NOV/DEC 08
Tournament News

WISCONSIN STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Helminen finally gets his State Open title

After a sizzling second-round 66 to take a two-shot lead, Ryan Helminen was looking forward to the 36-hole finale in the 88th Wisconsin State Open. Would this finally be his year?

He also was looking backward.

Standing near the 18th green at Eau Claire G&CC, Helminen remembered the last time the State Open was at the course, 1994. He was 19 and admittedly a raw talent as a golfer.

“I was a hockey player then,” Helminen said. “I hit driver all over (the course). I shot 75-82 and was thrilled with my score.”

A few things have changed since then. A one-time UW-Madison hockey recruit who ended up playing golf for the Badgers, Helminen has turned a golf hat trick of sorts in the last 12 months and stamped himself as one of the best players in the state.

Last year, he was named state pro of the year after winning the Wisconsin PGA Match Play. He then won $20,000 by edging fellow Wisconsin pro Jim Schuman at the 2007 TaylorMade Invitational in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

His third and maybe most coveted goal was reached in Eau Claire in August. The 33-year-old Appleton native and resident as well as assistant pro at SentryWorld in Stevens Point won the State Open by four shots, shooting 5-under-par 279. He took home $8,100 and a spot in next year’s U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

After contending the two previous years going into the final round of the Open, he had the confidence and game to put this one away. “I’ve always dreamed about winning it. It’s just unbelievable. This has always been the event in Wisconsin,” he said, adding it was an honor to have his name added to a trophy that reads like a list of state Hall of Fame members.

Known as a steady driver of the ball and fine iron player, Helminen has added a third key element to help him climb the state ladder and make waves in national club pro-level events. That would be his long putter, which he went to in 2002 after his putting “got pretty bad.” Now, he sums up his putting by saying, “I don’t throw away a lot of shots on the greens.”

Indeed, the long putter saved him after he threw away a few shots getting to the green in the Open homestretch. He bogeyed the par-5 13th hole in the final round after driving into the trees to see his lead slip to two over Garrett Jones, another former Badger. Jones was in the final group along with the other frontrunner, Mike Johnston of Milwau-kee.

On the 431-yard 15th, Helminen’s drive landed in a divot, and two fat shots later he needed to get up and down for bogey. “That six-foot sliding bogey putt was the key to the tournament,” he said.

It didn’t hurt that he went on to one-putt the last three holes, too, with 10-, 15- and 12-footers, two of them for birdies to pull away.

While Helminen was struggling on the 15th, so too was Jones, the 2007 state amateur player of the year who has since turned pro. He shanked his approach from the fairway, shanked his pitch from the rough onto an adjacent green and wound up with a double-bogey 6.

Jones’ collapse – he was more upset with his putting all week – allowed Johnston and Oostburg native Patrick Stolpe to move up to a tie for second. Stolpe had a final-round 68.

Although Eau Claire G&CC topped out at just 6,703 yards on the final day, Helminen and others praised the tight, 1928 layout for its condition and because it required players to manage their games. Unlike 1994, Helminen only hit driver about five times a round.

He left Eau Claire full of confidence. “Every year I’ve improved. I feel I can play at a much higher level than a few years ago.”

— Jerry Poling

If the following sounds oddly familiar, that’s because it is.

It was déjà vu all over again in the middle of October at the WIAA Girls Golf Championships, where all four champions from last year – two teams and two individuals – repeated.

Senior Tory Bauman of Nicolet won her second consecutive Division 1 individual title and senior Lindsay Danielson of Osceola claimed her fourth medalist crown in Division 2. Danielson became the only player in WIAA history – regardless of gender – to win four individual golf titles.

Meanwhile, in team play, it was more of the same for Division 2 Madison Edgewood, which claimed an incredible eighth straight team championship, and Green Bay Notre Dame, which won its third straight title in Division 1.

Danielson shot 71-72–143 to tie the all-time low score recorded at University Ridge during the WIAA girls championship, and it goes without saying she set a standard which will never be topped in winning her fourth straight title. Still, Danielson said she was more concerned with playing well than coming out on top.

“My goal was to play well and beat my previous scores,” Danielson said. “I did that, so I’m happy. I’m mostly just satisfied with how I played, and whatever else comes with that is a bonus, I guess.”

Danielson admitted she has an affinity for University Ridge – and why wouldn’t she?

“I really like this course,” she said after her final round of high school golf. “And experience always helps.”

In second place in Division 2 was Alyssa Elliott of Edgewood (76-71–147), who has had the bad fortune the last four years of competing against her friend Danielson. In pursuing Danielson at state the last four years, Elliott tied for fifth in 2005, tied for second in 2006 and ’07 and now finished alone in the runner-up position. Edgewood’s Alex Lake finished third in Division 2 (77-76–153).

