Golf Channel Am Tour Chicago South

Balmoral Woods (Crete, IL) is a traditional course with tree lined fairways and rolling hills which will test any skill level.  The greens on several holes add an additional challenge if a player doesn’t keep the ball below the hole.  Conditions started out warm but as the day progressed, it became very warm and humid.  Due to the lack of rain, the fairways and rough was firm which gave additional yardage when the ball hit the ground but also caused errant shots to find trouble much quicker.  Low round of the day was turned in by Jim Cannon posting a 79 and very close to a Flight Promotion back to Palmer Flight

Championship Flight: Rob Merritt won the 3 man field posting an 82 to win by one stroke over Pat Polzin who has been playing strong the last few weeks.  Rob has finished 2^nd ten times since joining the tour in 2010 and recorded his only his second win on tour.  When you look at the leader board, Rob puts himself in position to win a lot.

Palmer Flight:  Kirk Blakney is the Palmer Player to beat in Chicago.  He has posted five wins in his first year on tour and followed up his win in a Chicago North event on Saturday by posting an 83 on Sunday at Balmoral Woods to win by one stroke.  Bill Schump had the early lead by 2 strokes but wasn’t able to improve on his inward nine.  Dan Steinman posted a matching 44 on the outward nine but wasn’t able to match the hot hand of Kirk Blakney as he posted a 39 on the back to Dan’s 40.

Hogan Flight:  Jim Cannon posted the lowest round of the day shooting a 79 and winning the Hogan Flight by 4 strokes.  Pete Kaufman was only two back at the turn but stumbled on the back nine.  DeRell Durr and Rick Nelson made a charge on the back nine but Jim Cannon shot even par spoiling any hopes of being caught.

Sarazen Flight: Eddie Stephens posted a 85 to win by 5 strokes.  He had been struggling with his game and during the Heartland Open, Eddie got a couple lesson from PGA Teaching Pro Terry Govern at Swan Lake Resort.  Terry is a familiar friend of ours originally from the Chicago area.  The lessons paid off because Eddie once again returns to the winners circle.

Jones Flight:  Dan Butrum records his second win shooting a 91 to win by 3 strokes over John Gerba.  Dan posted a 44 on the front and a two stroke lead with a lot of golf left to play.  John Gerba was making his move and when they reached twelve, John had tied the score.  When the group reached the par 4 seventh hole, John Gerba had taken the lead by one.  In a matter of one hole, Dan took the lead back shooting a birdie while John struggled bogeying the 17^th hole falling two strokes back.  Though Dan bogied the 18^th hole, John would have needed a birdie to match Dan’s final score.

Snead Flight:  Ben Bevill took a week off to attend a wedding in Jamaica missing the tournament at Prairie Landing.  Ben’s last tournament was at the Heartland Open Major in Indiana where he won and wasted no time to post his third win of the season at Balmoral Woods.  Martin Yoemans was only one stroke back heading into the outward nine, but Ben got hot shooting a 41 to clear the field and win by six strokes.

TOP FINISHERS & PAYOUTS:

CHAMPIONSHIP

82 – Rob Merritt ($60 Gift Card & Trophy

PALMER

83 – Kirk Blakney ($100 Gift Card & Trophy)

HOGAN

79 – Jim Cannon ($100 Gift Card & Trophy)

84 – DeRell Durr ($40 Gift Card)

SARAZEN

85 – Eddie Stephens ($90 Gift Card & Trophy)

90 – Richard Ross ($30 Gift Card)

JONES

91 – Dan Butrum ($60 Gift Card & Trophy)

SNEAD

89 – Ben Bevill ($100 Gift Card & Trophy)

95 – Brian Booker ($40 Gift Card)

50/50 Raffle Drawing 

$72 Martin Yoemans

SKINS:

Championship/Palmer Flight:

$40 - Pat Polzin

$10 – Rob Merritt, Dan Steinman

Hogan/Sarazen Flight:

$28 – DevVon Pettway, Jim Cannon, Eddie stephens

$14 – DeRell Durr, Steve Downey

Jones/Snead Flight:

$$20 – John Gerba, Ben Bevill

$10 – Greg Harris, Mike Kelly, Martin Yoemans

Closest to the Pin:

$50/ea - #5 Ward Tage; #8 Dan Steinman; #11 & #17 Kirk Blakney; #13 DeRell Durr