GONZALES A WINNER IN DEBUT
Confirms 1st Round Was No Fluke
0
MANHATTAN BEACH – Tour rookie Dominic Gonzales put the MGM Tour on notice following his opening round of the 2026 South Bay Challenge last weekend. His 37 was 1 off the lead. Saturday, Gonzales became the 4th golfer in MGM Tour history to win in his debut (Nick Dadon, 2005 Captain & PIG; Walter Vargas 2006 Hooters; Luke Wyatt 2020 Charly Classic). Gonzales and former 2-time SBC champion Tim Joe ended the final round tied with Gonzales prevailing on the tie break (cumulative score holes 17 and 18) by 1 stroke.
FINAL SCORES (par-84)
| PLACE | GOLFER | SCORES | HANDICAP | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 | Gonzales T. Joe D. Vargas W. Vargas Fidler Moawad | 37-35-41 = 113 38-37-38 = 113 40-39-35 = 114 36-41-38 = 115 47-40-40 = 127 # -44-34 | -28 -28 -28 -28 -32 | 85 85 86 87 95 |
CHIP SHOTS:
1st-Timer Curse(?): Of the 3 previous golfers to win in their Tour debut only 1 remains on Tour (Walter Vargas, 21 years on Tour). The 2 other golfers would play just 1 or 2 more tournaments after their debut before becoming a footnote in Tour history… Up the leaderboard: Doug Vargas, who trailed brother Walter by 4 strokes after the first round, carded a tournament-best final round 35 to finish in 3rd, 1 stroke off the win and 1 stroke ahead of brother Walter… Leaders: D. Vargas 9 pars, followed by T. Joe and W. Vargas (7); Gonzales 16 bogeys, followed by T. Joe (12)… Tweet-tweet: Tim Joe’s birdie on the final hole, his 2nd of the day, broke a 4-way logjam (W. Vargas, Gonzales, Moawad) to win him the $6 birdie pot.