Bauman, who for the second year in a row advanced to the state championship as an individual, opened with a stellar round of 70, then followed it up with a 75 to finish at 145.

After her opening 70, Bauman experienced a final round she termed “erratic,” which included one eagle on the par-5 16th hole and almost another when she narrowly missed a hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole.

But after her birdie-eagle run on Nos. 15 and 16, Bauman bogeyed two of the next three holes before almost acing No. 3, where her 9-iron shot stopped just 4 inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie. Bauman also double-bogeyed the par-4 13th, her fourth hole of the day.

It all added up to the “best 75 I’ve ever shot,” Bauman said. “I sort of lost my swing a little, but I grinded it out. I was very happy with my score the way I hit the ball.”

Bauman admitted it was important to her to repeat her 2007 title, which came in her first trip to state and with few expectations. But as defending champion, Bauman said there was pressure to perform this fall.   

“All my friends, even before I went to state, were planning what we were going to do after I won,” Bauman said. “So there was definitely pressure to play well. But I think it helped me out. I wasn’t scared; I was nervous. I think being nervous kept me focused.”

Erin Sharpee of Notre Dame was second among individuals in Division 1 at 150 (76-74), and Jackie Shepherd of Kettle Moraine was third at 151 (75-76).

Edgewood absolutely ran away with the Division 2 race, finishing with a remarkable, and record-low, 617 total (314-303). In second place, 120 strokes behind, was the combined team from Arcadia/Cochrane/Fountain City, which shot 363-374–737. Finishing third was Baldwin-Woodville, which (385-358–743).

In terms of quantifying Edgewood’s dominance, consider that the Crusaders entered the final round with a 49-stroke lead. Or that the Crusaders’ 617 was the record-low total at state, regardless of division, allowing the team to break the record it set just a year ago (634) at University Ridge. Or that when the tournament was over, all five of Edgewood’s players had finished among the top 13 individuals in Division 2.

“I would say this is my deepest team, clearly by the records they have set,” Edgewood coach Peggy Gierhart said. “The fact that they broke their own record from state last year – I mean, it just kept getting better and better.”

Yes, Edgewood’s top-to-bottom talent set it apart, but the Crusaders also relied upon two stalwarts, Elliott and Lake, who will go on to play at the Division I level in college. (See Page 11.)

“I may never see anything like this again, so I enjoyed it, to say the least,” Gierhart said.

Meantime, Notre Dame won its third straight Division 1 team title, shooting 320-310–630 to finish 27 shots ahead of Mequon Homestead, which recorded rounds of 322-335–657. Catholic Memorial finished third (334-342–676).

— Rick Pledl

With players raving about Milwaukee CC throughout tournament week, the venerable private club hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in September. After two days of stroke-play qualifying and four days of intense match-play battles, the 264-player field was winnowed down to just Steve Wilson, a gas station owner from St. Martin, Miss.

Wilson, one of 92 reinstated amateurs in the field, defeated former minor league baseball player Todd Mitchell of Bloomington, Ill., in the 36-hole championship match, by the score of 5 and 4.

The tournament is a national championship for amateurs age 25 and older.

“It’s like hitting the lottery for me,” Wilson said afterward. “I knew I had some game (but) I never believed I could win anything this big. I knew it was possible; I just didn’t think it would ever happen.”

Wilson, 38, shot 71-70–141 and tied for fifth in the qualifying rounds, three strokes behind medalist Richard Berkmeyer of St. Louis, who shot 67-71–138. Wilson struggled through some early matches, but his game, and particularly his putter, woke up as he progressed through the match-play bracket. In the final match against Mitchell, he never trailed while displaying a lights-out short game.

For that, Wilson gave credit to his business partner and caddie for the week, Gary Martin, himself an outstanding Mississippi amateur player. According to Wilson, Martin read every putt for him, and he simply stroked the ball where he was told. That strategy worked to the tune of 14 one-putt greens in the 32-hole title match.

It was a performance that Wilson said his golf buddies would not recognize.

“If you talk to people I play golf with a lot, they’ll tell you I’m the worst putter they’ve ever seen,” Wilson said. “I’m fairly long and hit a lot of greens in regulation. Everybody tells me, ‘If you could just putt ...’”

It is tradition for the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion to receive an invitation to the following year’s Masters Tournament, an opportunity that Wilson never got a sniff of as a professional player. And for the record, Wilson said Martin, his business partner and designated green-reader, will be at his side as he tries to unlock the mystery of Augusta National’s occasionally frightening putting surfaces.

