It's a good Day at Logan County Open
Kenny Day putts Sunday on the 18th green at Cherokee Hills during
third round action of the Logan County Open which Day won by two strokes.
(Examiner photo by Jim Mason) |
By Matt Hammond
Examiner Sports Editor
7/29/02
With the final round on the course where some of his
closest competitors grew up, Kenny Day knew it would take a gritty effort
to hold onto his two-shot lead.
Although Day recorded his highest round of the tournament
with a 76 Sunday at Cherokee Hills, it proved to be enough for the West
Liberty resident to become the eighth different winner in the nine years
of the event.
"If you would have told me a 76 would win it for
me today, I wouldn't have believed it," said Day, a West Liberty
resident who had rounds of 72 and 75 last weekend for a three-round total
of 223. "There were a lot of golfers up near the lead that are extremely
familiar with this course. I was fortunate that some of their scores were
not as low as I thought they would be."
As Day struggled a bit on the final day, he had to fight
off the challenge of defending champion Ben Schwaderer and Gabe Wickline
as they played well on their home course.
Schwaderer started the day five strokes behind the leader,
but fired a 73 Sunday to finish two strokes back at 225.
"I don't want to take anything away from Kenny,
but I just didn't putt well (in the final round)," said Schwaderer.
"I missed a lot of crucial putts late in the round and it cost me."
Wickline also had a 73, finishing three strokes off
the lead. He came out on fire during the final round with a 34 on the
front nine. However, he was plagued by an eight on hole 17 for a 39 on
the back nine.
"This was just a struggle," said Day. "I
knew Gabe was right there and that Ben was playing well. Those guys are
really capable of shooting some low scores on this course. I was concerned
all the way to the end."
Day has played in four county tournaments. Although
confident about his chances to contend this year, he was a bit surprised
by the outcome.
"I just don't play a whole lot of golf anymore
and the key to this tournament is consistency," said Day. "There
are seven, eight or nine guys that are going to play consistently good
golf. I'm really impressed with how many great golfers there are in Logan
County."
Although Schwaderer was pleased to finish second after
shooting a first-round 79 last Saturday at Liberty Hills, he said he is
already looking forward to next year.
"Any time you lose a tough one like this, it makes
you hungry," said Schwaderer. "I told Kenny that he has one
year to enjoy the trophy."
Denny Lane tied Wickline for third after carding a final round 75.
Mike Vetorino had the low final round score with a 71.
That helped him to a tournament total 227 and a fifth-place finish.
Mike Louden was the A Flight champion with a 234. Dave
Lyons was second (235), Al Southard and Chris Conley tied for third (241)
and Jeff Goings was fifth (243).
In the B Flight, Stoney Winegardner won with a 247.
Darrin Leichty and Nick Sieg tied for second (250), June Barnes was fourth
(253) and Mike Dinovo, Dale Goff, Darwin Mabra and Greg Wick tied for
fifth (254).
Taking top honors in C Flight was Larry Lattimer with
a 251. John Anderson was second (259), Tom Bodi was third (260), Don Hensley
was fourth (261) and Mark Powell was fifth (262).
Mark Boothe won the D Flight with a 268. Keith Jackson
finished second (272), Kris Sheets took third (274) and Jim Mason and
Tom Abrahamson tied for fourth (277).
Short chips: Roy Shawver pulled a shot out of his bag
when on No. 13 his approach shot landed next to a tree and because of
its position, he played his chip of that tree and put his ball on the
green
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