2015 Watson Challenge champion Chase Hanna was crowned the Big XII individual champion this week at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, KS.
Hanna, a senior at Kansas, battled difficult conditions, a difficult golf course and a tough field, but prevailed. Hanna fired a 7-over 287 over four rounds to win by one.’
Kansas finished third in the team competition, behind Texas and Oklahoma State.
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(Photo Credits: Jeff Jacobson)
The 2017 Kansas City Golf Association season is officially underway! High winds proved to be a difficult challenge for players at Lawrence Country Club for the first StateLine Amatuer Tour event of the season.
Jeff Mason seemed to handle the challenge of high winds and lightning fast greens just fine. He fired a four-over, 74, taking medalist honors in the open division. Mason didn’t make anything worse than a bogey all day and his round included ten pars to go along with two birdies. He secured a two-stroke victory over Alex Forristal who shot a six-over, 76. T.J. Pennington claimed a solo third place finish at seven-over, 77.
Three players tied for first place in the senior division. Mark Addington, John Scarsella, and David Hamilton all turned in scores of eight-over, 78.
Jim Seward and Pete Robbins shared the legends division title with rounds of seven-over, 77. Dave Harris finished in solo third, one stroke back at 78.
Finally, Jeff Long took home the player’s division title with an eleven-over, 81. Mittal Patel and Michael Buckhouse finished in a two-way tie for second, both posting a thirteen-over, 83.
Net results for the first StateLine Amateur Tour event at Lawrence Country Club are shown below.
Jeff Mason and Alex Forristal finish first and second in the open division. Bryan Meyer secures third place, with a net score of eight-over, 78.
In the senior division, Kurt Lorenzen takes the title with a score of five-over, 75. David Hamilton finishes in second with a six-over, 76. Rounding out the senior division, in third place, is John Scarsella with a net score of seven-over, 77.
Frank Muehlbach wins the net legends division with a one-under, 69. Ron Brewer, David Hornaday, and Pete Robbins all fired four-over, 74 to share a three-way tie for second place.
Finally, in the net player’s division, a three-way tie for the top spot includes Jeff Long, Mike Naegele, and Christopher Berry all who finished at five-over, 75.
The second StateLine Amateur Tour event is May 1st at Blue Hills Country Club.
Rod Yeager, former KCGA Executive Director died on February 17th, 2017.
Yeager was with the KCGA from 2000-2003.
Play will begin at 9:00am at Creekmoor for the Stateline Amateur Tour. All starting times will be delayed one hour.
The re-scheduled KWGA Amateur/Open Championships will be played Tuesday, July 12 and Wednesday, July 13, 2016.
Amateur Championship competitors will play the 54-hole championship at Firekeeper GC; Mayetta, KS over two days. Tuesday, July 12 with tee-times to begin at 7:30am—the first 18-hole round will be followed by play of the front nine second round. Competitors will be re-paired and flighted on the basis of the first 27 holes for Wednesday play. Wednesday, July 13, tee-times will begin at 7:30am—the back nine of the second round will be played followed by the third/final round.
Open Championship competitors will play a 36-hole championship at Firekeeper GC; Mayetta over two days. The published entry fee will include a motorized cart for each day of championship play. Open Championship competitors will play their first 18-hole round Tuesday, July 12 and their final 18-hole round Wednesday, July 13. Competitors will be flighted and re-paired after the first round of play.
Rob Wilkin, Head Golf Professional at Heritage Park Golf Course, prevailed in a playoff to win the 10th Watson Challenge.
Wilkin, who led by 4 after the first round and 1 after the second round, and Watson battled back and forth all day. Watson’s round started off with some fireworks on the second hole, where he holed a 4-iron for an ace to get to 4-under for the tournament. Watson made the turn with the lead and looked in control heading to the par 3 15th. Wilkin knocked one close on the short par 3 and made birdie, while Watson found the hazard short of the green and made bogey. Wilkin would not hold the lead long, however, as a double bogey at 16 handed the lead right back to Watson. Unfortunately for Watson, a bogey at the 17th would put Wilkin and Watson into a tie, and Watson would not lead again.
