Lonnie Nielsen of Orchard Park, N.Y., earned his first victory on the Sunbelt Senior Tour with a birdie on the second playoff hole Wednesday at the Cleveland Senior Open at Little Mountain Country Club.
Nielsen, a former winner on the PGA Tour Champions, outlasted Roger Rowland of Jacksonville, Fla., after they tied at three under par 207 over 54 holes. Rowland has earned 15 Sunbelt tournaments in the past six seasons.
In regulation, Nielsen closed with 67 after back-to-back par-70s, then birdied the par-4 11th for the win. In 54 holes, he had 12 birdies and nine bogeys, earning $10,000 from the $32,900 purse.
Nielsen won twice on the senior tour, in 2007 at the Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, N.Y., and in ’09 at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y. He is a winter resident of PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where he achieved several victories in PGA of America club professional play in the 1970s and ‘80s before joining the senior tour. He is the former head professional at Crag Burn GC in East Aurora, N.Y.
Rowland shot 69-70-68 with 13 birdies and 10 bogeys. He birdied the par-5 first and eighth holes in all three rounds and pocketed $5,500.
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
– Daily $500 Pinshot Contest sponsored by Trivs Restaurant:
Monday Winner – Mehul Rastogi, Windermere, Fla.
Tuesday Winner – Steve Ford, Melbourne, Fla.
Wednesday Winner – Tim Conley, Braselton, Ga.
– Bob Flanagan of Lawrenceville, Ga. made a hole-in-one on Tuesday, on the 206-yard 6th hole.
– In Tuesday’s round, Bob Kurtz of Cullman, Ala. shot his age, a 75. Hal Harrigan of North Myrtle Beach, S.C. shot his age on Wednesday with a 71!
FINAL RESULTS:
2016 Sunbelt Tour Cleveland Senior Open
presented by Jackson-Dieken & O’Brien Chevrolet
Little Mountain Country Club, Concord, Ohio | Par 70
August 22 – 24, 2016
1 Lonnie Nielsen* 70 – 70 – 67 = 207 -3 $10,000.00
2 Roger Rowland 69 – 70 – 68 = 207 -3 $5,500.00
3 Tim Conley 69 – 73 – 67 = 209 -1 $4,500.00
4 Matt Mankin 72 – 69 – 70 = 211 +1 $3,000.00
5 Kevin Johnson 71 – 67 – 74 = 212 +2 $2,000.00
T6 Steve Ford 71 – 71 – 71 = 213 +3 $1,900.00
T6 Robin Byrd 72 – 69 – 72 = 213 +3 $1,400.00
T8 Louis Sliwiak Jr 74 – 70 – 71 = 215 +5 $1,150.00
T8 Marty Stanovich 71 – 72 – 72 = 215 +5 $1,150.00
T10 Bob Flanagan 73 – 71 – 72 = 216 +6 $600.00
T10 John Ross 71 – 72 – 73 = 216 +6 $600.00
T10 Gary Trivisonno 71 – 69 – 76 = 216 +6 $600.00
T13 Tony Milam 70 – 74 – 75 = 219 +9
T13 Steven Shaw 68 – 77 – 74 = 219 +9
15 David Plumb 71 – 73 – 76 = 220 +10
16 Bobby Jackson 77 – 72 – 75 = 224 +14
17 Lee Chill 73 – 75 – 78 = 226 +16
T18 Hal Harrigan 82 – 75 – 71 = 228 +18
T18 Armando Torrealba 75 – 77 – 76 = 228 +18
20 Jimmy Montecino 78 – 79 – 74 = 231 +21
21 Walt Robertson 77 – 81 – 75 = 233 +23
22 Bob Kurtz 82 – 75 – 79 = 236 +26
23 John Whitty 83 – 75 – 80 = 238 +28
24 Mehul Rastogi 82 – 79 – 78 = 239 +29 $500.00
T25 Randy Kennedy 80 – 84 – 77 = 241 +31
T25 KranDog Kranick 81 – 74 – 86 = 241 +31
27 Michael Over 81 – 85 – 86 = 252 +42
28 Tony Warren 86 – 90 – 79 = 255 +45
29 James Brooks 88 – 90 – 86 = 264 +54
30 Patrick Lowry 89 – 97 – 87 = 273 +63
WD Mike Beaver WD
WD Chris Hockaday WD
DQ Danny Gonzales DQ
NC Tom Forkum NC
