Jim Durr and Tom Laubacher toughed it out better than the rest of the teams to win the inaugural playing of the Walden Challenge, a two man amateur scramble/better ball event played October 10th at Club Walden in Aurora.
The golf course was set up with some truly challenging hole locations for the scramble nine holes on the front side. And playing a better ball format on the back nine of that golf course is simply hard, with big number danger lurking everywhere. But the greens at Walden were in great shape and the weather was ideal.
Durr and Laubacher shot 2-under par for the scramble nine holes and 1-under par for the better ball to win by a single shot over the ‘home-game’ member team of Fred Miller and tournament director Larry Lahnan. Miller and Lahnan matched the victors all day long except for a disappointing bogey at the final hole, costing them a tie for first place overall.
After a tough start, Tom Seever and Mark Thomas bounced back in a big way on the better-ball back nine to nab a share of third place with Zoran Karic and Dan Terry, who put together steady scores all day.
The players who participated loved the format and the golf course, and with that success the event will return in 2016. Complete results below…
FINAL RESULTS:
2015 Walden Challenge
Club Walden, Aurora, Ohio
Saturday, October 10, 2015
OVERALL:
Tom Laubacher / Jim Durr 34-35=69 $360
Larry Lahnan / Fred Miller 34-36=70 $200
Zoran Karic / Dan Terry 35-36=71 $80
Tom Seever / Mark Thomas 39-32=71 $80
Freeman / Kovach 34-39=73
Hines / Persons 35-38=73
Rybka / Hadzinski 39-37=76
Loftin / Jones 37-39=76
Heran / Mintz 35-41=76
Helaney / Ream 39-38=77
Livak / Luckring 35-43=78
Watkins / Warren 37-45=82
SCRAMBLE 9:
Tom Laubacher / Jim Durr 34 $80
Allen Freeman / Ty Kovach 34 $80
Fred Miller / Larry Lahnan 34 $80
BETTER BALL 9:
Tom Seever / Mark Thomas 32 $120
Tom Laubacher / Jim Durr 35 $80
Dan Terry / Zoran Karic 36 $20
Fred Miller / Larry Lahnan 36 $20
SKINS: $120 ea
Allen Freeman / Ty Kovach Eagle 3 #6
Scott Heran / Michael Mintz Birdie 3 #9
Chris Helaney / Tom Ream Birdie 3 #12
Frank Livak / Jeff Luckring Birdie 2 #17
(Players who have not yet received their payout should contact NEOHgolf.com to make arrangements to collect.)
