NATCHEZ &045; While several groups struggled on Tuesday, Chris and Nancy Dowdy played solid and consistently en route to a final-round 6-under 66 to win the championship flight of Week No. 4 of the Isle of Capri Gals-N-Pals Couples Scramble at Beau Pr.

&uot;We didn’t make a putt,&uot; Chris Dowdy said. &uot;We played pretty consistently. The course is in outstanding shape. Very enjoyable. It’s our first time out here and we enjoyed it.&uot;

The Dowdys, from Gatesville, Texas, finished with a two-day total of 131, but will not be playing in the Grand Finale on Aug. 18-19 due to a scheduling conflict.

Cliff McGlothin of Ferriday, La. and Mary Edwards of Jonesville, La., went into the final round trailing by six shots after shooting a 71 on Monday.

They made up a lot of ground and shot an amazing 11-under 61 to finish second with a two-day score of 132, nearly catching the Dowdys.

However, they were not at the awards party at the Isle of Capri Hotel ballroom Tuesday night and were not available for comment on their extraordinary round.

Richard Imhoff and Elizabeth Toole of Picayune shot an 8-under 64 to finish at 133, good enough for third place.

&uot;We made putts,&uot; Imhoff said. &uot;I left Lizzy out a couple of times and she made the putts. The difference in yesterday and today is that we made five more putts today. We’re looking forward to coming back in August.&uot;

As to the round McGlothin and Edwards had, Imhoff said, &uot;They played ahead of us. Chris is a big ole kid. Mary’s got a well-rounded game. She hits it straight and hits it long. Chris can move the golf ball. They must have putted well.&uot;

One of two teams in the championship flight, Arnold and Judy Dewey or Paul and Brenda Cuevas, will be in the Grand Finale. Both teams finished with two-day scores of 134, but which one remains to be seen.

Another team that had a golden opportunity to play in the Grand Finale was Tommy Geoghegan and Nancy Brintnall.

Geoghegan and Brintnall shot a 65 on Monday to tie the Dowdys for the lead. However, they had their problems on Tuesday and ended up shooting a disappointing 2-under 70 to finish at 135.