What a great championship! 83 Players teed it up on Thursday, July 16th, at Persimmon
Woods Golf Club. Wednesday night’s heavy rain required the players to stay on Path for Day 1.
Ryan Schuenke (Quincy CC) shot a 4 Under Par 66 to lead the way. Close behind were
Defending Champion Chris Kovach and Hunter Niles (Legends) and Max Kreikemeier (Forest
Hills) with 68’s. Crimson Callahan (Legends) and Peter Weaver (Bellerive CC) were one under.
Day Two brought our traditional hot July weather. What added to an already long day was a
2-1/2 lightning delay in the afternoon. At the end of the day, 15 qualifying match play spots
were identified, with a 3 way tie for the last entry into Match Play. Three competitors, Niles
from Old Hickory, Bob Beckman (Meadowbrook) and Logan Lowery (St. Clair) played off for
that last spot. In virtual darkness, Niles claimed the last spot.
In Saturday’s round of 16, #1 Seed Callahan defeated #16 Niles (19 Holes),#2 Pat Britt
(Norwood Hills) defeated #15 David Bremer (Persimmon Woods) 4&3, #3 Weaver defeated #14
Alex Ciaramitaro (Bogey Hills) 4&3, #4 Schuenke defeated #13 Frankie Thomas (Meadowbrook)
3&2, #12 Drew Pranger (Glen Echo) defeated #5 Kovach 3&2, #11 Jason Landry (Greenbriar
Hills) defeated #6 Ben Tyrell (Sunset Hills) 3&2, #7 Kreikemeier defeated #10 Skip Berkmeyer 1
Up, #9 Shawn Jasper (Algonquin) defeated #8 Sam Migdal (Norwood Hills) 21 Holes,
In the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon, Callahan defeated Jasper 2 Up, Pranger beat
Schuenke 2&1, Kreikemeier beat Britt 2&1, and Landry defeated Weaver 1 Up.
In Sunday morning’s Semi-final, Callahan defeated Pranger (19 Holes), and Landry defeated
Kreikemeier 2&1.
Sunday’s Final Match saw the early lead bounce back and forth. Callahan chipped in an Eagle
3 on the Par 5 8th hole and then jumped to a 4 shot advantage at #11. But Landry birdied #13
and chipped in for birdie on #14, then and won #15, leaving him 1 down to Callahan. Still 1
down on 18, both players reached the Par 5 in two, with Callahan making a great approach
shot from the deep rough. Landry made a great 2 putt birdie, Callahan 3 putted taking them to
sudden death. Landry won with a birdie on the 20th hole, winning the championship. Great
match to watch, with a nice crowd following the action.
Many thanks to Ben Kent, GM, Eric Ratzlaff, Head Professional, Rob Ritchey, Superintendent
and the entire Persimmon Woods staff for hosting this championship. And special thanks to
District Rep Gary Hess, and Competition Head Woody Johnson filling in for Todd Burchyett.
And we also need to thank our numerous volunteer rules officials for working through a long,
hot weekend.
Click Here For Full Results