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Clear skies. Low 73F. Winds light and variable..
Clear skies. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
EVANSVILLE — Not your typical grand slam, but it smacks of one.
Four Gibson Countians — Gibson Southern sophomore-to-be Peyton Blackard, Gibson Southern grads Matt Monroe and Chase Emge, plus Wood Memorial and Oakland City University grad Alex Manion, advanced to next weekend’s finals of the Evansville City Golf Championships.
The 16-year-old Blackard, a sectional medalist and regional runner-up who tied for 12th individually in last month’s high school state tournament, shot a 4-under 66 Saturday and 5-under 65 Sunday on the Fendrich course while partnering with 2021 tournament champion Chip Tiemann and runner-up David Mills. The latter’s 63 and 65 rounds make a 128 score that leads this tournament, followed by Nathan Hoss’ 130 and Blackard’s 131.
Monroe’s 132 total, via rounds of 65 Saturday and 67 Sunday, put him in a fourth-place tie with Zach Williams.
Emge shot even-par rounds of 35-35-70 each day and shares 19th place with Shawn Isaacs, Steven Ruckman and Kyle Seitz. Manion’s 143 total, via Saturday’s par 70 and Sunday’s 73, put him in a 10-way tie for 30th.
Since an Evansville Courier & Press rule allows all who tie for 40th after the first two rounds to play the third and fourth, 48 will vie in Saturday’s third round at Rolling Hills Country Club and Sunday’s finale at Evansville Country Club. Tiemann, at 143 via rounds of 73 and 70, would not have advanced had one more player shot 142 or less.
Two Gibson Countians did not advance. Paxton Schwomeyer, 2021 state high school tournament qualifier as a Wood Memorial senior, and member of the Vincennes University team as a freshman, finished at 146 via rounds of 72 and 74. Former Gibson Southern baseball standout Kellen Higginson, among several who did not finish the first round until Sunday morning because lightning and rain delayed Saturday’s start by four hours and darkness came before a few groups finished, shot 72 and 80 for a 152 total.
Sunday’s play, which those still in the first round started at 6:30, came in light rain most of the morning and again with a few threesomes still on the course in late-afternoon.
Blackard, who tied for 19th in the 2021 city tourney after not making the 2020 cut as an eighth-grader-to-be, felt after Sunday’s 31 and 34 nines that he “played pretty solidly. I hit better wedge shots than yesterday. Today it rained off-and-on, but it was a sprinkle. Not hard rain.”
He birdied six holes Sunday. Starting on the back nine, he birdied the 452-yard par-5 14th hole with “a good drive to within 162 yards, a seven-iron shot to within 30 yards, then two putts..” On number-15, a 145-yard par-3, “my small nine-iron shot put me 10 feet from the home and I made the putt.”
On number-one, a 330-yard par-4, “a drive to within 50 feet, a sand wedge and a 2-foot putt.” Number-two, a 373-yard par-4, “a drive to within 85 yards, a sand wedge and 3-foot putt.” Number-three, a 315-yard par-4. “A drive five steps off the green, a chip-on with a sand wedge and a 12-foot putt.” Number-five, a 328-yard par-4, “a drive to within 45 yards, a sand wedge and a six-foot putt.”
This after four pars and no bogey Saturday. “Until today, yesterday was my best round here. I play this course three times a year. Hitting tee shots in good spots allowed me to make pars.”
“No, today’s six birdies aren’t my most ever. Once in Ohio I had seven birdies and an eagle.”
“Next weekend should be fun. I’ve won an invitational at Rolling Hills. If I stick to my game, I think I’ll have a pretty good chance (to win).”
The 36-year-old Monroe, 2004 Gibson Southern grad who works as a financial advisor, felt “very happy with how I played here. Seven bogeys in two days, but I made up for them. Today it rained off and on, but not hard until my 17th and 18th holes, which were eight and nine. I had a lot of dry gear, including the dry glove I wear every time I play, so I was able to finish okay.”
Seven Sunday birdies: Number-12, a 346-yard par-4, “a drive, wedge and a five-foot putt.” Number-14, “a drive, six-iron and two-foot putt.” Number-17, 302-yard par-4, “a drive next to the green, a chip and a 6-foot putt.” Number-18, 339-yard par-4, “A drive within 70 yards of the pin, a wedge shot a couple inches short, then a tap-in.” Number-five, a 328-yard par-4, “a drive to the right, a good second shot and a 15-foot putt.” Number-seven, 518-yard par-5, “drive, three-wood shot to the right of the green, a chip and a five-foot putt.” Number-eight, 168-yard par-3, “An eight-iron put me just 20 feet from the hole and I made the putt from there.”
Saturday’s 65 marked Monroe’s “best-ever round on this course, even though I hit into Pigeon Creek on number-six and had to take a one-stroke penalty. I had a 65 at Helfrich once; my best anywhere was a 64 at Oak Meadows.”
“I’ll never forget the 2015 City Tournament when I finished second to Sean Stone, who beat me by four strokes. Anything can happen at Rolling Hills, but I’ve shot good rounds there. It’ll take really good golf to win next weekend.”
Emge, chief finance officer for Mount Carmel Stabilization, played Sunday in the third-to-last group to finish. “It rained the first five or six holes. Playing wasn’t easy. You had to try to keep everything dry.”
“Still, I played pretty well, even though I don’t play golf as much as a lot of the guys here. I didn’t hit bad shots, didn’t put myself in bad positions. Since I don’t play as much as I did three or four years ago, I didn’t have high expectations coming in here, so I’m pretty happy with how I played here.”
Emge’s four Sunday birdies balanced four bogeys. On number-one, “a drive, sand wedge and 10-foot putt.” Number-seven, “A drive, hybrid shot just off the green, a chip and a six-or-seven-foot putt.” Number-12, 346-yard par-4, “My drive hit a tree, but I got lucky when it kicked down. Then a sand wedge and a 10-foot putt.” Number-14, “Drive, six-iron shot, chip and a one-foot putt.”
“Saturday I played pretty well — three birdies. This is the 13th time I’ve played the City and 12th time I’ve made the cut. My lack of playing time will have an effect next weekend, but we’ll see.”
The 29-year-old Manion, Oakland City Golf Club course superintendent since August 2020, didn’t know when his Sunday round ended whether he’d make the cut. “It would be nice to make it. That would be pretty cool. While Thekla and I are having a baby boy that’s due August 6, there’s a chance he could be born next weekend.”
A four-time All-Blue Chip Conference golfer at Wood Memorial, and a three-time team MVP both there and at Oakland City University, Manion felt he “didn’t play great. I missed a couple putts, but five times I made the one I had to make. I didn’t put myself in bad positions.”
Two Sunday birdies. Number-six, a 358-yard par-4, “a drive left of the fairway, a 20-yard shot out of trouble, a chip and a two-foot putt.” Number-14, “My tee shot went to the left, but I laid up with a 4-iron to within 10 yards of the green, chipped on and made a 10-foot putt.”
“It rained part of the time, but I still played pretty steadily.”
Manion’s Saturday highlight was an eagle on 14. “My nine-iron set up a 15-foot putt that I made. It reminds that I had an eagle in the 2021 City tourney. This is my eighth City tourney; my best finish was 12th in 2018.”
Mills, Hoss, Blackard, Monroe and Williams are followed by Walker Beck at 133 and Zachary Turi at 136. Tied at 137 are Jacob Fleming, Nathan Ladd, Logan Osborne and Eric Orth. Mitchell Johnson and Drew Mathews each shot 138. Spencer Wagner, Zach Thomas, Dave Turpin and Rod Lorey stand at 139.
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