Perico Island resident Mark Malinowski came oh so close to representing Florida for the National 4.5 40-and-over singles tennis tournament — to be played in Orlando or Phoenix — in November.
Playing Jan. 20 at the Hunter’s Green Country Club, Malinowski won his first two matches against Driss Ouazzani of Heathrow 4-2, 4-2 and Andres Merchan from Clearwater 4-1, 4-0. In his third round-robin match, Malinowski held six match points, but could not convert and ended up falling to Miami’s Marcio Moran 2-4, 4-2, 8-10.
There’s always next time,” Malinowski said.
“Tough loss, but that’s tennis. Marcio didn’t miss anything from 2-6 down in the tiebreaker. He played unbelievably tough at the end to save six match points, Malinowski said.
Moran went on to win the final on Jan. 21 4-2, 4-3 against Chris Cazin of Tampa.
KRC golf news
The Key Royale Club women held their annual President’s Cup Tournament Jan. 24, playing in a modified-Stableford system format.
Andrea Saia took first place with 19 points, closely followed by Marcia Friessen and Nina McSparren with 16 points. Linda Dorsey, Pam Lowry and Mary Wilkie tied for third place with 15 points each.
The men played their weekly modified-Stableford system match Jan. 22 at the Holmes Beach club. Don Grau earned clubhouse bragging rights with a plus-6, two points ahead of second-place finishers Tony Bettis and Greg Jump.
The women’s weekly individual low-net match was played Jan. 23 and saw Sue Christenson card an even-par 32 to win first place in Flight A by one stroke over Marcia Friesen. Mary Wilke and Roxanne Koch were tied for third place at 2-over-par 34.
Judy Todd’s chip-in on the fifth hole propelled her to an even-par 32 and a first-place finish in Flight B. Terry Westby was alone in second place with a 1-over-par 33, while Judy Menchek took third place at 2-over-par 34. Menchek and Linda Dorsey both birdied the eighth hole.
Horseshoe news
Horseshoe action Jan. 24 at the Anna Maria City Hall pits saw three teams advance from pool play to the knockout round. The team of Bob Lee and Bob Hawks drew the bye into the finals and watched Dom Livedoti and Steve Kriebel advance with a 22-5 victory over Tom Farrington and Dave Means. In the finals, Livedoti and Kriebel won the day’s championship with a 21-7 victory over Lee and Hawks.
There was another three-team playoff during the Jan. 27 games, with the bye going to Hawks and Rod Bussey. Bob Heiger and Tom Anderton advanced to the final after defeating Steve Doyle and Gary Howcroft 22-7. The championship match was all Hawks and Bussey as they cruised to a 21-2 victory over Heiger and Anderton.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Anna Maria pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by random team selection.
There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome.