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By TheGolfChannel.com Team – December 12, 2006
The Big Break VI Trump National
Editor's note: The Big Break VI featured nine men and nine women competing
against each other in a variety of challenges that tested their skills
and mental toughness for the right to compete in two Champions Tour
and two LPGA Tour events, respectively. One female and one male were
eliminated from the series each week, with the two standing being crowned
Big Break VI: Trump National winners.
Bri Vega was one of the most unlikely
contestants to emerge as the winner of The Big Break VI: Trump National.
After all, wasn’t
she one of competitors nobody wanted as a teammate in the first episode?
“I’m like the kid not being picked in dodge ball,” a
dejected Vega explained when she was not picked as a partner and was
forced
to survive an elimination challenge to stay on the series. “No
one wanted me as a partner.”
Vega must feel like one of the hip
kids now. The 24-year-old Duramed FUTURES Tour player became the ultimate
winner in The Big Break VI:
Trump National by defeating Denny Hepler in a nine-hole match at Trump
National Golf Course, Los Angeles.
In what was billed as a battle of
the sexes between the nine female and nine male contestants, Vega won
the match to earn $21,000 of the
$50,000 Donald Trump put up for the competition. In addition, she will
travel to New York on a private plane supplied by NetJets to receive
her winnings personally from Trump, along with the keys to a 2007 Chrysler
Aspen.
The highlights of Bri’s whirlwind tour of the Big Apple
and visit to Trump Tower to collect her prizes directly from Trump
will air in
a bonus Big Break VI episode next Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on the Golf
Channel.
In the Big Break, friends become foes and adversaries can be
recruited allies. That was the Trump-twist in the series finale as
Vega was paired
with a different female competitor on each of the first eight holes
of the match. Hepler did the same with the remaining male competitors.
At the ninth and final hole of the match, the two captains competed
head-to-head as individuals without a partner.
Each hole was worth
a set amount of money and the player with the most of Trump’s
cash at the end of the match was the winner. Via being the female and
male champions, Hepler and Vega were the captains of
the teams and were the only two who could win the trip and car. Their
teammate, however, splits the total amount won on each hole.
Not that
Hepler and Vega haven’t already been handsomely rewarded.
As the female champion, she received an exemption into the 2007 SBS
Open at Turtle Bay and the 2007 Longs Drugs Challenge, as well as waived
entry fees for the 2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour season. For his winning
effort, he earned exemptions into the 2007 Turtle Bay Championship
and the 2007 Bank of America Championship, as well as waived entry
fees in six events on the 2007 Heartland Players Senior Tour.
“This twist was super,” said the 51-year-old Hepler. “It
got everyone back involved and a chance to win a little money. It also
put them back on the hot seat.”
Helper and an ensemble of teammates
shut out the females on the first five holes to give him a $9,000 lead.
Vega responded with help from
Ashley Gomes and Rachel Bailey to win Nos. 15 and 16 to earn $7,000.
“I have never had a putt like that for that much money,” Vega
said of the $4,000 birdie-putt she made on the 16th hole.
With the last
two holes worth $8,000 and $10,000 respectively, the pressure was just
beginning. Both teams made par on No. 17 to send
the match to the final hole with a total of $18,000 on the line.
After
Helper pulled his tee shot into the left hazard, Vega found the fairway
and hit her approach inside 10-feet. Helper attempting to play
from the hazard but was ultimately forced to take a penalty drop. After
he reached the green in four, Vega put an end to the competition by
making her birdie putt.
Vega pocketed $14,000 on the final hole with
$4,000 going to teammate Bridget Dwyer for her play on No. 17.
“I win $21,000 and a new Chrysler Aspen,” said Vega. “I’m
going to get to fly on a private jet to New York to visit Mr. Trump
at Trump Towers. I can’t believe this is happening.”
With
the events of the day, and the series in general, you could say it
was something similar as going to Disneyland.
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