Back for the second straight season, the Assistant Professional Fall Classic would offer A-8 WPGA members and PGA associates one last individual playing opportunity against their peers this season. Friday’s event took place at Oshkosh Country Club. It marked the Wisconsin PGA’s first visit to the club since the Wisconsin PGA Assistant Professional Championship in 2012.
Thirty-Six WPGA members and associates teed it up in search of the title. The day brought challenging conditions, as cool temperatures and gusty winds accompanied the players throughout their round.
Navigating those conditions and carding the best 18-hole rounds were Barrett Kelpin of Bishops Bay Country Club and David Bach of Whistling Straits. Playing together, the duo fed off each other’s play throughout the day.
Both players were steady over the course of their round, never making a big number along the way.
Kelpin also showed plenty of resilience, by bouncing back from back-to-back bogeys early in his round to get into contention with a slew of birdies. As for Bach, his day featured zero bogeys or worse and include four birdies.
The twosome were tied at 3-under-par when Kelpin sunk a 12-foot birdie putt on no. 17 to take the outright lead. Bach would not be outdone though, he bounced right back on no. 18 with his own 6-foot birdie putt. With matching 67s the duo headed to a hole-by-hole playoff.
After making pars on the first three playoff holes and daylight fleeting, Kelpin knocked a lob wedge from 79 yards to six-feet on no. 17, leaving him a short birdie putt. Bach then nearly holed his birdie chip from behind the green.
With the tournament on the line Kelpin’s birdie putt caught the back right edge of the cup and dropped. The former University of Iowa golfer and Kalamazoo native had won his first Wisconsin PGA individual event with the big birdie.
The day also marked the final opportunity to secure a spot on this year’s Royal Cup team versus the Illinois PGA on October 3. Earning an invitation to be on this year’s team were David Bach, Josh Grisa, Barrett Kelpin, Mike Nagy, Jeffrey Perry, Matt Sabol, Max Schmidtke, Cody Strang, Sam Weatherhead and Steven Young.
A big thank you goes out to the staff and membership at Oshkosh Country Club. We appreciate them taking the opportunity to host Friday’s event.