The Big Break VI: Trump National
The Big Break VI: Trump National was the sixth edition of The Golf Channel's popular reality television series, The Big Break. The show awards exemptions into selected events on major professional golf tours.
| The Big Break VI: Trump National | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hosted by | Vince Cellini Stephanie Sparks |
| Winner | Denny Hepler Briana Vega |
| Location | Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles, California |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original release | September 26 – December 19, 2006 |
| Additional information | |
| Filming dates | June 2006 – July 2006 |
| Season chronology | |
This is the first time the show was held at a course in California: Donald Trump's Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Trump made a cameo appearance in the season premiere, in addition to appearing periodically throughout the show. This is also the first mixed-gender edition of the show. Nine men and nine women competed for exemptions onto the Champions Tour and LPGA Tour, respectively. The two Champions Tour events the men competed to qualify for were the Turtle Bay Championship and the Bank of America Championship, while the two LPGA events the women competed for entry into were the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and the Longs Drugs Challenge.
The show was taped in June and July 2006, and premiered on September 26, 2006 with the matchplay final broadcast on December 19, 2006.
Contestants
Women
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Bailey | 25 | Faulconbridge, New South Wales, Australia | Futures Tour player |
| Bridget Dwyer | 25 | Kailua, Hawaii | Futures Tour player |
| Ashley Gomes | 23 | Pleasanton, California | Western Athletic Conference individual champion at San Jose State University; Futures Tour player |
| Sarah Lynn Johnston | 24 | St. Charles, Illinois | Futures Tour player; Qualified for 2007 LPGA Tour exempt status after filming of The Big Break VI. |
| Laura London | 25 | Scottsdale, Arizona | Played on Futures Tour from 1999–2001 |
| Annie Mallory | 23 | Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada | Futures Tour player |
| Kristy McPherson | 25 | Conway, South Carolina | Futures Tour player; Qualified for 2007 LPGA Tour exempt status after filming of The Big Break VI |
| Karyn Stordahl-Utecht | 25 | Prior Lake, Minnesota | Former player for the University of Minnesota; 2005 Miss Minnesota |
| Briana Vega | 23 | North Andover, Massachusetts | Futures Tour player; Winner of 2004 Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts Amateur Championship |
Men
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sid Corliss | 56 | Cumming, Georgia | Sun Belt Senior Tour player |
| Albert Crews | 54 | Homer, Louisiana | Qualified for 2005 U.S. Senior Open |
| Charlie Gibson | 52 | Windsor, California | Former All-American at Arizona State University |
| Denny Hepler | 50 | Warsaw, Indiana | Former Malaysian Open winner |
| Jeff Mitchell | 51 | Frisco, Texas | 1980 Phoenix Open winner; 1980 first round co-leader at The Masters; former Texas Tech Red Raiders player and head coach |
| Kelly Murray | 50 | Reston, Virginia | Holds world record for longest recorded drive (684.8 yards) |
| Gary Ostrega | 52 | Westfield, New Jersey | Played on the PGA Tour from 1977–1979 |
| Rocky Rockett | 54 | Gastonia, North Carolina | Sun Belt Senior Tour all-time leading money winner |
| Gavin Slabbert | 51 | Orange Park, Florida | Heartland Tour player |
Ages are as of the time The Big Break VI was filmed in July 2006.
Elimination Chart
| Contestant | Ep. 1 | Ep. 21 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 52 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep. 10 | Ep. 11 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bri | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | WIN4 | WIN6 | |||||||||
| Denny | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | LOW | WIN5 | OUT | |||||||||
| Bridget | IN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | LOW | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||
| Jeff | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||
| Rachel | IN | IN | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||
| Gary | IN | IN | IN | LOW | IN | IN | IN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||
| Ashley | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| Charlie | IN | IN | OUT | WIN3 | HIGH | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| Laura | IN | IN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Kelly | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Albert | WIN | IN | HIGH | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| Sarah | WIN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||||||
| Rocky | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||||||
| Kristy | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||||||||||||
| Annie | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gavin | LOW | OUT | ||||||||||||||||||
| Karyn | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sid | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||
- 1 In episode 2 through 4, the contestants competed in pairs of men and women during the immunity and elimination challenges.
- 2 In episode 5, the remaining Men and Women faced off for immunity. The winning team would be exempt for the next episode whereas the other team would face elimination the following episode.
- 3 In episode 6, Trump announced that the previously 4 eliminated males from the show would participate in a Playback Challenge. The winner would earn the right to compete in the Elimination Challenge with the five males still on the show.
- 4 Bri won "The Big Break VI: Trump National" Women's championship matchplay final by defeating Bridget 3 & 1.
- 5 Denny won "The Big Break VI: Trump National" Men's championship matchplay final by defeating Jeff 1 up on the 19th hole.
- 6 Bri became the ultimate winner in "The Big Break VI: Trump National" by defeating Denny Hepler in a nine-hole skins match. After winning the last 4 out of the 9 holes, Bri was awarded $21,000 and a new car, while the women who partnered with her in holes 6 through 8 split $11,000. Denny won $9000 while the men who partnered with him in holes 1 thru 5 split $9,000.
- Pink indicates the contestant is a female.
- Blue indicates the contestant is a male.
- Green background and WIN means the contestant won matchplay final and The Big Break.
- Blue background and WIN means the contestant won immunity from the elimination challenge.
- Purple background and WIN means the contestant won the playback challenge and was back on the show.
- Light blue background and HIGH means the contestant had a higher score in the elimination challenge.
- White background and IN means the contestant had a good enough score in the elimination challenge to move onto the next episode.
- Orange background and LOW means the contestant had one of the lower scores for the elimination challenge.
- Gray background and IN means the contestant had the episode off and was therefore safe.
- Red background and OUT means the contestant was eliminated from the competition
Winners' exemption performances
Denny Hepler competed in the 2007 Turtle Bay Championship, played on the Palmer Course at the Turtle Bay Resort, Kahuku, Hawai'i, January 22–28. He finished tied for 72nd place, with a score of 222 (+6).
Briana Vega competed on her first sponsor's exemption in the 2007 SBS Open at Turtle Bay. She missed the cut and finished last, with a score of 161 (+17). Fellow BBVI competitors and 2007 LPGA exempt rookies Kristy McPherson and Sarah Lynn Sargent also played in the tournament; McPherson missed the cut and finished with a +5 150, while Sargent made the cut and finished tied for 73rd place with a score of 225 (+9).
External links
- Official Site
- Preview video The Golf Channel
- Golf Channel Announces 'Trumped Up' Big Break 6 The Golf Channel, May 9, 2006
- Golf Channel press release announcing contestants