It was quite the battle with Mother Nature on Monday as the 5th edition of the Oliphant Golf Management Pro-Am Championship visited the Links Course at The GC’s of Lawsonia. It was one of those days where the wide open landscape would rely on a familiar defense, with winds gusting up to 30 mph.
Although the wind would provide quite the challenge, the day brought plenty of sunshine, a great playing field and lots of camaraderie. Twenty-nine teams from throughout the Section would make up the field, as they set out to take home the championship trophies. The field would again be made up of teams that had earned their spot at the seven regular season pro-ams in June, July, August and September.
Adding to the challenge this year would be the difficult team net stableford format. The pressure would be on the entire team roster, as the format takes the low three net scores from each hole and assign them a point value. That point value would be 0 points – net double bogey or worse, 1 pt – net bogey, 2 pts – net par, 4 pts – net birdie, 6 pts – net eagle and 8 pts – net double eagle or better.
Piling up the most points and taking home the victory was the squad of Brian Brodell, Marty Bonneson, John Lukas and Nick Vangrinsven. Representing X-Golf Mequon and Butte des Morts CC, the team posted 144 points. The round featured tremendous consistency as they posted 72 points on the front nine and 72 points on the back nine. 54 points would come on the always important Par 5s, and the group would only play two holes over par. The point total would deliver them an 8 point win over the Joe Leonard led Kestrel Ridge team.
In the low pro game it would be Andy Hansen of University Club of Milwaukee grabbing the win. The former UW-Parkside golfer would get hot when it mattered the most. He would birdie five of the last six holes and shoot 67. The score would propel him to 49 stableford points. A great accomplishment with the conditions and professional field strength. Finishing just 4 points back would be Brodell.
On the senior side of things it would be Michael Crowley and John Freeman tying with 36 points.
Adding more excitement to the day was Evan Wartgow of Koshkonong Mounds CC. The 30-year-old would make his fifth hole-in-one. The impressive feat would come on no. 12. He would use an 8-iron from 174 yards.
A big thank you goes out to Oliphant Golf Management and their representatives for the continued support of the event. The company along with everyone at The GC’s of Lawsonia, put together another great day for the attendees to enjoy.