Former West Point native and current East Lansing, MI resident Chad Kurmel captured the championship of the annual Men’s Open Golf Championship Sunday at Wayne Country Club with a 27 hole score of 106, 2-under par. Kurmel held off Wayne Country Club golf professional Kyle Schellpeper by two strokes while Wayne’s Mike Varley finished third, just three strokes back at 109 over the 27 hole event.
The opening 18 holes saw Kurmel jump to a four-stroke advantage after a 4-under par 68. Schellpeper fired an even par 72 with Varley carding a 72. Beatrice’s Nate Koch notched a 73 with WCC member Alex Salmon posting a 74. Wayne’s Doug Rose finished with a 75 tying WCC member John Canham along with Ryan Brendan and Andy Bradshaw.
Kurmel finished the first 18 holes with six birdies before adding two more over the final nine holes. His victory came one day following his record setting round of 12-under par 60 as he pushed past the previous mark of 63 set by RW Eaks, two years ago. Nate Koch placed fourth overall with a two-over 110 and Doug Rose placed fifth at 111. Rounding out the top of the leaderboard was Andy Bradshaw, Jayson Brueggemann, Ryan Brenden, Brook Klinetobe, Tommy Swalley, John Canham, Casey Brentlinger and Brooks Blohm.
WCC had six members in the top 10 in the 40-person championship flight. Turning to flight play there was four champions crowned with Jerry Nelson of Laurel winning the first flight with an 18-hole net of 70. Wayne’s Brad Hansen was runner-up at 71 and Travis Havlovic was third at even par 72. Kyle Schneweis was fourth with a 73 and Doug Manz tied Izac Reifenrath with 75’s. Second flight winner was Trevor Beza with a four-under net score of 68 while Jeff Diediker tied Greg Gass with 70’s. Dave Diediker tied Jeff Baker for fourth place with net scores of 72.
Third flight winner was Scott Ohri with a four-under par 68 while Randy Hagedorn was runner-up at 71. Jason Berg was third with a 72 and Jason Penlerick tied with Connor Fillipi and Kelly Hansen of Wayne with two-over par 74’s. The fourth flight was won by Jacob Triggs with a one-over par 73. Luis Godinez was second with a 75 while Kevin Peterson tied Bob Nowaczyk with 76’s. Brian Gibson of Wayne tied KC Belitz for fifth place at 77.
