PRESENTED BY
Drew Ringelstetter pictured with Jeremy Lupinek of the WIGSA
Dan Hoffman of the WIGSA pictured with Joe Leonard
The individual slate of events for the Wisconsin PGA would kick off earlier this week at Washington County GC. For the seventh straight year the Assistant Professional Stroke Play and Memorial Classic would highlight a busy Monday. The annual stroke play events would again take place simultaneously, while being supported by the Wisconsin Golf Salespersons Association and Rolex.
Since the two events started to share a date the events have featured over 100 players, however this go around would see the most participants to date.
The assistant professional contest would feature 57 players and also double as seeding for the year-long Assistant Match Play. It was most professionals to tee it up at an WPGA assistant professional event since 2009.
The Memorial Classic would include 44 other WPGA professionals in their own stroke play event, with 17 salespeople joining along for a morning of golf.
The moving pieces can be tough track but one thing is for sure, there was plenty of ways to win. In total, nine different contests would be included in the day. There were the two separate stroke play events, a optional bonus pool for any professional playing on Monday morning, match play seeding for the assistants, a one net best ball event with the professional/salespeople groups, and three different skin games. To top it off the assistant professionals would play their first round of matches in the afternoon.
In the Assistant Professional Stroke Play, Drew Ringelstetter of Geneva National Resort would make an impressive individual debut. After getting his feet wet by participating in pro-pros and pro-ams for the past few seasons, it was time for him to show off his game in the assistant professional ranks. The former Pro-Assistant champion would card a 2-under-par 70 on Monday to match David Bach of Whistling Straits. His round was highlighted by four birdies and just two bogeys. With the event on the line, a steady par on the first playoff hole would deliver him the win over Bach in overtime.
In the Memorial Classic it would be another tight battle. The winds would gust throughout the day but it wouldn’t hold back the scoring, as eight players would break par. Two of the top WPGA playing members would find their way to the top, as Joe Leonard and Michael Crowley would each fire 4-under-par 68s. Both players were able to card at least five birdies on the way to the low score. For Leonard one of those key birdies would come on the difficult par-4 12th.
In the playoff it would take a solid par on the hardest hole of the day to get the job done. Leonard would take care of business on the par-4 1st and it would deliver him the title in extra holes.
A big thank you goes out to all the Salespeople for their support of the day. The WPGA is extremely grateful to the WIGSA for everything that they contribute to our section. We would also like to express our appreciation to Rolex for their sponsorship of the day.
A great deal of appreciation goes out to Washington County GC. The club continually hosts all types of tournaments on a yearly basis and it certainly is noticeable. Once again the course was in great early season shape.
Memorial Classic – 18-Hole Stroke Play Results
Assistant Professional Stroke Play Results
Assistant Professional Match Play Tree & Results
One Net Best Ball – Memorial Classic Team Game Results