FALL PRO-PRO BETTER BALL
EVENT PARTNERS
(Dan Hastreiter & David Bach)
The 2018 WPGA tournament schedule continued to inch towards the finish line on Monday. A sold out field of 104 players ventured to Erin Hills for the Fall Pro-Pro Better Ball. The 2017 US Open venue was hosting the fall event for the second time and with it came another first class experience. The course was in prime time shape and the participants had the place all to themselves as Sunday was the final day of the season for the course.
The mid-October day though brought conditions that you normally would see around Thanksgiving as winds gusted to up to 30 mph and temperatures hovered around 40 degrees. Combine that with the challenge of tackling the Saturday hole locations from the US Open, the day produced a scoring battle that will live on through storytelling for years to come.
In the end the 1 of 2 better ball format produced a five-way tie at the top at 1-over-par 73. Surviving the tough test the best was Dan Hastreiter & David Bach, Tyler Siech & Rich Tock, Matt Kersten & Matt Hartmann, Andy Hansen & Keith Buntrock and finally Joe DeRosa & Mike Lindahl. On a day that yielded just 62 birdies total, the fivesome was able to combine to card 13 of them. Their impressive play was even more evident through the fact they only carded 14 bogeys and two double bogeys. With limited daylight left each team was crowned co-champions, and a scorecard playoff was only conducted to determine who would take home some nice Sterling Cut Glass hardware. Grabbing the trophies with a birdie on the #3 handicap hole was Hastreiter & Bach.
In addition to the standard format the day also featured a fun 1 of 4 best ball bonus game. Each group was asked to draw a random playing card at registration. The result of the draw paired up the team with the other twosome that drew the same number card as theirs in the same color (IE 2 Diamonds paired with 2 of Hearts). Amazingly the winning foursome were playing partners. The foursome of TJ Boinski, Alex Johansen, Matt Kersten and Matt Hartmann teamed up to produce a 5-under-par 67 in the 1 of 4 best ball format. The score was good enough to earn them an extra $125 a piece.
The WPGA was once again able to have nice collection of sponsors on board to support the Fall Pro-Pro Better Ball. Teaming up to support this year’s event was Sterling Cut Glass, Antigua and representative, Cyndi Millspaugh. The WPGA would like to thank Cyndi and each of her lines for their continued sponsorship of the Wisconsin PGA.
The WPGA would also like to express its gratitude to Erin Hills and its staff. The club once again did a terrific job of rolling out the red carpet and providing the Erin Hills experience for all the attendees.