Another perk came in the form of a sponsor’s exemption for the Viking Classic which was extended to Wilson in the days after the Mid-Am. Wilson shot 73-77–150 in the PGA Tour event in Madison, Miss., in September.

Three Wisconsin players advanced to the 64-player match-play bracket. Matt Behm of Janesville and Nathan Colson of Milwaukee shot identical scores of 70-74–144, and both were eliminated in the first round of match play. Behm lost 2-up to Adam Dooley of Albany, Minn., and Colson lost 1-up to Jimmy Chestnut of Grand Blanc, Mich.

Mark Scheibach, a reinstated amateur and native of Fond du Lac, shot 75-72–147 in qualifying, made the cut on the number and was among 14 competitors to survive a 19-player playoff to determine the final match-play berths. Scheibach, who played college golf at the University of Wisconsin and now lives in Bermuda Dunes, Calif., survived the first round with a 3 and 2 victory over Scott Fawcett of Dallas. But he lost 3 and 2 in the second round to Dooley.

Wisconsin players who missed the cut were David Foley of Pewaukee (76-75–151), Tim Murphy of Eau Claire (77-75–152), Mark Bemowski of Mukwonago (79-76–155), John Staehler of Caledonia (80-75–155) and Jeffrey Lister of Greendale (82-74–156).

Qualifying rounds for the U.S. Mid-Amateur were held at Milwaukee CC in River Hills and Brown Deer Park GC in Milwaukee. All matches were held at Milwaukee CC.

— Rick Pledl

Gazing through a telescope versus touching down in a lunar landing module to get a sense of the moon’s surface aptly sums up how much more intimate a peek into the world of elite-level golf a caddie enjoys over the rest of us. I’m no astronaut, but after looping at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, I’m convinced the few steps from where fans stand to where caddies walk are worlds apart. And another thing:

“It’s hard work,” attests Ron Gunderson of Mequon. “My guy had a carry bag, but he packed a lot into it. It was heavier than I expected.”

The labor’s worth the view, though, even at $60 a day, driving rain (which drenched the first practice round) or  shine. Joined to a golfer’s hip, you gain insights into things like the enormous difference between going golfing and golfing the ball.

“He can really golf his ball.” That’s what my guy, Rich Burgess Jr. of  Spartanburg, S.C., said referring to a peer warming up near us on the range. Speaking not in awe, but with appreciation, Burgess wasn’t just talking ball flight. Everyone hit their shots with enviable distance and consistency, comparable to what you’d see at a professional event.        

Like their professional counterparts, “These guys are good.” But most of the rest of us are different. We simply go golfing just as we go biking, skiing or hiking. These guys have a different mission: to golf their ball better than their opponent. On the surface they look like us, congenially conversing at times like we might during weekend play. That’s where the similarities with our Nassau or local competition end, however.

When playing their ball, they seem to enter and re-enter a zone at will. On the tee or in the fairway, they shift mental gears, boot up an internal processing program and factor in all kinds of information – evaluating, filtering and preparing in that period preceding the shot. Then, in that moment, only the shot exists or matters, a focused action in which the competitor isn’t golfing, but the ball is golfed by the competitive golfer.

Possibly the lens that makes these things discernable is the odd, fraternal-like bond that sometimes exists between golfer and caddie. I say sometimes, because a few caddie comments indicated not every competitor was as affable as Burgess, a soft-spoken, sometimes self-deprecating computer consultant.

In caddie world, your guy being a good guy improves life, but there’s also the singular, simple rule: “Show up, shut up, and keep up.” Competitors joke aloud that’s all they want of their caddies.

As time passes, however, trust develops, a relationship builds and emotions open doors to permit glimpses into the competitive nature of the person you’re with and the world in which you’re walking. I’ve never experienced it from outside the ropes. And  I can’t imagine it happening on the casual golfer’s bag at Any Club USA.

— Phil Nero

WSGA STATE GOLF LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
SentryWorld men crowned first champions

Bill Neuman has nothing but praise for the Wisconsin State Golf Association’s newest tournament, the State Golf League Championship.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he and his three team members from SentryWorld GC in Stevens Point were champions in late September of the first-ever event, held at Merrill Hills CC in Waukesha. But it’s more likely that he truly was impressed.

“The tournament was extremely well run; the people at Merrill Hills could not have been more gracious and more professional,” Neuman said. “The course was in great condition. I had never played there before, but it’s a beautiful golf course. We had a great time. The WSGA people were great.”

