ASSISTANTS CHAMPIONSHIP
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Sydney, Australia native Mick Smith sealed the deal with a solid closing stretch at the National Car Rental Wisconsin Assistant PGA Professional Championship on Monday. His two round total of 7-under-par 137 was good enough to win by five shots over Tom Boockmeier and Kraig Joy. Although the margin was large in the end the final round of play featured quite the battle amongst the trio of golfers.

With absolutely perfect scoring conditions the Storm’s Golf Range teaching professional was able to set the pace during the first eighteen holes with a 5-under-par 67. His morning round featured six birdies and just one bogey and resulted in a two shot lead over Boockmeier and three over Joy.

“Good solid smart play,” Smith said. “I really putted well in the morning.”

The threesome would be paired up as the final group of the day when the field hit the course for the final round at 1 PM. During the round all three players would share the lead, but in the end Smith was just too good.

First to challenge Smith was Boockmeier as he carded three birdies in his first eight holes, however a back nine 4-over-par 40 would end his chances.

As for Joy he looked to take full advantage of a misstep by Smith, when an awkward positioned tee ball on the par 3, 14th left Smith with a tricky downhill putt through the fringe.

“I actually hit it too good,” Smith said. “I flew it about ten yards to far and left myself with no choice but to try to putt through the fringe.”

The misstep resulted in a double bogey and combined with a birdie on no. 15 by Joy, the duo was now tied with four to play.

However the challenge would be short lived as the 500 yard par 5, 16th would feature a three shot swing with a double bogey by Joy and a birdie by Smith.

“I cut a little three wood in there from about 230 into the breeze, hit the green in two,” Smith said of his birdie on no. 16.

He then put an exclamation point on the day as he closed with back to back birdies on no. 18 and 1, by hitting it within six feet on each hole.

The win marks the second time that the Summit resident has won a PGA Section Assistant Professional Championship, with his other victory coming in Illinois back in 2013 before he moved to Wisconsin.

Along with the win Smith was also able to take home one of the coveted spots into the National Assistant PGA Professional Championship, set for November 15th-18th at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL. It will Smith’s fourth overall trip to the National event as he also was a participant in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Grabbing the final spot to PGA Golf Club was Kraig Joy as he was the next highest eligible finisher with his tie for second place overall.

The WPGA would like to thank National Car Rental for their terrific support of the Wisconsin Assistant PGA Professional Championship once again. With their help the event was first class from all angles. Also supporting Monday’s event was long-time WPGA supporter, Hornung’s Golf Products. The Fond du Lac based company once again added a nice touch onto the event by covering the purse for the skins game. Rounding out the group of supporting sponsors were Cleveland / Srixon / XXIO Golf, GolfAdvisor.com and John Deere. The WPGA would like to express our appreciation to each company for their support of the event.

The WPGA would also like to extend its gratitude to the membership and staff at Lake Arrowhead GC. The club staff did a fantastic job of making sure the Section staff had all the support that was needed in order to put on a first class event. In addition to the extra effort by the staff, the Pines course was in great shape and provided a terrific playing field for all the participants.

National Car Rental Wisconsin Assistant PGA Professional Championship Results