Wayne’s Doug Rose wasn’t quite ready to hand the baton off to his younger competitors just yet. While age might be just a number, the number that mattered most in the annual club championship was one, as he outlasted the 15-man field of the championship flight on Sunday. The two day event was not short on drama either as with just four holes remaining in the 36-hole format there was a five-man tie atop the leaderboard. Rose would need a tough up-and-down for par on the final hole to clinch the title by a single shot over Heath Erwin who was competing in his second club tournament.
It was Rose’s ninth trip to the winners circle, his first since 2013 and 32 years after he won his first. He notched a two-over par 74 on day one and followed up with an even par round of 72 on day two. Erwin meanwhile fired a 75 and came back on Sunday with an even par 72. Brett Koester, Brooks Blohm and Andi Diediker tied for third place, just two strokes behind the winner. Day one leader Mike Varley settled for sixth place while others taking part in the championship included Adam Severson, Rob Sweetland, Jon Thomas, Chris McNaughton, Matt Eischeid, Tyler Vaughn, Charlie Wych (last year’s champ) and Trent Beza.
There were three additional flights of play. Winners of the regular flights were determined by net scores whereas the championship was scratch. In the first flight it was Josh Hopkins cruising to victory with a two-round net score of nine-under par. Brad Hansen placed second at 2-under par while Kyle Sperry and Dave Diediker tied for third with even par net scores of 144 over 36 holes. Others competing in the first flight included Nick Curnyn, Phil Myer, Joel Ankeny, Chad Metzler, Sean Gansebom and Thad Fields.
The second flight was captured by Jerry Dorcey with a two round net score of 4-under par. Logan McPhillips finished runner-up at 2-under par with Chris Blohm and Kevin Peterson tying for third place with even par score of 144 over 36 holes. Kelly Hansen, Steve McLagan, Mark Gansebom, Alan Johnson, Justin Raulston, Dom Consoli, Aaron Daniels and Dustin Stegemann also took part in the second flight. The final flight was won by Bill Melena with a 36-hole net score of 8-under par 136. Don Endicott came on strong on day two and finished in the runner-up slot at 5-under par while Casey Schroeder finished at even par 144. Randy Simonsen and Dave Longe tied for fourth place with one-over par 145’s. Brad Jones, Dennis Murray, Brock Hopkins, Pat Melena and Jim Townsend also competed in the final flight.