The WSGA this year started providing its member clubs with a Web site and software to manage their golf leagues, and 33 leagues at nine courses used the system. Basically, a league secretary can log in and enter scores, and players have immediate Web access to standings and results.

“In the past we’d wait until the following Wednesday and then we were given a printed handout with our results. This was far, far better,” Neuman said while talking about the WSGA  golf league management system. “It’s an amazing Web site. They have a lot of detail and a lot of information. We were able to get the results faster than we were before, and it worked out well. It’s excellent software.”

Neuman’s Wednesday afternoon league at SentryWorld was run using a “two net bestball out of four” format, which means that the two best scores out of four are recorded on each hole. The championship event in September was formatted the same way.

“We’re relatively high handicappers ... and by the way we play, (this format) really works out well for us,” Neuman said. “On a typical hole, two of us will do really well and two of us won’t because we’re high handicappers. It works out really well for what I would call average golfers.”

The purpose of the 2008 WSGA State Golf League Championship was to crown a champion of all the state’s golf league players who use the WSGA system. Neuman and team members Bob Allen, Bob Prosch and Ron Odejewski finished with a net score of 123 after firing rounds of 56-67. They beat out 19 other teams from men’s and women’s leagues, though only one team of women played, at six courses across the state.  

“Our gross scores, frankly, were not much to brag about,” Neuman said. “But the team format just worked out extremely well for us, as it has all year.”

Tied for second at 125 were B.J. Hangartner, Bill Hangartner, Terry Radtke and Joe Dufran of Muskego Lakes CC (60-65) and Mark Allen, Mike Klotz, Mike Amerling and Paul Ley of West Bend Lakes GC (57-68).

According to David Cohn at the WSGA, the association’s goal is to expand use of the golf league management system to more courses across the state, which, in turn, would expand the championship field. It’s part of the WSGA’s ongoing quest to grow the game of golf in Wisconsin and is a way of reaching out to golfers who may not know what services the WSGA has to offer.

The State Golf League Championship was the first WSGA event in which Neuman, Allen and Odejewski had played. The fourth member of the team, Prosch, has competed in several WSGA events and convinced his team members to enter this one. All participating leagues were eligible to enter one four-person team in the championship, though some were allowed more because there were open slots in the field.        

Depending on the results of their 2009 league season, the SentryWorld men, who were sponsored by the Elizabeth Inn in Plover, plan to play in the championship again next year.

“It’s a great league and a great format for us,” Neuman said. “We just kind of played it loose and had a good time, and it worked out real well all year and especially at Merrill Hills.”

— Becky LaPlante

Net golf tournaments are an entirely different breed of cat compared to gross events. But just like in other tournament formats – and regardless of the sport being played – the goal is to play your absolute best when the bright lights come on.

That’s what Derrick Partlow did.

Partlow, of The Oaks GC in Cottage Grove, won the second annual Wisconsin State Golf Association Net Amateur Championship in August on the two golf courses at Lake Arrowhead GC in Nekoosa. Partlow was the talk of the tournament after posting a net score of 58 in the first round which gave him a nine-stroke lead heading into the final round. He added a net 74 to finish at 136 and win the tournament by four strokes.

With all the competitors’ handicap indexes adjusted to the course handicap before the tournament, Partlow competed as a 26-handicap. Thus, his gross score of 84 – which became the net 58 – in the first round on the Pines Course at Lake Arrowhead was truly something special.

“It was pretty cool,” Partlow said. “I played out of my mind on the first day. The three guys I was playing with were great guys; they never tried to get me out of the game. They could see I was playing well, and with some help from them it seems I could do no wrong. The course was kind of set up the way I drive the ball. It just seems like it was one of those days.”

But things got a bit more complicated for Partlow after his low round.

“I took a lot of heat that first day for playing so well,” he said.

This being a net golf tournament, there were some fellow competitors who thought Partlow’s handicap might have been inflated. He insists that isn’t the case, which is what a few players who later called The Oaks to ask about Partlow and his handicap eventually found out. Partlow said he posts all of his scores (and they are available for all to see at www.wsga.org).

But the next morning, Partlow had the opposite experience, as he received congratulations all around, then went out and played like a 26-handicap. The most exciting thing that happened to Partlow on day two – as he recorded a gross 100 on the Lakes Course, which became the net 74 – was his chip-in from about 70 yards on the par-5 17th hole for a net double bogey.

“It was more nerve-wracking the second day,” he said. “I had a pretty large lead and I couldn’t do anything right. But a lot of the guys were really nice. Congratulations, things like that.”

