Thank you to all players who participated this past Saturday at Country Club of the North! With a total prize pool of $4,440, the total prize pool giveaway for the first month on tour equals $11,800. A record total monthly giveaway for the Golfweek Cincinnati/Dayton AM Tour!
Championship flight is our first flight of the day. Matt Sander from Cincinnati/Dayton got off to a hot start and never looked back, rolling in four birdies on the day to shoot a 73, hoisting the trophy to capture his first of what hopes to be many championships of the year. "I was able to get the putter rolling today, making multiple par saves to keep myself in contention until the end." stated Sander "hopefully the flat stick continues to be good to me".
Rich Campbell from the Columbus Tour finished second, shooting a respectable 75. Rich was able to drop three birdies on the day, putting himself in position to win. Ultimately coming up a little short for the championship, but nevertheless, a solid start to the year for the "crafty veteran".
Cincinnati/Dayton's Dustin Fields Joe Goldschmidt carded a respectable 78, scoring two birdies to finish third, five shots back on the day.
A flight is second. Columbus Tour's Tom Burlison was able to shoot even par on the back nine, coming in to the championship on Saturday. Tom was able to card a birdie on the back nine as well, putting him in position to hold off Cincinnati/Dayton's Kevin Dick in a playoff to clinch the championship.
Dick, who was able to roll in a clutch par save on 18, put himself in a playoff and in position to start the year off with consecutive wins. Ultimately losing the playoff, Kevin was still able to card an 79 with a birdie, finishing second.
Pete Detty from the Cincinnati/Dayton Tour finished third in a scorecard playoff, posting an 80. Pete was able to put some pressure on both Tom and Kevin at the top of the leader board throughout the day. Dropping a pair of clutch birdies to put himself in contention for a playoff. However, came up one shot back to finish the tournament. Nevertheless, a solid start for Detty in his first tournament of the season.
B flight is our third grouping.Justin Wilk from Cincinnati/Dayton led the field, going low on the day with a 77. Justin was able to roll in five birdies on the day, separating himself from what was a tight leader board and capturing the championship coming down the stretch.
Columbus' Travis Rineheart finished second in the B flight. Scoring a total of four birdies and shooting 82, Travis was able to get the putter hot and card a solid performance, keeping himself within distance of the top spot of the leader board for most of the day.
Mike Cronin from the Cincinnati/Dayton Tour finished third with an 83, wrapping up the top 3 performers in the B flight at Country Club of the North. Mike was able to drop one birdie on the day, solidifying his spot in the top three.
C flight is next. Ryan Cecil from Cincinnati/Dayton was able to hold off a surging field, firing an 88 and capturing the title. A couple of clutch par saves was able to keep Cecil in the top spot at the end of the day, leading to some nice hardware for the trophy case.
Cincinnati/Dayton's Bob Parisi was able to card a respectable 90, placing second. Parisi, who was a surging contender throughout the day, ultimately came up two strokes short, nullifying his chance in the end.
Wrapping up third place in a tight leader board was Columbus' Chris Louth. Louth was able to finish with a solid 91, locking in his spot in the top three for the tour's second tournament of the season.
D flight is the final group of the day. David Hall from Cincinnati/Dayton was able to raise the trophy in the end with a clutch par save on the second playoff hole, defeating Shaun Kearns. "Its nice to see you can take advantage of an opportunity when its presented to you" said Hall, "The lessons and the hard work are starting to bring the desired results".
Kearns, from the Cincinnati/Dayton Tour finished second, ultimately losing in the playoff, with a solid 92. Shaun was in contention until the end, grinding for an eight foot par attempt on the second playoff hole to extend the match. Missing ever so slightly, opening the door for Hall to seal the deal and claim the championship.
Justin Meadors from the Columbus tour finished third, scoring a 93 and adding a birdie as well.
Thank you to all players who came out and contributed to an awesome day at a great course, continuing the chase to Hilton Head!