Fore! ...
80 players attended the annual Thursday night dice fest. Players
this year started by playing the lengthened 2002 Augusta National
course, then were given the chance to recover their confidence
by playing the much shorter Arrowhead Park public course from
glorious Minster, Ohio. Lee Presser (with golfer Seve Ballesterous)
and Ken Gutermuth (captaining Bruce Lietzke) stunned the field
by dominating Augusta National, with Ken going nine under par
and Lee an astounding 11 under par.
Ken and Lee both ended up going 17 under par for the two courses.
They were joining in the Final Four Skins game by George Sauer,
whose Larry Nelson shot 11 under par. The fourth spot went to
David Metzger, whose golfer Paul Azinger shot 10 under par and
needed seven sudden death playoff holes to beat out Seth Kircher
(with Dan Pohl) and Dan Dolan Jr. (with Hubert Green) for the
final tee in the last round.
The Skins game final was played on the Pebble Beach course.
Perpetual bridesmaid Gutermuth scored first, garnering three
skins by being the only player to par the third hole. Ken tacked
on a fourth skin with a birdie on the fourth hole. David Metzger
responded with two skins from a birdie on the sixth hole. No
skins were earned on the next four holes, though Lee Presser
distinguished himself with an ugly triple bogey at the 10th hole.
David seized control with a birdie at the 11th to raise his
skins total to seven. George Sauer birdied the 12th to grab his
first skin, and then Ken birdied the 15th to raise his skins
total to seven and tie David. Ken appeared to have the tournament
won on the 17th hole, but Lee Presser sank a critical 18 foot
putt to halve the hole and convince Ken that it would be close
but no cigar once again this year. George birdied the 18th hole
to raise his skins total to four, thus sending Ken and David
back to the 1st hole for a sudden death playoff. The first hole
resulted in pars for both, but on the second hole Bruce Lietzke
scored a birdie to propel Ken Gutermuth to his first and long
awaited Pro Golf victory.
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