Specifically, Partlow mentioned some encouragement he received from Bill Linneman, the WSGA’s director of rules and competitions, after his 58 in the first round. According to Partlow, Linneman simply told him not to worry about what anyone was saying. Partlow hadn’t done anything wrong; in fact he had done what every competitive player hopes to do – play his best under tournament conditions.

It should be noted that Partlow and partner Troy Johnson, also of The Oaks, won a WSGA Net Partners tournament in 2007, which qualified them for the WSGA Net Partners Championship.

“Overall, I really enjoy those WSGA tournaments,” Partlow said. “All the staff with the WSGA are great.”

Finishing second was Ricardo Ruiz of Lake Arrowhead GC, who had an adjusted handicap of 16 for the tournament. Ruiz shot gross scores of 86 and 82 which converted to net scores of 70-66–136.

Sandy Nass of Browns Lake GC in Burlington finished third. Nass had an adjusted course handicap of 23 for the tournament and recorded gross rounds of 96 and 87 for net scores of 73-64–137. Nass recorded the low score among the 21 women in the 107-player field.

Women participants played from a shorter set of tees, measuring about 5,200 yards on both courses. The men played from about 6,200 yards on both courses.

— Rick Pledl

Just two years ago, Stu Grendahl was questioning whether he had the right to be where he was. His win at the 2006 Wisconsin State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship, he thought, might have been a fluke.

But a slew of other victories since then and 2007 WSGA Senior Player of the Year honors have helped Grendahl prove to the rest of the Wisconsin golf world – and himself – that this is right where he deserves to be. Grendahl, a McFarland resident who plays out of Madison’s Cherokee CC, in August won his second Senior Amateur title in three years at The Racine CC.

Grendahl, 57, was tied for second at 71 with Ozaukee CC’s Steve Johnson after the first round, and the two trailed Richard Pfeil, who plays out of Evergreen CC in Elkhorn, by one stroke. Grendahl started the final round with a birdie on the par-5 first hole, and though he recorded five bogeys for the day, he earned the right to have his name engraved yet again on the WSGA Senior Amateur Championship trophy.

“I actually started off hitting the ball pretty well,” he said. “(But) I made so many bogeys the day before that I wasn’t real confident in my accuracy, so I was playing a little more conservatively as far as my approach shots to the green.”

Grendahl hit his drive into a water hazard on No. 11 during the first round, for example, so he decided to lay up during the second round and use a 5-wood. He couldn’t see where it landed, and after searching for three minutes the ball still hadn’t been located. But WSGA Executive Director Tom Schmidt was following along and located Grendahl’s ball a few feet from the water hazard he had hit into the day before. His tee shot went farther than Johnson’s, and he had hit driver.

“I wouldn’t even have considered looking for the ball up there,” Grendahl said. “How it got there, I haven’t the slightest idea.”

Grendahl, who has been fighting a sprained knee ligament all summer, said he played just “reasonably well.” He had three three-putts and a penalty shot, as well as the five bogeys during the final round. He “almost made several putts but essentially missed them all,” but he closed with a 3-over 75 and finished at 146, two shots ahead of Johnson.

Though he keeps winning and has earned his place as one of Wisconsin’s best senior players, a humble Grendahl thinks there’s room for improvement.

“I don’t feel like I’m very ‘on,’” he said. “I haven’t been able to put in the kind of time that I should, so I’m a little erratic. I’ve developed some bad habits, so every now and then I’ll hit a couple shots that will be like, ‘Oooh, where did that come from?’”

Pfeil finished alone in third place at 6-over 150. Defending champion Gary Menzel tied for sixth at 8-over 152 (76-76), and also was medalist of the Super-Seniors division. Archie Dadian of Oakwood Park GC in Franklin won the Legends division at 18-over 162 (77-85).

— Becky LaPlante

If it were possible for one hole to make or break a tournament for a team of golfers, then the par-5 No. 11 at Northern Bay Golf Resort and Marina in Arkdale is the one that should stand out for Mark Klapperich and Jeff Berenz.

During the first round of the Wisconsin State Golf Association Two-Man Team Championship, an event that crams bestball, alternate-shot and individual stroke-play rounds into a two-day schedule, Klapperich drained an 80-foot putt for eagle on No. 11. Then, during individual play, Klapperich made another eagle and Berenz made birdie.

“That hole was kind of our savior for the week,” Klapperich said.

Klapperich, who plays out of Whispering Springs GC in Fond du Lac, and Berenz, a member of South Hills G&CC in Fond du Lac, combined to win the late-September tournament by seven strokes over Bob Gregorski of North Shore GC in Menasha and Gary Menzel of The Bog in Saukville. Klapperich and Berenz finished at 7-under 281 (64-70-147).

