Wednesday, May 11th, was the hottest day of the year at beautiful Bellerive Country Club, as
90 players teed it up for this year’s Bob Cochran Mid-Am Championship. This year’s
Championship was divided into two divisions, the Open Division, which featured the lowest 60
GHIN Indexes of the entries, and the Net Division which featured the first 30 players to register
for the event. Special exemptions were granted to past champions of the Mid-Am, plus players
who had participated in the past three Cochran championships. The Open Division played at
6400 yards, and proved quite a challenge to many players, except some of our top finishers.
Justin Bryant, from St. Louis Country Club, was our Champion in the Open Division, shooting
an outstanding 4 Under Par 68, going out in the first group Wednesday morning. The Open
Division featured both a Gross and Net Competition, so prizes were awarded based on the
finish and tie breakers to determine gross and net winners. They are as follows:
Open Division
Gross Net
1st Justin Bryant-St. Louis CC-68 David Hughes-Westborough CC-69
2nd Shawn Jasper-Algonquin GC -69 Zach Holland-Lake Forest CC-72
3rd Skip Berkmeyer-Legends-71 Dan Emrick-Old Hickory GC-73
4th Chris Kovach-Old Hickory GC-72 Michael Becker-Glen Echo CC-73
5th Brian Lovett-Bellerive CC-72 Nathan McCutcheon-Legends-73
And as an additional bonus for fine play in the Mid-Am, the 5 best gross finishers in the event
receive and invitation to the Jim Jackson Invitational Championship in October. They are
Justin Bryant( 68), David Hughes(69), Shawn Jasper(69), Skip Berkmeyer (71), and Zach
Holland (71). Congratulations and well played!
Net Division
Players in the Net Division played from 6000 yards and again proved to be a challenge for
many of the Net participants However, we did have some good rounds played in that division,
with Old Hickory Golf Club members capturing all four top spots in the Net Division. Clay
Shackelford netted a 71 to capture first place. David Machisko shot net 73, winning a
scorecard playoff over Paul Downing, with Robert Nemnich capturing fourth at 74. Congrats to
all.
We also had three Cochran grandchildren tee it up, including Chris Bence, Tim Cochran and
Bob Cochran III, with Mr. Cochran’s daughter Bonnie Bence, presenting the trophy to Justin
Bryant and walking with her clan the entire 18 holes. Thanks to all of them for participating.
And a special thanks to Director of Golf Mike Tucker, Head Pro JD Auping, District Rep Andy
Frost, and the entire Bellerive staff who made the day an outstanding experience for the
players.
And, as always, a big shout out to our volunteer rules officials for braving the heat and helping
the players throughout the day. Our tournaments would not be a success without them.