Championship Flight
(Tournament shortened to 27 holes)
Brad Mitchell 66-35—101
T.J. Wilson 69-33—102
Steve Ronninge 69-36—105
Tyler Hassle 72-34—106
Ben Phalen 72-35—107
Kevin Radecki 71-36—107
Doug Steiner 70-37—107
Adam Zulegar 74-34—108
Paul Marshall 74-34—108
Mike Wyatt 73-36—109
Mark Daniel 72-37—109
Casey Lewis 76-34—110
Ryan Barnes 72-38—110
Luke Mitchell 72-38—110
Gordon Willins 74-37—111
Eric Hensler 75-37—112
Ryan Heinly 78-35—113
Scott Caldarelli 74-39—113
Jordan Castle 72-41—113
Matt Schneider 78-36—114
Tommy McNeil 77-37—114
Jeff Sullivan 82-33—115
Ron Nichting 80-36—116
Kyle DeBord 79-38—117
Austin Sandor 79-39—118
Mike Cepluch 81-39—120
Jamie Maggard 83-38—121
Tommy Saurber 81-40—121
Conner Gross 79-42—121
Jim Sheldon 78-43—121
Rick Brune 80-42—122
Dan Koenig 76-46—122
Matt DeBord 85-43—128
Trey Young 89-40—129
Randy Buchanan 90-41—131
Cory Combs 93-45—138
Lance Schneider 75-DNS
Kyle Pollock 78-WD
Tyler Clayton 82-NC
Kevin Biller 83-NC
Doug Dehne 88-NC
First Flight
Billy Smith 70-38—108
Ryan Fontaine 75-39—114
Brian Trotter 76-40—11
Tony Fogel 76-40—116
Ron Petty 81-39—120
Dennis King 77-44—121
Mike Baynes 82-41—123
Rick Sizemore 82-41—123
Kevin Hewitt 84-40—124
Chris Dickey 83-41—124
Dave Shelton 82-42—124
Michael Lin 82-44—126
J.D. Donlan 81-45—126
John Kaiser 85-42—127
Andy Fontaine 82-45—127
Todd Retherford 82-45—127
Ryan Monahan 85-43—128
George Cholkas 83-45—128
Trevor Goodall 84-45—129
Chris Stone 85-46—131
Kevin Niblack 87-45—132
Craig Whitaker 85-50—135
Patrick Huston 87-NC
Justin King 90-DNS
Dave Giblin 105-NC
Second Flight
Glenn Hudepohl 76-42—118
Bob Dane 81-40—121
Mark Wyatt 80-41—121
Ron Weaver 84-39—123
Darryl Bowling 83-40—123
Jason Veatch 83-41—124
Dave Sobecki 85-39—124
Mike Koehler 83-42—125
Kirk Born 84-43—127
Jason Widmeyer 85-43—128
Lou Tucci 82-47—129
Ken Phipps 85-45—130
Doug Meece 89-44—133
Marc Knott 93-40—133
Adam Reed 86-49—135
Dan Marsh 91-51—142
Mike Henslee 84-NC
Chris Feller 90-NC
Craig Buckmaster 92-DNS
Third Flight
Don Van Vuren 80-44—124
Paul Zaglaur 80-46—126
Ryan Abney 84-44—128
Tim Singer 80-48—128
Rod Lashley 90-40—130
Gary Hufstettler 87-45—132
Dave Kurzner 91-44—135
Tim Huber 90-47—137
Don Charron 92-46—138
Brian Smith 91-47—138
Brandon Crane 92-47—139
Jeff Saylor 93-48—141
Paul Fry 98-44—142
Tom Wade 96-46—142
David Spears 97-47—144
Jeff Feree 91-54—145
Alex Webb 92-56—148
Rick Herbers 99-51—150
Austin Hale 107-49—156
Tyler Dowty 110-61—171
FAIRFIELD — Brad Mitchell was expecting one gift from Mother Nature on Sunday, but instead he got two.
Playing in the Fairfield City Golf Championship, Mitchell was on a tight schedule to wrap up his round and get to the hospital in time to see his wife, Kara, give birth to their first child, Hunter.
When a thunderstorm rolled through and delayed the tournament, Mitchell was worried. But then the storm reversed course and forced another delay that left tournament director Dave Hartman no choice but to shorten the tournament to 27 holes.
Mitchell had a two-stroke lead with a little more than two holes to go when play resumed, so he played it safe and held off T.J. Wilson by one stroke to win his second consecutive city championship with a 4-under-par 101.
“As soon as that rain storm hit, it made it a lot tougher to concentrate,” said Mitchell, who also won a city title in 2000 when he was still in high school.
“All I could think about was ‘When am I going to get out of here,’ ” he continued. “But when they told us it was only going to be 27 holes, I knew I’d be done in time.”
Time was an issue for Wilson as well.
The 2008 Fairfield city champ was playing well and closing in on Mitchell, but when the decision came to shorten the tournament, it forced Wilson to change his approach.
“I had to play more aggressive,” Wilson said. “When you have two holes to make up two strokes, it doesn’t leave much time.”
Wilson birdied No. 8 to get within one, and he rebounded from an errant tee shot to get in position for a birdie chip on No. 9, but he pushed it 4 feet past the hole.
“He’s one of the best chippers I’ve ever seen, so I thought for sure he was going to make it,” Mitchell said. “When he missed, I had a short tap-in for par to win by one.”
When asked if he would invite Mitchell out for a nine-hole round later this week to see what would’ve happened had they played a full 36 holes, Wilson — who tied Jeff Sullivan for low round of the day with a 33 — said with a grin, “He knows what would’ve happened.
“I was playing better, and he was starting to get tentative,” Wilson continued. “But I’m glad that he won it. He’s on his way to see his son get born, so it’s a good day for him.”
It was a tough day for Hartman, who said he didn’t want to shorten the tournament, but it was the only option.
“It was a very tough decision,” he said. “We still had four hours of golfers out on the course, and restarting at 5:30 would’ve meant finishing at 9:30 when it’s dark. We just couldn’t do it. But it was a great weekend, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.
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