Hodges carded a 62 at Potter’s Park Golf Course on Saturday and a 70 at Twin Run on Sunday for a two-day total of 132 to capture another Hamilton City Golf Championship title.
The 2005 Hamilton High School graduate won his fifth in a row, making it 10 overall. He took the annual Father’s Day tournament in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2016 to go along with the most recent five straight.
“I still get out there a decent amount. There’s just not much tournament golf these days for me,” Hodges said. “Growing up with junior golf, high school and college — that’s all I played. It was tournament after tournament.
“Recreational golf and tournament golf are so different. You never know how you’re going to feel out there. It could still be the nerves, even though in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really that important. You still get nervous when you have a scorecard in your hand playing in a tournament and when you have to turn a score in for the day. It is a little different.”
One thing wasn’t different for Hodges on Sunday. His family tagged along with him on the last nine holes.
“My kids had signs made for me,” Hodges said. “They were excited to get to work on them when I left in the morning. It’s one of the best things to look forward to when I go out there for this one.”
Hodges said the one thing that stood out differently this year was his pre-shot approaches.
“In year’s past, I’ve always had a swing thought,” Hodges said. “This year, it wasn’t really a swing thought at all. It was more of just process is what I thought about all weekend. It was about routine.
“I tend to get away from routine when playing in scrambles and recreationally these days. I don’t always think through shots like I used to. So that was the big thing this weekend — just committing to a certain shot, being decisive and sticking with a routine.
“That certainly helped me stay in the present moment. I struggle with that sometimes with thinking how many under-par I am or how many holes I have left to try to break par or beat a certain score. Good pro golfers don’t do that. They take it one shot at a time — which is cliché to say.”
Hodges said the front nine at Potter’s on day one “was solid” as he birdied a hole and parred the other eight. He drove hole 10 and made a 20-foot putt and chipped in on hole 16 for eagles.
“Those always help,” he said. “You don’t always expect to have two eagles every time you go out. But other than that, it was nothing really flashy. I got up and down when I needed to and hit it pretty good from start to finish.”
Hodges stuck to the game plan on day two to close it out.
Vincent Whitehead fired a 65-72—137 to place second. Jeff Sullivan (72-66—138), Adam LaTulippe (70-71—141), Brady Compton (68-74—142) and Pete Betzold (72-70—142) followed close behind.
“Every year there seems to be someone that maybe hadn’t played in the tournament before or someone that was coming back,” Hodges said. “That’s always a good thing to see.”
In the First Flight, Eric Cook (75-71—146) placed first, Derik Piazza (75-71—146) took second and Gunnar Koger (74-72—146) finished third in a scorecard playoff. Trace Fowler (74-73—147) and Aaron George (75-72—147) followed.
In the Second Flight, Joe Brannon took first with an 81-77—158, while Adam Grissom (81-78—159) beat Logan Hollander (81-78—159) in a scorecard playoff for second.
RESULTS
Here are the results from this year’s Hamilton City Golf Championship:
Championship Flight — Kyle Hodges 62-70—132; Vincent Whitehead 65-72—137; Jeff Sullivan 72-66—138; Adam LaTulippe 70-71—141; Brady Compton 68-74—142; Pete Betzold 72-70—142; David Sullivan 70-74—144; Andrew Noelker 71-74—145; Jarrett Hodge 73-74—147; TJ Wilson 73-75—148; Jacob Brownley 73-75—148; Andrew Schwartz 71-78—149; Dan Luehrmann 70-80—150; Tyler Richards 73-78—151; Cole Gronas 73-80—153; Eddie Baker 73-84—157; Shawn Woedl 73-84—157.
First Flight —Eric Cook 75-71—146; Derik Piazza 75-71—146; Gunnar Koger 74-72—146; Trace Fowler 74-73—147; John Turner 76-71—147; Aaron George 75-72—147; Reid Ruhl 74-74—148; Chris Luehrmann 74-75—149; Ed McCoy 78-75—153; Bryon Simpson 77-79—156; Brady Koger 75-81—156; Eric Clear 79-78—157; Trace Thomas 75-82—157; Brady Huff 75-82—157; Patrick Compton 78-80—158; Dave Mosley 80-82—162; Matt Hurst 77-86—163.
Second Flight — Joe Brannon 81-77—158; Adam Grissom 81-78—159; Logan Hollander 81-78—159; Mike Smith 81-79—160; Gordan Willins 82-81—163; Nick Spurlock 84-79—163; Bruce Gilmore 84-80—164; Jerry Leshner 84-82—166; Joe Spradling 84-82—166; Bill Hodge 83-83—166; Cam Fitts 93-76—169; Jeff Mobley 84-86—170; David Curran 88-83—171; Brent Smith 87-86—173; Rick Graf 90-94—184; Jacob Dully 100-95—195; Jared Deich 100-100—200.
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