NURSKI WINS AGAIN! 2012 Stroke Play Champion at Jefferson City Country Club 69-66-71-71 277 (11 under par)
Nick Wilson, Rocheport, 2012 Missouri Amateur Champion is runner up finishing at 288 (Even) after 72 holes.
FULL RESULTS July 16-18, 2012
July 18, 2012 Story by Tom Loeffler, Sport Columnist for Connect Mid Missouri and KRCG
“I CAN BREATH A LITTLE EASIER”
After three close calls, Nurski walks away with Stroke Play Title
In Wednesday’s 36-hole finale, Nurski entered the day holding a five-shot lead over Nick Wilson, who won the State Amateur Championship last month.
The first 18, Wilson made it a bit interesting, shooting a 3-under 33 on the front nine to get within three. “I putted really well the first nine today,” Wilson said.
That moved Wilson to 7-under. By the end of the day, however, he was even par, thanks in large part to a faulty putter.
Nurski shot a pair of 71s — two of only nine rounds under par on the day. And there were 102 rounds played.
His lead was four after the first 18. Wilson needed something to happen, quickly, and it certainly did.
For Nurski.
After both parred No. 1, Nurski’s par and birdie on the next two holes picked up three shots and the lead was suddenly seven.
Seven up, 15 to play. It was over.
Time to head to the AC.
“First and foremost, my putting and chipping this week were as good as they’ve ever been,” said Nurski, who finished at 11-under 277. “I saved a lot of pars getting up and down. That’s what it takes to win, grinding out some pars.
“I only had four bogeys the entire week, which is pretty good around here.”
Wilson still finished second, but he had five three-putts in the final 27 holes and that ended his run. He didn’t one-putt a green on the second 18 until 17.
“I was just off a fraction with my putter,” said Wilson, 23, of Columbia. “I was making those putts all week, I just couldn’t get the speed right today. I either hit it too hard or not hard enough.
“But all in all, Brad deserves it. He’s a great guy and he’s a lot of fun to play with and he played great today. Hats off to him.”
Nurski, with hat on, cruised across the finish line.
“I kind of knew, going to the back nine, I could coast a little bit, make some pars and play safe,” he said.
To be sure, he practiced safe golf on 18. With OB left, he drove it 100 yards right of the trouble, ending up in the first fairway.
“It was not,” Nurski said with a smile, “going out of bounds.”
His second shot ended up 15 feet past the hole. 12 putts to win.
“I was actually trying to make it,” he said. “I wanted to atone for the bogey I made on 15, that’s why I ran it two or three feet by.
“But that’s okay, I made it coming back.”
Nurski now has three Missouri “majors,” as he won the State Amateur in 2010 and the Mid-Amateur last year.
“This is right up there with those,” he said. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
“It was windy and really hot and the pins were tough,” Farmer said. “These were a lot tougher conditions than we normally have out here.”
No. 2, well … let’s just say it wasn’t kind to Farmer on this day.
It’s a 574-yard par 5, which he would normally chew up and spit out with his length off the tee. But he bogeyed it the first round, then made a double bogey the second round.
“I hit the trees too many times, you’re not supposed to do that,” he said.
But Farmer was even par the rest of the way and finished in a tie for seventh. While he was 15 shots behind Nurski, he was only four shots removed from second place.
“(Wednesday) was disappointing,” Farmer said, “but overall, I had a good week. I had a lot of fun.”
Here are the results for other area golfers who made the cut: Wilson Sundvold, Columbia, tied for 10th (294); J.D. Nash, Dixon, tied for 19th (299); Dan Frost, Columbia, 25th (300); Alex Knoll, Westphalia/Helias, tied for 28th (302); Cy Moritz, Owensville, tied for 35th (305); and Jay Rader, Columbia, tied for 43rd (309).
Lastly, here’s how Jefferson City Country Club withstood the test this week. It yielded six eagles (three on par 4s, three on par 5s), 627 birdies, 3,561 pars, 1,613 bogeys, 308 double bogeys and 77 ‘others.’ Stroke average: 77.3.
Well played, well defended.
July 17, 2012 Story by Tom Loeffler, Sport Columnist for Connect Mid Missouri and KRCG
MAKING IT LOOK EASY
This game isn’t that difficult.
Hit fairways, hit greens, make some putts.
Bingo.
That, however, is a lot easier said than done for your average hacker. Brad Nurski is not your average hacker. Or even an above average hacker.
And on Tuesday, he made it look easy.
Nurski carded a superb bogey-free round of 6 under-par 66 to take charge in the 15th annual Missouri Stroke Play Championship at Jefferson City Country Club.
With a collection of most of the top amateurs in the state, Nurski’s 66 beat the tournament average (77.8) by nearly 12 shots.
