The Columbus division of the Golfweek Amateur Tour started the 2011 season today at Westchester Golf Course. With rain off and on all day and colder than expected temperatures, 73 players took the course to show their skills.

In Champ flight one of our 44 new players took home the top spot. Rich Campbell shot one over par on each side to card a 74 and his first win. Rich has a solid all around game and has high expectations for this year. Coming in second place on a scorecard playoff was John Fryman (76). John has consistently been one of the best players in the state, and he looks to continue his run on the Golfweek Amateur Tour.

A flights runner up in 2010, Mike Bilderback started where he left off with an impressive opening score of 76. He edged out returning star Tyson Rahrig by one stroke. Being two of the longest guys on tour will make this a battle all year long. Third place goes to newcomer Josh Hreha. Josh turned it around on the back to shoot a respectable score of 80.

One of the most competitive flights of the day was the B flight. Brandon B Real Fraley shot a career tour low score of 76 to take home the trophy. With an eagle and three birdies on the front nine, Devon Ratliff’s playing partners were sure he had it clinched. Although it was not to be, his awesome round of 77 gave him second place and a great start to the year. Josh Clay shoots and 81 to round out the top three.

 Now to the story of the day. With 21 players in the C flight, the competition was the best we’ve ever seen. One of the toughest holes at Westchester is the par five 5^th. Not for Mike Adams. His eagle on the 5^th, and birdie on the 13^th helped him to a solid round of 84 and his first career win. Finishing only one stroke behind was tour regular, Buddy Mcbride. Guest player Brian Vensel takes home 3^rd place with an 87, and to help out with the long drive wins the $145.00 closest to the pin. Not too bad for a day’s work.

Our best D flight turnout in a long time provided our only playoff on the day. 18 holes wasn’t enough for Charlie Hoskins and Larry Aleshire. With both players shooting  94, they headed out to the first hole for a sudden death playoff. One hole is all it took and Larry was taking home the hardware. Rounding out the top three is Mike Harris. Although missing out on a playoff by one stroke hurts. Winning the only skin in D flight, and it holding up in super skins helped ease Mike’s pain.

I want to thank everyone for participating in our first event. Congratulations to all of our flight winners, this was a great turnout! Make sure to register for our next event at Hickory Hills. It is our first major. If you want to play a practice round you can go on Boxgroove.com and book your tee time.