Andy Haas of Ohio Retains Title at Amusement Expo 2016
The “final four” at the Golden Tee World Championships! The finalists from left to right: Marc Muklewicz (4th), Andy Haas (1st), Andy Fox (3rd) and Paul Luna (2nd).
The Amusement Expo show floor was bustling with attendees and booths to visit, but it was also home to one of the best Golden Tee golf matches in history. Incredible Technologies held the two-day event right in the exhibit hall with 32 of the best players in the world squaring off in a head-to-head, double-elimination tournament to crown the new world champion. At stake was not only bragging rights, but also a piece of the whopping the $60,000 prize. In the end, reigning 2008 champ Andy Haas of Stow, Ohio, held onto the coveted World Champion title, walking away with $10,000 and a place in Golden Tee history.
The 32 finalists qualified for the live event through operator promotions, as well as Daily Contest game play on commercial games throughout the months of November, December and January. Bracket seeding was then determined by monthly World Rankings in February.
The live event was bursting with tense, close rounds of double-elimination matches, where players had to lose twice to be eliminated. Haas took an early hit when Andy Fox of Minnesota dropped a par 4 hole-in-one during Sudden Death play, placing Haas in the loser’s bracket. From there, Haas battled back through 5 more tough matches, including 3 that went into sudden death, to face an undefeated Paul Luna of Minnesota in the finals. In the finals, Haas played spectacular golf, finishing with an incredible score of -30 to best Luna.
“It feels absolutely incredible to be a World Champion,” said Haas. “I prepared for this tourney like I never had before, and it was gratifying to have all that time pay off. To have my wife and son cheering me on this time made it that much more special.”
“We want to thank those involved with the Amusement Expo for helping us host the event in our booth this year”, said Don Pesceone, Incredible Technologies’ VP of Sales and head of the Golden Tee design team. “We were pleased to show operators firsthand that Golden Tee remains a vital and competitive product, and that we are backing up their investment every step of the way. Hopefully we will see more live events like this in the future.”
A full recap of the event can be found on the LIVEWIRE, along with complete brackets and scores, as well as a video of the finals match.