Klapperich and Berenz started out hot and finished the opening bestball round at 8-under 64, taking a four-shot lead over the three teams tied for second. Their 2-under 70 in the difficult alternate-shot round is what boosted their lead to seven.

“I like the alternate-shot format,” Klapperich said. “I think it puts a lot of pressure on both guys to play well.”

This is the first time Klapperich and Berenz have joined forces for the Two-Man Team Championship – though together they were runners-up in the 2008 WSGA Bestball Championship – so neither really knew what to expect heading into the event. Klapperich had never played Northern Bay, so Berenz guided his teammate around the par-72 course that replicates holes at some of the country’s most famous tracks. But after their take-charge start in the bestball round – which included six birdies and that eagle on No. 11 – Klapperich and Berenz realized they could compete.

“We felt like we could be a top-20, top-15 team, but then right out of the chute the birdies started coming out and we felt pretty confident with the course and everything after the first round,” Klapperich said.

Because they didn’t know what kind of scores it would take to win – and though they had a seven-shot lead heading into the final round – the men weren’t overly confident they’d clinched a victory.

“We kind of knew where we stood, but we also knew that a lot can happen in that afternoon, where you count both scores,” Klapperich said. “If two people went out there and played real well and we didn’t play so good, we knew a lot could happen in 18 holes.”

But it didn’t. Klapperich finished his individual stroke-play round at 2-under 70, and Berenz struggled a bit but still managed a 77, and the two came away with the victory.

The key to their victory, Klapperich said, was that the men were able to keep the ball in play and didn’t make any big mistakes.

“After we knew we were in the lead a little bit, it felt a little easier to play a little more conservatively,” Klapperich said. “We didn’t have to try to keep making birdies.”

Defending champions Bob Pyle and Todd Westrich tied for 11th at 10-over 298 (70-77-151).

— Becky LaPlante

Prior to the 2008 Wisconsin State Golf Association Director’s Cup Championship, Jonathan Fall had never played Branch River CC in Cato.

So on the day before the tournament began in late September, Fall headed out on a cart and made his way around the 6,698-yard par-71 course in two hours. Whatever he learned in that short time must have helped, because Fall earned his first WSGA victory at the annual mid-amateur tournament for players 25 and older.    

“I’ve been playing really well all summer, so I was expecting to play well, but probably not expecting to win,” said Fall, a member at Ozaukee CC in Mequon.

Fall finished at 1-under 143 to win the Director’s Cup by one stroke over Brent Wong (72-72–144) of Whitnall Park GC in Hales Corners. Todd Schaap of Ives Grove Golf Links in Sturtevant, the defending champion, was third at 1-over 145 (72-73).

Following Fall’s first-round 69, during which he made six birdies, the 29-year-old had a two-shot lead over Miles McConnell of Odana Hills GC in Madison. McConnell, the 2008 WSGA Governor’s Cup champion, struggled in round two and closed with a 78, tying for 10th place at 5-over 149.

During the second round, Fall was paired with McConnell, Schaap and Tom Halla of Pewaukee’s Naga-Waukee GC. Their play, Fall said, was impressive and kept him on his toes.

“That can kind of wake you up a little bit and you’ve got to know that you have to play well,” he said.

On the front nine, Fall made two bogeys while his competitors made a few birdies, and he saw his lead diminish. But the 530-yard par-5 ninth hole was a turning point for Fall, who  knocked the ball on in two and two-putted for birdie to regain he lead.

“After that we were kind of back where we started, which was kind of good and surprising,” he said. “At that point I was thinking maybe I had a chance.”

Fall made two bogeys and one birdie on the back nine, and he closed with a 74.

Fall has played in several WSGA events, but his win at the Director’s Cup was his first “spectacular” finish. He also played golf in high school and college so he has tournament experience, but he didn’t have much of a strategy heading into the event.

“I’ve been playing tournaments for a long time now, and you just try to go out and play golf,” he said. “You just play the best you can, I guess.”

As for Fall’s thoughts on his first WSGA win?

“It feels good,” he said. “It’s very unexpected, but it feels great. It will be the first of many, hopefully.”

— Becky LaPlante

Wisconsinites Jonathan Fall and Susan Lee Kolbe finished atop their respective divisions at the Chrysler Club Championship Midwest Regional in October at West Bend CC.

Fall and Kolbe, as well as another three men and three women, advanced to the event’s national finals, which will be held in conjunction with the Merrill Lynch Shootout, scheduled for Dec. 10-14 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort and Tiburon GC in Naples, Fla. Seven of the eight are Wisconsin residents.

