Shaun Kloetzer of Fairlawn paired a solid 1-under par Saturday round with an even more impressive 1-over par Sunday final round to win the 2016 Chippewa Championship by a tidy three shots.
On a steamy hot day with the expected Sunday challenge of the tricky hole locations at Chippewa, Kloetzer put his ball into play hole after hole, kept mistakes to a bare minimum by taking bogey when needed, then rode a couple of back nine birdies home to victory.
His biggest birdie came from about 10 feet after a great iron shot at the always difficult par-4 15th hole, a field separator in the middle of the dreaded Chippewa Triangle. Adding two great par putts on 17 and 18 left him at level par 142 for the tournament.
Past champion Aaron Crewse of North Canton finished in second place at 145, while first round leader John Kabasky and Brian Smith of Amherst finished tied for third place at 146.
With his win, Kloetzer earns a Chippewa Golf Club membership for all of 2017, and lifetime free entry into the Chippewa Championship for as long as he wishes to compete. Quite a pair of bonuses in addition to the winner prizes!
Everyone in the field was shooting for a hole-out on Sunday after no outright skin was won during Saturday’s play. So the entire tournament’s skins pot of $3,900 was up for grabs over 18 holes on Sunday, and four players shared in those spoils:
Louis Ule Jr. made a sweeping birdie-2 at the long, uphill par-3 2nd hole;
Rob Schustrich made the only birdie-3 of the entire weekend at the par-4 Hole #5;
Howard Clendenin made a great eagle-3 at Hole #10 after firing a low-bullet 3-wood from under the trees in the right rough then converting a 25-foot putt;
and Tim Hepner holed out from the fairway for eagle-2 up the slope to the back pin on the 18th hole!
Each player netted a cool $975 for his skin win. Congrats!
Photo Gallery from Round 2 of the 2016 Chippewa Championship here >
(Special thanks to Leah Okeson for handling the photography!)
And don’t forget old guys: sign up now for the 2016 Senior Chippewa Championship on Wednesday, September 14th!
FINAL RESULTS:
2016 Chippewa Championship
Chippewa Golf Club, Doylestown, Ohio
August 27 – 28, 2016
Shaun Kloetzer 70 – 72 = 142 $500
Aaron Crewse 72 – 73 = 145 $300
John Kabasky 69 – 77 = 146 $100
Brian Smith 72 – 74 = 146 $100
Howard Clendenin 70 – 77 = 147
Chris Okeson 73 – 74 = 147
Rob Schustrich 76 – 71 = 147
Al Freeman 72 – 76 = 148
Ty Kovach 74 – 74 = 148
Jason Chadima 73 – 76 = 149
Shayne Bishop 74 – 75 = 149
Kenny Koprivec 72 – 79 = 151
Mark Thomas 76 – 75 = 151
Dave Trier 76 – 75 = 151
Tim Hepner 78 – 74 = 152
John Fryman 74 – 79 = 153
Fred Miller 76 – 77 = 153
Kevan Sloan 77 – 76 = 153
Bob Blaze 77 – 77 = 154
Mike Simpson 76 – 79 = 155
Dan Marr 79 – 76 = 155
Tim Cebula 80 – 75 = 155
Phil Bojc 75 – 81 = 156
Russ Rypka 78 – 78 = 156
Ken Troutman 79 – 77 = 156
Tim Straka 80 – 76 = 156
Mitch Levingood 81 – 75 = 156
Patrick Shultz 81 – 75 = 156
Alex Lofth 81 – 76 = 157
Dennis Berkeimer 76 – 82 = 158
Raul Mendoza 79 – 79 = 158
Rick Kinkela 81 – 77 = 158
Doug Fleming 79 – 80 = 159
Ricky Smith 81 – 79 = 160
Brian Huntley 85 – 75 = 160
Jeff Godzah 76 – 85 = 161
Aaron Detwiler 77 – 84 = 161
Velius Yanni 79 – 82 = 161
Mike Armour 83 – 79 = 162
Chris Helaney 79 – 84 = 163
Tom Kloetzer 80 – 83 = 163
Louis Ule Jr 82 – 81 = 163
Mark Schneider 85 – 78 = 163
Nick Fiore 79 – 85 = 164
Rob Loomis 86 – 78 = 164
Rob Chapman 79 – 87 = 166
Ron Cunningham 82 – 84 = 166
Jason Miller 86 – 80 = 166
Jim Niskanen 86 – 80 = 166
Ray McNiece 81 – 86 = 167
Drew Sager 84 – 83 = 167
Dan Terry 86 – 81 = 167
Tom Stiller 80 – 88 = 168
Josh Widner 86 – 83 = 169
Dan Straka 84 – 86 = 170
Jeff Wenger 88 – 83 = 171
Cliff Griffith 84 – 90 = 174
Austin Griffith 90 – 84 = 174
Kevin Breen 86 – 89 = 175
Brian Sovak 83 – 93 = 176
Kirk Frey 84 – 92 = 176
Todd Kolarik 88 – 88 = 176
Tom Ream 92 – 84 = 176
Bernie Chupek 89 – 88 = 177
Bob Cornelius 92 – 86 = 178
Kevin Porvaznik 94 – 84 = 178
Zach Van Ryzin 90 – 96 = 186
Alex Mauer 96 – 93 = 189
George Feruson 96 – 97 = 193
Landon Palay 97 – 97 = 194
Mike Stefko 105 – 90 = 195
Mike Potosky 108 – 103 = 211
Jim Krivanek 77 WD
Tyler Watkins 79 WD
Matt Gasser 80 WD
Zach Drukenbrod 84 WD
Adam Wahl 86 WD
John Sullivan 134 WD
Jay Grissom NC
Tom Markham NC
Kevin Larizza WD
Adam Jones WD
Brian Schultz WD
Luke Williams WD
Jeff Mirelli WD
