The team of Ty Kovach of Medina and Allen Freeman of Brecksville went from playing great to making huge mistakes to playing great again in winning the Turkeyfoot Jumble on Saturday.
In the end, it was the last four holes in the alternate shot format that made all the difference.
After leading the front nine scramble scoring with a strong 5-under par 31, Kovach and Freeman reached 9-under par on the day through 17 holes, as Kovach went on a three-birdies-in-a-row run in the better ball format on holes 14 through 16.
But a series of bad shots by Kovach had him out of the hole on 18, and Freeman’s third shot from 156 yards out hit an inexplicable piece of asphalt that sits just a few feet off the left side of the 18th green and went out of bounds long. The team ended up with a triple-bogey 8 on the hole.
To make matters worse, the pair then made a double-bogey 5 on the 98-yard par-3 20th hole in alternate shot, after Freeman’s tee shot hit the front ledge and spun all the way back down the slope.
After pars on the next three holes, the team caught fire again: back-to-back eagles on the drivable par-4s at the 24th and 25th holes, followed by a birdie at the last. The strong finish salvaged the day for the pair and gave them a 3-shot victory over two teams.
The other big winners on the day were Mark Foss and Steve Blackburn, Jr., who tied for second place overall and made two high-paying skins, including the entire skins pot from the Better Ball format with a birdie on the par-3 13th.
Special thanks to Tim Davis for organizing the event and drawing a great field, and kudos to the staff of Turkeyfoot for the well-conditioned golf course. As always, a great annual fall event.
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FINAL RESULTS: TURKEYFOOT 2-MAN SCRATCH JUMBLE
Saturday, September 27, 2008, Akron, Ohio
Turkeyfook Lake Golf Links, Par 36-35-35=106
FREEMAN/ KOVACH 31-34-32 97 $700.00
HEDRICK/TARTER 33-35-32 100 $450.00
FOSS/BLACKBURN 32-34-34 100 $450.00
DUDA/LIVAK 34-31-36 101 $125.00
MILLER/LAHNAN 34-32-35 101 $125.00
STACK/MARTIN 33-35-33 101 $125.00
MOZINGO/HETLER 34-34-33 101 $125.00
KRACKER/LOMBARDI 33-34-35 102
LOWRY/FRICKER 33-33-36 102
CREWSE/GAINER 33-35-34 102
DAVIS/HORNER 34-34-35 103
SOWA/FENTON 35-30-38 103
MARR/CEA 37-31-35 103
SZWAST/WOODRUM 35-34-35 104
MOZINGO/BURNETT 33-32-39 104
ARMOUR/TRIER 33-32-39 104
MARKHAM/SLIVINSKI 34-36-35 105
MINNO/MARCHETTE 36-33-36 105
LARIZZA/KARIC 37-35-34 106
DIEBOLD/JACKSON 33-38-35 106
THORNTON/ROBERTS 34-39-36 109
SEEVER/KERN 35-34-42 111
MOZINGO/STEWART 37-38-41 116
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1ST NINE – SCRAMBLE RESULTS
FREEMAN/KOVACH 31 $190.00
FOSS/BLACKBURN 32 $120.00
8 WAY TIE 33 $10.00
SCRAMBLE SKINS: $150.00 ea
#5 FOSS/BLACKBURN
#8 MILLER/LAHNAN
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2ND NINE – BETTER BALL RESULTS
SOWA/FENTON 30 $190.00
MARR/CEA 31 $170.00
ARMOUR/TREIR 32 $25.00
MOZINGO/BURNETT 32 $25.00
MILLER/LAHNAN 32 $25.00
BETTER BALL SKINS: $300.00 ea
#13 FOSS/BLACKBURN
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3RD NINE – ALTERNATE SHOT RESULTS
FREEMAN/KOVACH 32 $155.00
HEDRICK/TARTER 32 $155.00
STACK/MARTIN 33 $70.00
ALTERNATE SHOT SKINS: $60.00 ea
#20 SEEVER/KERN
#21 KRACKER/LOMBARDI
#24 FREEMAN/KOVACH
#25 FREEMAN/KOVACH
#27 FRICKER/LOWRY
““ Tim Davis & Allen Freeman