Fall, a member at Ozaukee CC in Mequon and recent winner of the Wisconsin State Golf Association Director’s Cup Championship, shot 71 to pace the men’s division at the Midwest Regional, which included players from Wisconsin and Illinois. Lined up behind him were Chip Summers of North Hills CC in Menomonee Falls, who shot 72; Jim Doing of Hawks Landing GC in Verona, who shot 73; and Scott Ten Broeck of Beverly CC in Chicago, who recorded a round of 74.

Kolbe paced the women’s division with a round of 81. The other three qualifiers were Katie Falk of Milwaukee CC, who shot 85; Nancy Rushman of Oconomowoc GC (86); and Jeanne Zeske of Naga-Waukee GC (88).

A total of 85 club champions and runners-up participated in the Midwest Regional, one of eight CCC regionals held across America.

Barb Helgesen and Pat Pagel are a couple of avid golfers who have participated in plenty of competitive events over the years, but they sailed into uncharted territory recently with their victory at the Wisconsin State Golf Association Net Partners Championship.

The popular championship, which debuted in 1995, combines the net scores from both players on a team – after their handicaps have been adjusted to the course rating – with their combined net bestball score to create a 54-hole final score. This year, 60 teams advanced to the championship at Northern Bay Golf Resort in Arkdale through eight qualifying tournaments held during the 2008 season.

Helgesen, with an adjusted handicap of 29, shot a net 67, and Pagel, who played with an adjusted handicap of 18, also recorded a net 67. Their net bestball score was a tournament-low 56, so they finished with a score of 190, the second-lowest winning score ever recorded in the Net Partners Championship.

In previous years, Helgesen and Pagel had won three of the Net Partners qualifying events, but this was their first championship.

“I never thought we’d do this,” said Helgesen, who admitted she got a bit emotional at the tournament awards ceremony. “It’s a marvelous thing.”

Helgesen said she and Pagel, who are members at New Berlin Hills GC, are something of a golf odd couple. Helgesen has taken lots of lessons and by her own admission has never had a handicap lower than 18. Pagel on the other hand is a natural athlete who has never taken a lesson. Regardless, the two play a lot of golf – in a weekly senior women’s league at New Berlin Hills, in an Executive Women’s Golf Association league every other Saturday and at numerous courses around the state.

The duo recently moved from Rivermoor CC in Waterford to New Berlin Hills because they wanted to challenge themselves to improve on a longer golf course – the sort of venue that hosts statewide events like the Net Partners Championship.

“We were trying so hard over at New Berlin Hills to lower our handicaps,” Helgesen said. “But I’m getting a little older, and things weren’t coming around. But I’m not going to give up the game. It’s the only game I have left, and I want to make sure I keep going.”

In second place were Dan Sigurslid and Tom Cattanach of Two Oaks North GC in Wautoma. Sigurslid had an adjusted handicap of 13 and shot a net 71, while Cattanach, a 14-handicap, shot a net 64. They finished at 192 thanks to their net bestball score of 57, the second-lowest of the tournament.

Finishing in third place were Dave Rock and Dan Ruedinger of Mascoutin GC, who were two of the better players – handicap-wise – in the tournament field. Rock, with an adjusted handicap of 5, shot a net 66, compared with a net 68 for Ruedinger, who competed with a handicap of 4. Rock and Ruedinger’s net bestball score was 62 for a 196 total.

The Net Partners Championship and its qualifying events are among the few WSGA tournaments in which men and women compete against each other. Helgesen and Pagel are now the third team of women to win the Net Partners Championship, joining Sandy Weitzer and JoAnne Hoekstra in 1996 and Barb Toll and Kathy Algiers in 2006. Rolean Wernicke, who teamed with her father-in-law Dave Wernicke to win the title in 2001, also has her name on the trophy.

Also noteworthy was the play of Jim Boyce of The Bog in Saukville. Boyce, 73, shot his age during the Net Partners Championship with a gross score of 73. Although it surely has happened before in WSGA competitions, tournament officials could not recall the last time a player shot his age in an association event. Boyce, along with his son Michael Boyce of Monroe CC, ended up alone in ninth place with a final score of 205.

— Rick Pledl

Paul Schwarz doesn’t have the golf pedigree of many of the players he competed against in the Wisconsin State Senior Open in September. But that hardly mattered as Schwarz, a bank manager from Appleton who just recently joined the senior golf ranks, prevailed in come-from-behind fashion at The Racine CC.

Schwarz, 50, shot 73-69–142 to beat a field of Wisconsin’s top pros and exceptional amateurs, including a few Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Famers.

