More than 200 members from 34 Golfweek Amateur Tours found their way to Wisconsin to participate in The Memorial Day Open. Players took to Whistling Straight’s Meadow Valleys and The Straits courses Saturday and Sunday, respectively. On Sunday, players got the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup feel as they walked The Strait and had caddies. Special thanks to all of our veterans in attendance throughout this event. We had every branch of the military represented with over 409+ years of service. In addition, $1200 was raised for SU2C in our 50/50 raffle with Donnie Pritt and Mike Ballard winning the raffle on Saturday and Sunday respectively. See the complete list of side game winners and details regarding military service at the end of this recap. Pictures of each tee group with caddies will be posted shortly as well!
Parker Scarbro (Nashville) took the top spot in the Championship Flight with a card of 154. He shot a 3-over-par (75) Saturday and a 79 on Sunday to finish 7 strokes ahead of the next two players. John Gollwitzer (Chicago, 82-79) and Gerry Pascale (Hilton Head, 81-80) tied for second with two-day scores of 161. Two other players also tied, but this was for fourth with scores of 163: Jack Miller (Las Vegas, 81-82) and Jamie Manning (Hilton Head, 80-83).
Competition was tight in the A Flight between Charleston’s Lee Dixon (79-80) and Denny Schwarze (80-81) from Michigan West. Dixon held a one-stroke lead after Saturday’s round. That advantage grew to five at the event’s 27-hole mark. Schwarze cut Dixon’s advantage to two with a birdie on Sunday’s hole No. 10 and then the two were tied up at 155 a piece entering the event’s final hole thanks to back-to-back pars for Schwarze on the 16th and 17th. Dixon came out on top with a bogey, edging Schwarze by one stroke, 160-161. Eric Stevenson (Chicago) didn’t finish too far behind as he shot a two-day score of 162 (78-84), good for third. Tied for fourth with two-day totals of 163 were DC Metro’s Jimmy Bryant (82-81), Eastern NC’s Lucas Hardee (81-82) and St. Louis’ David Watson (77-86). James Earnhardt from Upstate also finished in the money in seventh (79-86).
Rich Podzimek, from the Chicago Tour, was the B Flight winner with a score of 156 (76-80) and a commanding lead over the rest of the field. Jerry Homishak, Arkansas Tour Director, placed second (80-85) while two players tied for third with final scores of 170: LR Gardner (Arkansas) and Glenn Whalen (Chicago). Matthew Foreman (Tidewater) and Michael Ericksen (Chicago) both carded a 173, tying for fifth. Rounding out the payouts were Tim Fyfe (Chicago) and Jon Wendt (Indianapolis) with two-day scores of 174.
Garrett Maynard, from the Columbus Tour, trailed DC Metro Tour member Milton Tyrrell by five strokes heading into Sunday’s round. At the C Flight’s 27-hole mark, that deficit grew to six. But Maynard battled on the back nine, cutting Tyrrell’s advantage to four on Sunday’s 10th and to two after a birdie and par on holes 12 and 13, respectively. Maynard took the one-stroke lead with a par on 14, but Tyrrell knotted up the score with a bogey on hole No. 15. The two finished out the round tied at 173, leading to a playoff which was won by Maynard thanks to a 25-foot putt. Matt Lyons (Milwaukee) rounded out the top-3 with a two-day score of 175 and finished two strokes ahead of James Fifer (Chicago). Paul Golden (Arkansas), Cory Johnson (Tidewater) and Mark Witmer (Chicago) were all tied at 179 and edged out DC Metro’s James Briggs in 8th place by one stroke.
The D Flight victor was Jackson Earnhardt from Upstate. He shot a 182 (92-90) during the event, not bad for his first amateur tournament. Mike Jared (Arkansas) placed second with a 186 (97-89) while Dan Rice (Michigan East) took third (193-97-96). Bill Papatheofanis (Chicago) finished a stroke behind Rice, placing fourth (99-95), while two players tied for fifth with two-day scores of 196: Dimitrios Maravelias (Chicago) and Myrtle Beach’s Shelley Martin.
