LAS VEGAS (April 10, 2026)–Eric Bauman (Championship), John Geddis (Senior), Chris Cookson (Silver) and Jerry Algeo (Net) won titles in the Nevada Golf Southern Region’s 2026 Tour Series Short Game Championship. The event was held April 10, 2026, at Eagle Crest Golf Club.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Championship
Eric Bauman won his first individual title in three years, posting a two-shot victory in the Championship Division.
Bauman last won an individual title at Stallion Mountain in 2023. Since then he has teamed up to win three team titles with Greg Horodesky.
He said it’s great to be back as an individual champ.
“This feels good,” he said. “The wind was tough. I just tried to keep the ball in front of me…and I putted very well.”
He added his game-plan worked well.
“I miss my fair share of shots now so I wanted to miss it in the right places…that was huge,” he said with a laugh. “Trying to choose the right club and the right shot to play was definitely a challenge.”
He said the individual title brings back a lot of confidence.
“It’s nice to win on your own,” he said. “Greg is such a great player. It’s nice that he drags me along to help out here and there in those team events.”
Championship
Eric Bauman, 64
Carl Digennaro, 67
Andrew Shoup, 70
Senior
John Geddis birdied the 18th hole en route to his first Nevada Golf Southern Region title.
Geddis had put up three straight bogeys before his final-hole birdie put him in the winner’s circle.
“This feels amazing,” Geddis said. “To finally get a win is a great feeling.”
He said the final hole birdie was stressful…and exciting.
“We were tied going into the last hole,” Geddis said. “(David Smith) didn’t hit the best of drives and I hit it solid. I hit a wedge to about three feet and made the putt for birdie.”
He said the approach shot did have a challenge.
“There was a little mud on the ball so it was a little tricky,” he said. “But it wound up perfect.”
He said he had a few shots that made his day.
“I hit it to about 15 feet on the 220-yard 12th with a three-hybrid,” he said. “Of course I missed the putt. And on four I stuck an eight-iron right next to the stick for a birdie.”
Senior
John Geddis, 65
David Smith, 67
John Bobroski, 68
Silver
Chris Cookson and the Golf Summerlin courses are made for each other.
Cookson won for the fourth time in 2026 and third time at the Golf Summerlin courses.
Cookson has one more event, Aliante, before starting a five-month residency in Wyoming.
“I just love it up here,” he said. “It was pretty windy today and the best part of my game, my putting, just wasn’t quite there. I didn’t get the speed right.”
But, he did figure it out late.
“I one-putted the last three holes,” he said. “I went birdie, par, par to kind of seal it so that was a bright spot.”
Cookson said his overall game is getting closer to where he wants it.
“Overall, my putting has been really good, my short game has been really good and my ball-striking has been good enough,” he said. “I’ve been working on my setup and just getting more comfortable and more consistent.”
Silver
Chris Cookson, 62
Ron Harwood, 63
Tony Caiazzo, 70
Net
Jerry Algeo had three hot streaks of three-under-par that helped him win the Net title by three strokes.
Algeo had three net birdies in the first four holes and also had three straight birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes. He added another three-under run on the back when he went eagle-birdie on the 13th and 14th holes.
It was Algeo’s first win since he was the Short Game Championship winner in 2023.
“I really love this short game tournament,” he said. “My lob wedge and putter are my favorite clubs in the bag and they worked well today.”
Algeo’s play was a shock to him.
“Yesterday I took half a day off to practice and the course kicked my butt,” he said. “I shot 82 yesterday and thought ‘why am I even going to play?’ ”
But play he did…and well.
“You’ve got to know where to miss shots on this course and I did a pretty good job of that,” he said. “I did miss a couple of times but overall it was a solid day. I only had 25 putts and had a chip-in and made a putt from the fringe so it was a good day.”
Net
Jerry Algeo, 65
John Diclaro, 68
Dave Golder, 68
