Howard Weinstein’s team had a monster first final session to win the Mitchell Open BAM by nearly three boards. Weinstein played with Michael Becker, Bob Hamman, Peter Weichsel, Liam Milne and Andy Hung.
No one was more surprised to learn they’d won than Hung, who thought it was a three-day event and that they still had a day to play, Becker said.
It’s the first NABC win for Australians Milne, 31, and Hung, 32. “It feels good,” Milne said.
“They played unbelievably,” Weichsel said of his young teammates.
Becker has now won this event the last three times it’s been played in San Francisco, including in 2007 and 2012.
The team scored 14 and 17.5 in Sunday’s qualifying sessions to qualify 12th-14th with a carryover of 2.17, then 19.5 and 14.5 in Monday’s final sessions. Their final score of 36.17 was far ahead of the second-place team captained by Margie Cole, which scored 33.33.
Cole played with Alejandro Bianchedi, Giorgia Botta and Cenk Tuncok.
Shortly before the start of the Fall NABC, Milne and Hung played against each other in the Australian team trials, where Hung’s team won. “I’m lucky enough to have him as a partner rather than an opponent now,” Milne said.