Kellogg’s king again, PTSI takes second straight crown
Divisional champs win by significant margins. Kellogg’s, Snickers-M&M’s end season with event wins at Champlain
Dynasties are developing in both divisions of sponsor-team competition on the Walmart FLW Tour. In Division I, Team Kellogg’s capped off 2009 with another crown – a record third win among sponsor teams. And PTSI reigned over Division II for the second year in a row in only its third year as a sponsored team.
For Kellogg’s, the final regular-season Tour event of 2009 was especially sweet, setting the stage for a massive trifecta. Kellogg’s outfished all other Division I teams at Lake Champlain for its third event win of the season, which paved the way to its third year-end title since FLWOutdoors.com began tracking this unofficial competition seven seasons ago. Those accomplishments are laudable entirely on their own, but Kellogg’s celebrated a third victory as well: Pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas – arguably the lynchpin of the team – laid claim to his third Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title at Champlain, a record among FLW Tour pros.
PTSI handily hauled home its second Division II title from Lake Champlain in only its third year as a team on the Tour. But unlike last year, when PTSI came from way behind in the standings to catch a Hail Mary at the final event of the season, the team maintained a position near the top of the leaderboard throughout most of the season, passing Team Folgers in the second-to-last tournament of the season and not looking back.
Sponsor teams are divided into two divisions: Division I, comprising teams of three or more professional anglers, and Division II, comprising teams of fewer than three pros. Lake Champlain was the site of the sixth and final FLW Tour stop of the 2009 regular season, and sponsor-team competition has concluded for the year. However, many of the pros on sponsor teams qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup championship, which will take place July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh.
More information about 2009 sponsor-team competition, final standings, results from Lake Champlain and an explanation of team scoring are all detailed below:
Division I
Now with three year-end titles to its name and numerous tournament wins, Kellogg’s has asserted itself as the preeminent sponsor team in Division I. Kellogg’s has been a key sponsor of the FLW Tour for the last decade, and in that time it has developed one of the most competitive stables of pro bass anglers 
on the water, each contributing greatly to the success of the team (FLW Outdoors stats for Team Kellogg’s below):
• Clark Wendlandt: three-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year (a record), 12 Forrest Wood Cup qualifications, three tourney wins, 33 top-10 finishes
• Alvin Shaw: 11 Cup qualifications, two tourney wins, 13 top-10 finishes
• Dave Lefebre: seven Cup qualification, four tourney wins, 35 top-10 finishes
• Jim Tutt: four Cup qualifications, four tourney wins, 24 top-10 finishes
• Greg Bohannan: two Cup qualifications, three tourney wins, 11 top-10 finishes
Each member of Team Kellogg’s finished the season commendably, but a few had breakout performances: Lefebre, hailing from Union City, Pa., notched an outstanding sixth-place finish; Wendlandt sealed the deal on his third AOY trophy by reeling in a stellar seventh-place finish; and Shaw of State Road, N.C., added valuable points with his strong 12th-place finish.
Amazingly, the order in which Division I teams finished at Lake Champlain was the order in which they ended the season overall. Kellogg’s finished 51 points ahead of runner-up Team Chevy, which was the only team to really give the champs a run for their money at season’s end.
Division II
As reported in the article detailing sponsor-team competition at Kentucky-Barkley lakes, PTSI overcame a tremendous point deficit in the final event of the 2008 regular season to earn its first Division II championship. But this year, PTSI cruised through the first two-thirds of the season steadily in second place in the standings.
At Kentucky-Barkley, it was pro Ron Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., who earned enough points to give PTSI the win and enough juice to overtake Team Folgers at the top of the leaderboard. And Shuffield’s respectable 27th-place finish at Champlain was enough to earn his team third place there and keep them on top overall, ending the season 108 points ahead of runner-up Folgers. Shuffield, formerly a big stick on the BASS circuit, now has three Forrest Wood Cup qualifications and three top-10 finishes on his FLW Outdoors resume.
But it was Team Snickers-M&M’s and Team Tums that ruled the day in upstate New York. Pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., led Snickers-M&M’s to its second win of the season at Champlain (193 points) by offering up a top-shelf eighth-place finish. Missing what would have been its second win of the season by only nine points, Tums relied on the skills of pro David Fritts of 
Lexington, N.C., who placed 17th, to land in second at Champlain.
Explanation of team scoring
Points in the 2009 sponsor-team race were earned during the FLW Tour’s six qualifying events and monitored throughout the season. Standings are based on the average number of points earned by a team’s anglers as assigned in the Tour’s Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year competition.
Final standings
Division I – (teams with three or more anglers)
1. Kellogg’s – 917.00
2. Chevy – 866.00
3. Land O’Lakes – 801.00
4. BP – 789.50
5. National Guard – 787.57
6. Castrol – 767.90
7. Berkley – 734.25
Division II – (teams with fewer than three anglers)
1. PTSI – 981.00
2. Folgers – 873.00
3. Goodwill – 865.00
4. Iams – 844.00
4. Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee – 844.00
6. Snickers-M&M’s – 838.00
7. Pringles – 828.50
8. Febreeze – 821.00
9. Walmart – 801.00
10. Abu Garcia – 759.00
11. Tums – 672.00
Sponsor teams competed in the most recent FLW Tour tournament at Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh, N.Y., and results from that event have been tallied:
Division I – Lake Champlain (teams with three or more anglers)
1. Kellogg’s – 177.40
2. Chevy – 165.00
3. Land O’Lakes – 121.75
4. BP – 121.50
5. National Guard – 121.00
6. Castrol – 120.50
7. Berkley – 102.75
Division II – Lake Champlain (teams with fewer than three anglers)
1. Snickers-M&M’s – 193.00
2. Tums – 184.00
3. PTSI – 174.00
4. Iams – 173.50
5. Goodwill – 158.50
6. Pringles – 151.50
7. Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee – 150.00
8. Abu Garcia – 147.00
9. Febreeze – 126.50
10. Folgers – 100.00
11. Walmart – 84.00
Other notable performances at Champlain among pro anglers on sponsored teams not already cited in this article included Scott Martin‘ flawless first-place finish for Team National Guard, backed up by a good 22nd-place finish from teammate Brent Ehrler; the heavy hitting of Team Chevy pros Anthony Gagliardi, with an outstanding second-place finish, Jay Yelas, with an awesome fourth-place finish, and Luke Clausen, with a fantastic 10th-place finish; Kevin Vida‘s great 18th-place finish for Team Berkley; Team Iams‘ solid angling from 23rd-place Koby Kreiger; and a strong performance from Team Goodwill‘s Chad Grigsby, who finished the event 24th.