Klein Creek closes the 2011 season for Chicago

2012 Season has now been put on hibernation until April but several players got a head start with tournaments In Lake Geneva and Wheaton.  The final event for this year took place at Klein Creek in Wheaton.  Though we did not get the 60 degree temperatures that were forecast earlier in the week, we did escape the rain.  In true fall fashion the players dealt with damp windy conditions with temps in the low 50’s.

Closing out the final round for 2011 in winning fashion were Bill Schump, Frank Kaldis, John Mitchell, Nomie Namie and Clay Koenig who all won their respective flights.  All the flights other than Hogan were closely contested, but Frank Kaldis playing in his first tournament as a Hogan posted the low round of the day with a 79 which was possible with a 37 on the back nine.

Palmer Flight: Only four players competed but all made the turn with only 4 strokes separating last to first and a lot of golf yet to be played.  John Mauck was only one stroke back as he started the back nine but Bill Schump did not yield shooting a 37 to post a final score of 80.  The biggest charge was headed up by Mike Anderson who was 2 back after nine and by the time the group reached the 17 hole it was a two way tie for first.  Bill Schump closed the final two holes with birdies to fend off the late charge by Mike.

Hogan Flight: Frank Kaldis had the lead after nine by one over John Williams and three over Chuck Gleason.  Frank began his back nine with a birdie but double bogied 11 giving the rest hope that he would open the door some.  It wasn’t to be even though Chuck Gleason shot a 40 and John Williams 42, it was Frank Kaldis who took charge of the Hogan Flight shooting a 37 on the back for a 79 and the low round of the day.

Sarazen Flight:  James Francey lead by two strokes after nine but an 8 on twelve opened the door for John Mitchell, Eddie Stephens and Steve Downey the opportunity to make a run.  Steve Downey suffered with a bad back but manage to post a 43 on the back and tie for third with James.  John Mitchell had taken charge of the tournament with Eddie Stephens in close pursuit.  A triple bogey on 18 could have proved disastrous but John still managed a 42 to fend off Eddie Stevens 43 and win by one stroke.

Jones Flight:  Five strokes separate last from first and in the Jones Flight, five strokes can be made up quickly.  Though Nomie led after nine, he opened the door posting a 50 on the back for a 95.  As things progressed on the back nine, only Lino Rojas had a chance of overtaking Nomie.  With one hole Lino got the tournament all squared after 11 when Nomie Namie posted a nine on eleven.  Both Nomie and Lino traded blows until Lino ran into a bit of trouble posting a 9 on hole 15 which put Nomie out in front to stay.  Nomie posted an eight on the final hole but managed to win by3 over Lino Rojas shooting a 95.

Snead Flight:  The Snead Flight had the largest field with 12 player’s with nine players in contention at the turn.  A four stroke deficit in the Snead Flight as proven in the Jones Flight could be made up on one hole.  Clay Koenig was two strokes back at the turn but his 42 on the back moved him quickly ahead of the rest of the flight.  Mike Teegen was not far behind but posted a 44 to fall two strokes back and take second place.

Palmer Flight:

  80  Bill Schump  ($80 Golf Galaxy Gift Card and Trophy)

Hogan Flight:

  79  Frank Kaldis ($110 Golf Galaxy Gift Card and Trophy)

  85  Chuck Gleason ($50 Golf Galaxy Gift Card)

  85  John Williams  (lost scorecard playoff for 2^nd place)

Sarazen Flight:

  87  John Mitchell  ($110 Golf Galaxy Gift Card and Trophy)

  88  Eddie Stephens ($50 Golf Galaxy Gift Card)

Jones Flight:

  95  Nomie Namie ($80 Golf Galaxy Gift Card and Trophy)

Snead Flight:

  92  Clay Koenig ($125 Golf Galaxy Gift Card and Trophy)

  94  Mike Teegen ($65 Golf Galaxy Gift Card)

  99  David Small  ($30 Golf Galaxy Gift Card)

100  Ray Lim ($20 Golf Galaxy Gift Card)

Closest To the Pin:

$65  Tom Ward

$65  DeRell Durr

$65  John Mitchell

$65  James Francey

Skins:

$34  Nomie Namie

$24  John Mauck

$24  Bill Schump

$24  Tom Ward

$24  Jim Thompson

$24  Frank Kaldis

$24  John Carrato

$17  Clay Koenig

$17  Mike Teegen

$17  Marty Bevil

$17  Eric Powell

$17  Lino Rojas

$12  Jim Patchett

$12  John Mitchell

$12  Eddie Stephens

$12  Richard Ross

Pat Polzin – Two Time champion winning the 2011 National Championship (Palmer Flight)

Chicago did not come home empty handed thanks to Pat Polzin who won his 2^nd National Title on the Golf channel AM Tour.  Notables were Ken Larney (Chicago South Tour) who shot a 69 to finish 4^th and Dane Yarnell (Chicago North) shooting a 71 to finish 5^th.  Both Ken and Dane earned exempt qualification status by finishing in the top five for 2012 National Championship.  They will still need to meet all other requirements to be eligible to compete.

The top story was Pat Polzin winning his 2^nd National Championship and closing the win on the same course as he had done in 2009.  Kyle Zeitz played steady for three rounds and had a 5 stroke lead over Pat and a 13 stroke lead over the next closest challenger.  Pat took the opportunity to put a few thoughts in Kyle’s head after their round on the PGA West – Nicklaus Course.  Kyle has never been in the top 5 let alone leading a National Championship and Pat knew he needed some help considering how Kyle was playing.

The two sat down to talk over a beer and Pat said things like: “Good luck sleeping on the lead, I would rather play from behind and good luck with fighting those issues.”  The final thought that Pat planted in Kyle’s head was answering Kyle’s questions:

Kyle: Pat, you were the only one who had a subpar round this week

Pat:  Yes I was

Kyle: If I recall, you were the only one in 2009 to have a subpar round in our flight

Pat: Yes I shot 68 on the final day

Kyle:  Which course?

Pat: PGA West Stadium the same one we are closing the championship out on tomorrow

Pat Polzin had planted some thoughts for Kyle to sleep on and needed help because Kyle Zeitz had played solid over three rounds shooting a total of 12 birdies over the first three rounds.  The final round began with Pat birdying the first hole and by the end of the 63 hole, Pat Polzin had closed the gap to one stroke.  Kyle Zeitz did not post a birdie in his first 9 holes of the day.

Kyle managed to go 3 strokes up paring the first 4 holes on the back nine while Pat bogied 10 and 13.  With five holes to play, Pat knew he was running out of holes and Kyle Zeitz did not look like he was going to fold.  On the 14^th hole a door opened when Kyle hit his drive OB posting a 6 to Pat’s 4 closing the lead to just one stroke and four holes to play.  On fifteen the pressure seemed to be getting to Kyle because he had not had a birdie yet and tried to force the issue with an aggressive play on 15.  Though Pat bogied 15, Kyle sprayed the ball around and made a poor putt to get the pair tied after 69 holes.

The last three holes were not fun to watch because Kyle began to implode.  He lacked confidence and the pressure had gotten to him.  Pat drilled a drive down the middle of the Par 5 sixteenth and Kyle deciding to take an aggressive line pulled his drive well to the left and OB.  He hits a provisional ball that heads left and OB again only to bounce back off the roof top lying 3.  Knowing that pat is in great position to score at least a par, Kyle decides to go for the green only to end up in the 15 foot high bunker left.  He hit a great shot out and made an 8 foot putt for a 7.

Pat has been in the lead before at the 2009 Championship and he knew par on the closing holes would be enough to at least tie or win.  The 17^th hole sealed the deal when Pat put his shot 15 feet to the left  putting pressure on Kyle to birdie and draw within one.  When Kyle flew the green to the left and in the water, the Championship was over even though Kyle made an excellent four; Pat had gone 3 strokes up with one hole to play.

The tough 18 could produce a double bogey and Kyle has yet to birdie a hole so there was still pressure on the tee shot for Pat.  He steps up and drills a soft draw to the center of the fairway.  Kyle took an aggressive line and hit the rocks to the left knocking his ball into the hazard and that closed the deal even if Pat double bogied.  To put a finish touch on his 2^nd National Title, Pat knocked in a 10 foot putt for birdie to shoot a 77 and a total of 305 to win the Championship by 6 strokes.

Congratulations to Ken Larney and Dane Yarnell for making the top five and to Pat Polzin on his come from behind win for his 2^nd National Title.