“I just hit the ball a lot better than I did (Monday),” said Nurski, who shot 69 in the opening round. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens and made the short birdie putts when I needed to. The greens are perfect … they’re good for making putts.”
Bingo.
Nurski hit 17 greens on the 7,112-yard layout. He had a flurry of six birdies in 10 holes — 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13. No. 7 is a par 5, the others are all par 4s.
“I missed one green (14, a 492-yard par 4) and I got that one up and down,” said Nurski, 33, of St. Joseph. “You just had to miss it in the right spots and I did that, for once.”
Well, that’s just not true. He’s done it more than once, as he won the Missouri Mid-Amateur last year, the 2010 Missouri Amateur, and was second in this event in 2009, when he lost in a playoff to Eldon’s Matt Miller.
He’ll carry a five-shot lead into Wednesday’s play.
“I’m in a good spot, but there are a lot of good golfers out here,” Nurski said. “We’ve got to play 36 holes — it will be a battle.”
Nurski will be paired with Nick Wilson in the final group, as Wilson backed-up Monday’s 69 with a 71 on Tuesday and is in second place.
On the heels of his win at the Missouri Amateur last month, Wilson is looking for the second leg of Missouri’s “grand slam.” The others are the Missouri Open, to be held later this month, and the Mid-Amateur next month.
“I hit the ball better off the tee, I just didn’t manage it well today,” said Wilson, who recently completed his college career with the Missouri Tigers and is a 2008 graduate of Columbia Hickman. “I made a stupid double on 13 … I drove right up against a fence, almost OB.
“I hit a lot of shots where I came close to making birdie, but I just couldn’t make the putt.”
He did make five birdies, including a lightning quick, downhill, twisting 30-footer on his last hole, the par 4 ninth. This came on the heels of a 340-yard drive on the 407-yard hole.
“I just wanted to try and lag the putt down there and get it close,” Wilson said. “I didn’t want to give one back trying to make birdie, but it went in.”
He also had two bogeys and his second double-bogey of the week.
“I’m happy, but not extremely,” Wilson said. “Two doubles, I just have to manage it better than that.
“My dad’s going to yell at me because he told me: ‘No doubles.'”
It’s always wise to listen to dad. Still, Wilson will go head-to-head with Nurski.
“I’ll be in the last group and that’s what I wanted, to be able to play with him and put pressure on him,” Wilson said. “He’s a good player and a good guy, too.
“I’m looking forward to it; it should be a fun day.”
Standing in third place is Jefferson City’s Kirk Farmer, who carded a 71 on Tuesday and is 3-under for the event, six shots out of the lead.
This is something else, because Farmer’s prep time for the tournament was, well, about 18 hours. After a spot opened up Sunday, he was talked into entering.
He did and now, here he is.
“Considering I haven’t played in many MGA events (it’s his first in five years), I’m not really tournament tough,” Farmer said. “I don’t practice very much, not like somebody who’s trying to compete in golf.
“I play on the weekend with my friends and my dad (Mike), but that’s about it. So overall, I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Farmer had two bogeys and three birdies Tuesday, but it was a par he made the on par-3 17th that is hard to describe. But here’s an attempt.
The pin was back left on the 198-yard hole and Farmer hit it long left. He had to go under tree limbs, he had to go through rough. The green sloped away from him and he had about 10 feet of green work with.
No way.
“That was a 2 percent chance, two in a hundred, of getting it up and down,” Farmer said.
Bet the 2 horse, as Farmer hit an amazing punch-wedge that wriggled through the rough, barely crept onto the green, and rolled within 5 feet.
He made the putt for par.
Way.
“I played a little plinko (he dropped a Price is Right reference on us) there in the grass, but it worked out,” Farmer said with a smile.
“That was fun.”
Farmer is having fun and playing splendidly, but he’s still six shots out of the lead.
“Nurski’s tough, he’s really aggressive and he’s really long,” he said. “I just want to try to go low and catch him.”
Columbia’s Wilson Sundvold, son of Missouri basketball superstar Jon Sundvold, doesn’t seem likely to go low enough Wednesday to get in contention. But with rounds of 75-71, he’s tied for 10th in this star-studded field.
“Early on, I felt it could be a lot lower,” Sundvold said. “I caught a lot of lips on birdie putts, three or four, so it was kind of frustrating.
“But I did make quite a few 10-footers and less to save pars and make birdies so, overall, it was a pretty solid round.”
Sundvold was done-in from going really low by making bogeys on three par 5s. But he also had a birdie binge — four in five holes.
“I got hot for a while and I tried to keep it going,” he said. “But the wind picked up and I got a few bad lies here and there and just didn’t perform the shots.
“It’s golf. On to the next day.”
Father Jon could not only play basketball, he’s a very good golfer. So who wins in the Sundvold showdown?