Among them was Mark Bemowski of Mukwonago, who tied for second place at even par 144, along with professional Steve Krause of Hales Corners. Both Bemowski and Krause shot identical scores of 73-71. John Pallin, an amateur from Kenosha who also has a spot in the WSGA Hall of Fame, shot 75-70–145 and finished fourth.

Defending champion Clark Eichstedt, a professional from Kewaskum, tied for ninth with scores of 72-76–148.

Schwarz rallied on the back nine to overtake Bemowski, who was in the same group. Schwarz made four birdies in an eight-hole span to put the finishing touches on his round of 69. Afterward, Schwarz admitted that the State Senior Open title was the highlight of his golfing career.

“Without a doubt, this is the biggest tournament I’ve ever won,” Schwarz said. “I’ve had to exorcise a lot of demons, but I finally won one.”

Schwarz shot 78-89–167 and missed the cut at the Wisconsin State Amateur Championship, presented by Tiziani Golf Car Corp., in July at Old Hickory GC in Beaver Dam. He didn’t play in the WSGA Senior Amateur Championship in August at The Racine CC because the minimum age for that tournament is 55.

Among the perks awarded to Schwarz is an exemption for the 2009 Wisconsin State Open Championship, which will be held on the Meadow Valleys Course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler next August. The 2009 Wisconsin State Senior Open will be played at Mascoutin GC in Berlin next September.

For the fourth year in a row, four women from the Madison Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association are the EWGA Championship 36-hole scramble division winners.

Madison’s Shelly Armstrong, Teri Redmond, Sarah DeKraay and Sun Prairie’s Ginger Zimmerman knocked off the nearest competitors by seven strokes. After the first round, the Madison team was in a three-way tie for first with a net score of 65, but it came out on fire during the final round and closed with a 67, for a net score of 126.

DeKraay said the women, who met through the EWGA, were a bit surprised after the first round that they were tied with two other teams. During the second round, she said, they were able to focus and relax.

“We started making putts is what it was,” DeKraay said. “We made a lot of putts coming down to the wire and I think it was because we had a little better grasp on the speed of the greens as well as the approach shots.” 

DeKraay said the women decided to part ways and this is the final year the women will play together at the EWGA Championship, so they won’t be five-time champions.    

Two other Wisconsin women fared well in their respective flights at the EWGA Championship. In the third flight, Glendale’s Chris Mortensen came in third with a gross score of 196, and in the fourth flight Waukesha’s Carol Hecht placed third with a gross score of 211.

The two-day championship event was held Sept. 26-27 at The Reserve Vineyards and GC in Aloha, Ore. There were nearly 200 competitors from throughout the United States and Canada, and winners were crowned in four flights of individual stroke play and the scramble division.  

While Wisconsin’s latest United States Golf Association event, the 28th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, unfolded in Milwaukee in early September, a player with some unique ties to Wisconsin achieved something special on the other side of the big lake.

Joan Higgins of Glendora, Calif., made history at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Barton Hills CC in Ann Arbor, Mich., with her 1-up victory in the title match over Lynn Simmons of Phoenix. At 52, Higgins, who played on the women’s tennis team at the University of Wisconsin from 1974 to ’78, became the oldest champion of the tournament for women amateurs  25 and older.

When asked about that very subject immediately after her victory, Higgins had a pithy reply: “I’d rather be the youngest winner than the oldest.”

But there’s no sidestepping Higgins’ accomplishment, as she supplanted amateur legend Carole Semple Thompson as the event’s oldest champion. Thompson, the winner of seven USGA championships, won the 1997 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at the age of 48.

When reached in California a few days later, and with cards, letters and phone calls of congratulations rolling in, Higgins admitted, “I’m still in shock.”

Higgins said she didn’t expect to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, but she certainly hoped to do well after reaching the quarterfinals last year.

Higgins seems to have been re-energized simply by being back in Big Ten country. The night before the Women’s Mid-Amateur began, the USGA held a reception with the University of Michigan marching band providing the entertainment. As she recalled having competed in Ann Arbor while on the UW tennis team, Higgins decided to have some fun with the UM band and requested “On Wisconsin.” But band members said they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, play it.

Higgins grew up in Chicago, but her parents moved to Wisconsin around the time she went off to college. She said her family told the UW her hometown was Markesan – as it is still listed in school media guides – in the hopes of paying in-state tuition. Her parents, Henry and Alma Hedberg, live today in Green Lake, and are members at Mascoutin GC in Berlin.

The other state player in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am field, Vicky Vandenbrook of Madison, missed the cut by six strokes. Vandenbrook shot 85-81–166.

— Rick Pledl