Three strokes down with four holes to play, Mike VanZandt confidently stepped up to the sixth tee and pushed his #4 hybrid both right and short of the green. Bogey seemed probable, and double bogey not out of the range of possibility. Reminiscent of Babe Ruth’s call shot home run, VanZandt told Whitmer he was going to bump the ball into the fringe, have it hop once onto the green, and trickle down the hill to the cup. And of course, that’s exactly what happened.
Following two brilliant up and down pars on holes seven and eight by VanZandt and a missed two footer by Whitmer, the score was all tied going into the 168 yard ninth hole. Whitmer lashed a five iron 25 feet past the hole and two putted for his par. VanZandt hit a #3 hybrid short and fat, chipped to six feet and missed the putt, giving Whitmer the win. Michael Comeaux opened with four straight pars but played the last five holes four over to finish in third place with a 31. Shannon O’Brien couldn’t overcome three double bogies and fired a miserable eight over par 35, edging head golf pro Mike Mitchell by one shot and Alex Garza and David Buchanan by two. Buchanan had eight bogies and one double bogey on his card.