Watson’s birdie attempt on 18 just slid by the hole, and the players headed to the 10th tee for a sudden-death playoff. Wilkin and Watson played 10, 11, 12, and 10 again, before the tournament was decide on the 11th hole. Both players missed birdie putts, but only Wilkin was able to convert his par putt, earning the victory.
Next year’s Watson Challenge will be contested at Milburn Country Club.
For complete results, click here.
The leaderboard saw little change on day two of The Watson Challenge at Hallbrook Country Club.
Tournament leader Rob Wilkin saw his lead shrink from four strokes to two after a two-over, 74. By the end of day two, Wilkin sat at three-under, 141 overall.
Wilkin did birdie back-to-back holes on No. 13 and 14 to help maintain his lead and ensure a spot in Sunday’s final pairing.
Five-time champion Tom Watson rolled in seven birdies Saturday, including back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and 4, 7 and 8 and 10 and 11. However, a double-bogey on No. 18 and four other bogeys on the day left Watson one shot out of the lead, but in the final pairing for Sunday. Watson finished Sunday two-under, 142 overall.
Chase Hanna, the third golfer in Saturday’s final pairing, managed three birdies on the front nine, but fell victim to bogeys on No. 9 and 13 before notching a double-bogey on No. 15. Hanna finished his day ever-par, 72 and in a tie for third place.
Travis Mays played his way into Sunday’s final pairing with the help of a trio of birdies and an exclamation point on No. 18 with an eagle. Mays’ one-under, 71 boosted his overall score to one-under, 143.
Outside of the top three, Bryan Norton and Mark Terranova sat three strokes off the lead, sharing a tie for fifth with rounds of ever-par, 144, respectively. Norton carded a one-under, 71, while Terranova shot his second round of even golf.
Sunday’s Championship round begins at 7:30 a.m. with Wilkin, Watson and Mays teeing off at 10 a.m. as the last group of the day.
For results and pairings for Sunday’s round, click here.
Youth took a back seat Friday during the first round of The Watson Challenge.
Watson Challenge veteran Rob Wilkin posted the lowest opening-round score, setting the pace with a blistering five-under, 67.
Wilkin piled up five birdies on the day, on No. 3, 4, 14, 16 and 18, and an eagle on No. 12.
Tournament namesake Tom Watson issued a challenge to the entire field Thursday at the annual Player’s Dinner, telling the 47 other golfers to “bring it.”
Watson delivered on his challenge, firing a one-under, 71.
The five-time Watson Challenge champion carded birdies on No. 6, 7 and 18.
However, sharing a T-2 with Watson was defending champion Chase Hanna and Josh Weems who each posted one-under, 71s.
Hanna rolled in birdies on No. 1, 8 and 18 and tacked an eagle on No. 4.
Weems’ scorecard was littered with six birdies, including a stretch of back-to-back-to-back birdies on No. 10-12.
Four golfers shared a T-5 finish with even-par, 72s, including Mark Terranova, Travis Mays, Bryan Norton and junior exemption Tanner Owen.
Saturday’s second of round begins at 7:30 a.m. and concludes at 10 p.m.
The final pairing on Saturday includes tournament leader Wilkin and a partial recreation of last year’s Watson Challenge pairing between Watson and Hanna.
All results and pairings can be found on the website, here.
Long-time KCGA contributor Bill Ludwig passed away on May 30th, 2016. Bill spent much of his 86 years deeply involved in the game of golf. Not only did Bill put together a playing career worthy of induction into the Missouri Golf Hall of Fame, but he dedicated hundreds of hours as a rules official and course rater. Bill was also on the board of directors of the KCGA for a number of years.
Bills complete obituary can be seen by clicking here.
Please consider making a contribution to the Golf Foundation of Kansas City to honor Bill’s life-long love for the game of golf.