Day 2
Former champion Dirk Schultz led a talent-laden leaderboard into the second round of the 19th Maryland State Open at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, October 10, and the expectations were for an exciting finish.
Never happened.
Schultz, the head professional at Beaver Creek CC in Hagerstown, never gave the field a chance. He birdied the first hole and by the time he turned 4-under, most of the challengers were not in sight. He finished the second round with a 2-under-par 70, a 36-hole total of 136, and another bookend to go with his 2016 crown.
Jim Estes, a teaching pro at Olney Golf Park in Montgomery County, added another chapter to his book of close finishes. Starting the day two strokes behind the leader, Estes stayed with him with a first-hole birdie, but even a birdie-birdie spurt at Nos. 8-9 left him three shots back. and he would go on to finish 71-139. In the last five years, he has four top-5 finishes, including seconds each of the last two years.
Rick Schuller, professional at Stonehenge G&CC in North Chesterfield, Va., began one behind and after nine holes the margin was seven. Defending champion Geoff Redgrave, director of golf at Virginia’s Wintergreen Resort, finished 69-73–142, the same number as Vance Welch, Hobbit’s Glen GC, who earned the low amateur prize with 71-142.
Schuller recovered to record a 73-140 and gain third place. Since 2013, he’s been in the top-5 five times, with a second and two thirds along the way.
With an overnight lead again, Schultz wanted to be sure to get off to a good start. In several previous painful experiences, he would have the lead and lose in the last round. ” I played the front the way I wanted to, but I let down on a couple of holes on the back,” he said. Where he had put up eight birdies in the first round plus the four on the front nine in the second, he had none on the closing nine.
“I hit mostly 3-4-5 irons off the tees, laying up, as I wanted to leave myself about 100 yards out [from the greens], the 53-year-old declared. “To accomplish a goal is very rewarding.”
Tom Grem, from Hunt Valley Golf Club, dominated the Super Senior division (60-over) as he shot 74-70 for the overall victory, winning low amateur at the same time. He highlighted his round with an eagle-3 at the 503-yard fifth hole, hitting a 6-iron shot to eight feet. At the 155-yard eighth, he landed on the green, 70 feet from home with about a 40-foot break, and 3-putted. . .and he was probably not alone when he reported, “and I missed a bunch of putts that were makeable.”
Professional Brendan McGrath, from Hidden Creek CC in Reston, Va., had a hole-in-one at the 170-yard 15th, where he struck a 9-iron shot. He ended 70-74–144.
Schultz’s conclusion: “Each time you win it’s better than the last. Its fun to play well.”
Day 1
Dirk Schultz, head professional at Beaver Creek Country Club, fired an opening-round 6-under-par 34-32–66 to take a one-stroke lead in the 19th annual Maryland State Senior Open at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, October 9.
Schultz, the 2016 champion, was followed by an array of talent. Rick Schuller, four top-5 finishes in five starts since 2013 (a best of second in 2013), fashioned a 67, followed by Jimmy Estes, three top-5’s, including a second last year, 68; defending champion Geoff Redgrave, 69; Ricky Touma, the last player to finish, and who has finished third, second, and fourth in the last four years, 69; Brendan McGrath, third last year, 70, and Eric Egloff, the 2015 winner, 70. The top amateurs were Vance Welch and Tom Winegardner at 71.
The long-hitting Schultz had eight birdies, two bogeys, including a two-putt bird at the 536-yard ninth after reaching the green in two, and birds at 16 and 18 with some precise shot-making to three inches. The bogeys were a missed green at the fifth and a three-putt at the 17th, where he hit the green and was glad to get out when he did.
Schuller finished 34-33, and starting at 10, highlighted his round with an eagle-2 at the 340-yard 14th, where he drove into the greenside front bunker and holed the 35-yard shot. Estes had 35-33 with five birdies and a bogey. He was in position for more when he reached the 536-yard ninth green (his 18th hole) in two and three-putted from 15 feet.
Redgrave ended 35-34, with six birdies, three bogeys, including a chip-in birdie at the 10th, while Touma included three birdies on each nine and three bogeys for 35-34.
McGrath started on 10 and shot the back nine in 31 with six birdies, one bogey. At the par-5 18th, he got up-and-down from 20 feet for birdie. Egloff started on No. 1, and closed with four back-nine
birdies for 38-32.
Tom Winegardner is the low amateur at 71.
In the Super Senior division (60-over), Jon Corliss, who won in 2008, tied for fifth in 2009, and was second n 2010, took the lead with 73.
Notes: Aside from Redgrave, Corliss, Schultz, and Egloff, the other former champions in the field are Roger Hatcher (2005) and Larry Ringer, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004). Along with Ringer, the only other multiple winner is amateur John Howson, who won in 2008, 2009, and 2011. . .Chip Sullivan, a former Virginia resident and four-time Maryland State Open champion, who spent the last three years in his native Alabama, before returning to Virginia, posted a 71. . .Tim Lewis offset two eagles (the 536-yard ninth and the 340-yard 14th) with double-bogeys at Nos. 5-6 and shot 40-34–74. . .The first group off No. 10 in the afternoon — Mike Bertazon. Rand Mendez, and Jim Castagna — finished 49 minutes ahead of pace. . .There is no cut in the event and the full field will play a second round on October 11.
Reported by John Stewart
