Three rounds of golf and 54 holes later and the KC Amateur has six new champions. The Golf Club of Creekmoor hosted this year’s Kansas City Amateur Championship and despite threats of rain all weekend, what a great finish it was.
After day one of competition, three players tied at the top of the leaderboard in the Open Division with rounds of three-under 69: Blake Allen, Nick Kagy and Garrett Allen. Only five players carded red figures on their first round, including Shaun Campbell (70) and Christian Ghilardi (71).
In the Seniors Division, Mark Addington had three birdies on his round to claim an early lead with an even par 72 round, leading John Samples and Kevin Handlan by one stroke. David Hamilton and Robert Nelson battled for the top spots in the Legends division while Michael Buckhouse and Carter Likes tied for the top spots in the Players Division.
Day two of competition saw even less red scores than the first. In the Open division, only three players carded under par rounds on day two: Carter Tumminia (70), Kris Casburn (69) and Jacob Hinck (71). Day one leaders struggled a bit on day two and all shot rounds over par. Blake Allen came in with a two-over 74, despite having six birdies on his day to battle back from a double bogey but still remained one under overall and atop the leaderboard heading into day three.
Mark Addington continued to distance himself from the field in his division by shooting a one-under 71 which was highlighted by his three birdies to lead second place Gregory Goode by two strokes. Michael Buckhouse and Carter Likes were separated by one stroke heading in to the final day of competition for the Players division. David Hamilton shot an even par 72 on his second round to lead second place Robert Nelson by six strokes.
Our final pairing for Championship Sunday for the Open division belonged to Blake Allen (-1), Nick Kagy (E) and Shaun Campbell (+1). Allen began his round with ten pars in a row followed by three birdies on his next four holes. A late charge by James Henderson, who began his round at +2 would have two birdies and two eagles to surge up the leaderboard. Heading in to the final stretch, Blake Allen would finish par-par-bogey-birdie to capture his first KC Amateur title with a clutch tap-in birdie on the Par-5, 18th. The birdie to win would mark his 15th birdie in the tournament.
Despite a great round of golf played by James Henderson, Allen’s mental toughness and clutch shot making would capture the championship by two strokes. Allen finished with a total score of 212 (69-74-69) with Henderson claiming runner-up with a 214 (72-74-68).
Addington shot his best round of the tournament on Championship Sunday with a three-under 69 after seven birdies on the day to claim the 2018 KC Amateur Senior title. Gregory Goode would shoot a two-under 70 to claim runner-up.
David Hamilton would run away with the Legends Gross Divison title with a one-under final round to make a total tournament score of 217 (74-72-71). Robert Nelson was the Legends Net Champion with a 70-72-69 (211).
The battle between Michael Buckhouse and Carter Likes was finally settled on Championship Sunday in the Players Gross Division with Buckhouse edging out Likes by two strokes. Buckhouse used his five birdies throughout the tournament to beat out Likes with a 73-76-73 (222). Carter Likes would be the Players Net Division champion with a 70-74-71 (215).
The Kansas City Amateur Championship was a great showing of all the great golf talent in Kansas City. We are so grateful to have the kind of competition we do in our regional championships. Thank you to the Golf Club of Creekmoor for hosting us this year as well as next! The 2019 KC Amateur Championship will return to Creekmoor next year and we hope it’s even better than this year’s. As always, thank you to all of our great volunteers and staff that do such a great job day in and day out.
Check out our social media outlets for pictures of the champions and an interview with Open Champion, Blake Allen.
For a full field of results, see here.
By Taylor Albritton, KCGA Intern