2018 Yearbook

75 Joe August Match Play Northwest Amateur Spencer G&CC, Spencer | August 1-4 *Excerpt taken from The Daily Reporter by Nate Shaughnessye* After South Africa’s Ian Snyman became the first international player to claim the Northwest Amateur Tournament crown a year ago, Jackson Kalz contin- ued the trend during a water logged, 96th edition of the tournament, finishing at 12-under par to take the title by three strokes. The 18-year-old West Beach, South Australia native entered Sunday’s championship flight in a tie for the lead with 50-year-old Jon Brown, of Adel, at 7-under par after both players shot identical first and second rounds of 69 and 68. Three holes into the final round for the champion- ship flight the clubhouse sounded the horn, begin- ning the tournament’s third weather delay of the weekend. The stoppage lasted long enough to trim the championship flight’s final round to just nine holes with players returning to the course for the final six holes shortly before 6 p.m. “It wasn’t good,” Kalz said of the weekend weather. “I think added up we had to wait around 10 and a half hours over the last couple days. Just because of the weather, we haven’t been able to get on the course. That was always tough, especially getting cold mid-round on the last nine. That was something I haven’t had to do before.” Jackson Kalz Jon Brown Jacob Otta Alejandro Perrazo J.D. Anderson Colton Koomia 1 2 3 4 5 6 168 171 174 176 176 176 -12 -9 -6 -4 -4 -4 Some formidable teams were formed at this year’s Joe August Match Play Championship. Wes Buntenbach from Clear Lake, who was having a hot start to the sum- mer joined up with Ross Martin of Harlan. The two shot the low qualifying round of 64 to take the top seed. Un- fortunately, they were unable to keep their momentum into match play and were defeated by Jason Thronbrugh & Bill Matzdorff of Ankeny in the Semifinals. Chris Hinz, from Iowa Falls and Dave Akers of Eldora were looking to find some old mojo from their past win together in 2005. The two were able to defeat their first three opponents handily including a 2 up win over Andrew and Bill Tank in the Semifinals. They would face off in the finals against the father and son duo from Des Moines, Dave and Willis Gaer. They found their way into the finals by defeating Matzdorff and Thronbrugh who were coming off their win over the number one seed. The final match remained close throughout, but the father and son side would eventually win 2 up and claim their first Joe August Championship. The Senior Division offered some of the same excite- ment. 2017 Champions, Gary Youngberg and Rick Sand- ers from Ames railed off wins in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals but lost a heartbreaker to the team of Mike McCoy and Tom Tillinghast of Des Moines (1 up) in the semifinals. Gary Ellis and Jay Goeser of Norwalk were past Champions in the Open Division in 2007 and were look- ing to get their first win in the Senior. The two easily marched through the bracket with their narrowest win being 5&4 margin. They would face off against McCoy and Tillinghast in the finals. The match was as close as any could be as they ended the 18 holes All Square. They continued on for two more holes until eventually McCoy and Tillinghast were able to come out on top. Ames G&CC, Ames | July 14-15 Championship Division: Dave Gaer & Willis Gaer Senior Division: Mike McCoy & Tom Tillinghast Winners Jackson Kalz - photo courtesy of Iowa State University Open Division (Par-72)