ninth player to win back-to-back Sec-
tion titles in the 93-year history of the
event.
"I did what I needed to do and could-
n't be happier to get back to play in an-
other PGA Tour event," Block said.
That also means Arroyo Trabuco will
soon be back in the headlines.
"Michael has been a wonderful am-
bassador for Arroyo Trabuco since the
day the club opened in 2004," said Ar-
royo Trabuco general manager Matt
Donovan. "He has expertly balanced his
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Kenny Pigman
of Goose Creek.
Photo
courtesy
SCPGA