Active Duty
Mike Miller (Milwaukee) – Army 21+ years
Veterans
Chris Legare (Hilton Head) – Army 2 years
John Livoti (Columbia) – Army 2 years
Thomas Livoti (Columbia) – Navy 2 years
Clyde Shirron (Arkansas) – Army 2 years
John Trongale (Chicago) – Army 2 years
Paul Baker (Jacksonville) – Army 3 years
Chet Laskowski (Chicago) – Navy 3 years
Jeremy Darby (Columbus) – Army 4 years
Shelley Martin (Myrtle Beach) – Coast Guard 4 years
Keenan Davis (Tidewater) – Air Force 5 years
Jeramy Wallace (St. Louis) – Air Force 5 years
Cameron McKinley (Cincinnati/Dayton) – Air Force 6 years
Mike Ballard (Arkansas) – Air Force 4 years/National Guard 16 years
James Briggs (DC Metro) - Coast Guard 20 years
Michael Cefalo (Eastern NC) – Marine Corps 20 years
Trevor Horne (Eastern NC) – Marine Corps 20 years
Cephas Franklin (DC Metro) – Air Force 21 years
Garret Maynard (Columbus) – Air Force 22 years
Keith Vess (Arkansas) – Navy 22 years
Steve Walters (Charleston) – Air Force 22 years
Mike Berndt (Milwaukee) – Army 23 years
James Jarrett (DC Metro) – Army 24 years
Tim Sumption (Charleston) – Navy 24 years
Garry Branch (DC Metro) – Army 25 years
Cory Johnson (Tidewater) – Navy 25 years
Jimmy Bryant (DC Metro) – Army 27+ years
Charlie Triplett (Tidewater) – Marine Corps 33 years
Champ/A/D Flight Super Skins (Sunday)
#5 – Fred Blaylock (Eagle)
#17 – Nick Lanas
B/C Flight Super Skins (Sunday)
#2 – Jerry Homishak
#4 – Nolan Elenz
#14 – LR Gardner
#16 – LR Gardner
#18 – Bob Kope
50/50 Raffle - $600 SU2C (Sunday)
Mike Ballard - $600
Champ Flight Skins (Sunday)
#3 – Keenan Quick
#7 – Alex Hoffman
#8 – Skip Brinson
#9 – Keenan Quick
#10 – Nick Lanas
#12 – Skip Brinson
#13 – Ben Hargis
#16 – Alex Hoffman
#17 – Nick Lanas
A Flight Skins (Sunday)
#1 – Joe Kroening
#3 – Rick Philo
#5 – Fred Blaylock (Eagle)
#9 – Steve Walters
#10 – Eric Stevenson
B Flight Skins (Sunday)
#1 – Tim Fyfe
#2 – Jerry Homishak
#3 – Tim Sumption
#4 – Nolan Elenz
#7 – Mike Realie
#14 – LR Gardner
#15 – Mike Aschberger
#16 – LR Gardner
#17 – Matthew Foreman
C Flight Skins (Sunday)
#1 – Scott Grossarth
#2 – Po Lehman
#5 – Bob Passerella
#16 – Darrell Johnson
#18 – Bob Kope
D Flight Skins (Sunday)
#7 – Paul Alexander
#11 – Jackson Earnhardt
#16 – Clyde Shirron
#17 – Traci Taylor
Champ/A/D Closest to the Pin (Sunday)
#3 – Keenan Quick
#7 – Thomas Livoti
#12 – Skip Brinson
#17 – Ed Ajodah
B/C Closest to the Pin (Sunday)
#3 – Steve Bisson
#7 – Bob Passerella
#12 – John Richards
#17 – Matthew Foreman
Champ/A/D Flight Super Skins (Saturday)
#1 – Lee Dixon
#5 – Jackson Earnhardt
#6 – Joe Bryant
#12 – Chris Legare
#15 – Jeff Powell
#17 – Jamie Manning
B/C Flight Super Skins (Saturday)
#2 – Donta Albritton
#3 – Nancy Hatten
#6 – Bob Kope
50/50 Raffle - $600 SU2C (Saturday)
Donnie Pritt - $600
Champ Flight Skins (Saturday)
#6 – Joe Bryant
#12 – Chris Legare
#17 – Jamie Manning
A Flight Skins (Saturday)
#1 – Lee Dixon
#15 – Jeff Powell
B Flight Skins (Saturday)
#1 – Matthew Foreman
#2 – Donta Albritton
#3 – Nancy Hatten
#7 – Edward Greenfield
#10 – Harlan Vondersaar
#13 – Tim Sumption
#14 – Matthew Foreman
#17 – Jon Wendt
C Flight Skins (Saturday)
#6 – Bob Kope
#14 – Mario Medina
#17 – Kyle Johnson
D Flight Skins (Saturday)
#3 – Bill Papatheofanis
#4 – Dimitrios Maravellas
#5 – Jackson Earnhardt
#11 – Jackson Earnhardt
Closest to the Pin (Saturday)
#3 – Jim Pokorny
#8 – Ron Stergion
#15 – Thompson Sawyer
#17 – Kyle Johnson