“I’d like to say I win most of the time,” Wilson said, “but he’s getting his driver figured out and he’s pretty competitive now.”
Other area players who made the cut (top 50 and ties) and where they stand are: Dan Frost, Columbia, tied for 15th (73-74); Alex Knoll, Westphalia/Helias, tied for 18th (74-74); J.D. Nash, Dixon, tied for 30th (76-75); and Cy Moritz, Owensville (74-77) and Jay Rader, Columbia (77-74), tied for 36th (74-77).
July 16, 2012 Story by Tom Loeffler, Sport Columnist for Connect Mid Missouri and KRCG
BOURGEOIS
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear Rocheport?
It’s probably one of two things — Les Bourgeois or I’ve never heard of it.
But if you said the hometown of Nick Wilson, you are a serious golf fan.
The 2008 graduate of Hickman High School recently completed his college career at the University of Missouri — and he’s having a year to remember.
After winning the Missouri State Amateur last month, he shot a 3 under-par 69 on Monday to share the lead in the 15th annual Missouri Stroke Play Championship at Jefferson City Country Club.
His golf is definitely bourgeois, which means above average.
“It’s been a great summer,” Wilson said. “It all started at the Big 12 Tournament (he finished 11th). That’s when I started hitting the ball better and believing in myself more than I ever have.”
It paid off in the State Amateur in Cape Girardeau, as he defeated three-time champion Skip Berkemeyer 2 and 1 in the finals.
“That was a special week for me,” Wilson said. “My dad and my brother were both on the bag for me all week.”
This week could be another special one, as Wilson is trying to become only the second golfer in state history to win these two Missouri ‘majors.’ The other was Jefferson City’s Connor McHenry, who pulled off the feat in 2007.
Despite some driving woes, Wilson was 3 under on the front nine and moved it to 5 under with birdies on the par-5 12th and par-4 14th.
“I couldn’t hit a fairway today; I think I only hit three fairways,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t get off the tee, but I hit my irons really good and I started hitting some putts.”
Then came the 589-yard par-5 15th, which was the hardest hole of the day.
“We were 8 under as a group (his playing partners were Springfield’s Nathan Fredrick and Alex Cusumano of St. Louis, both shot 72) going into 15 and we made two double bogeys and a bogey,” Wilson said.
“It was ugly.”
After pull-hooking his drive out of bounds, Wilson made one of those double bogeys.
“Two years ago, I would have been absolutely furious after making double on 15,” Wilson said. “But my attitude is so much better … I’m pretty sound in mind right now.”
Which doesn’t mean he was happy about making a 7, as he unloaded a 340-yard drive on the par-4 16th, leaving him just 30 yards short of the green.
Bourgeois.
“I had a good chance to make a birdie there, but I didn’t,” Wilson said. “But I’d take 69 before ever stepping on the golf course.”
Wilson is tied for the lead with Raytown’s Steve Groom and Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, while Jefferson City’s Kirk Farmer is right on their heels after shooting a 70.
Farmer proved what we already knew: There’s no place like home.
“This is my home course, so there a lot of spots where I know I can hit it and be a little more aggressive in certain areas,” Farmer said.
“I’m just really comfortable going for the green on par 5s in two, where some people might think it’s a little risky. I think that helps. And knowing where to miss when the pins are in certain spots helps, too.”
Starting on the par-4 10th, Farmer chipped in for birdie and moved it to 3-under with birdies on 12, 14 and 15, which were sandwiched around a bogey at 13.
“I started off really hot,” he said. “I got it to three under on 15, I bogeyed 17 and made all pars from there. I couldn’t get a putt to drop on the front.
“If I made some putts today, I could have gone really deep. But that’s the way it goes.”
As of Sunday, Farmer — who hit 14 greens — wasn’t even entered in the event. But …
“I was in the clubhouse on Sunday and guys were just were ragging on me to play,” he said. “(Scott) Hovis (Executive Director of the Missouri Golf Association) said there was an extra spot, so I said: ‘Why not?'”
Most of the other 122 players in the field are probably wondering why.
“I’m happy with it for the first round,” he said. “I just want to stay under par each round and see what happens.”
Other area players who broke 80 on Monday were: Taylor Cox and Dan Frost, both of Columbia, 73; Alex Knoll, Westphalia/Helias and Cy Moritz, Owensville, 74; Wilson Sundvold (son of Jon Sundvold), Columbia, 75; J.D. Nash, Dixon and Ron Eilers, Columbia, 76; Jay Rader, Columbia, 77; and Austin Rapp, Boonville, and Will Echelmeier and Jake Knoesel, both of Columbia, 78.
After 18 holes Tuesday, the field will be trimmed to the top 50 and ties for Wednesday’s 36-hole finale.
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