Jack Dumas (above) missed a good chance at birdie on the 9th green Sunday, and looked frustrated as he headed to the 10th tee. 

He was disappointed about the missed opportunity, but looking forward to Hyperion Field Club’s back nine. A back nine that would determine the champion of the 76th Herman Sani Invitational sponsored by Coppola Enterprises. 

“I played the back nine well the first two days,” Dumas said. “I was just trying to get through the front nine with a good number. I was really looking forward to the back nine.” 

One shot out of the lead when he made the turn, Dumas played holes 10 through 16 in six under par, and the recent Drake graduate and newly-minted pro collected a $2,500 first-place check after his final-round 65 gave him a three-shot Sani triumph over Andrew O’Brien of West Des Moines. 

O’Brien and second-round leader Andrew Johannsen also had the lead to themselves during a rapidly fluctuating final round Sunday. A birdie at the 11th hole gave O’Brien a one-shot lead. He played the final seven holes in one under par for a closing 68 and a 205 total, but fell victim to the fast finish turned over by Dumas. 

Johanssen, 18 and heading into his senior year at Johnston High School, had four bogeys in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 9 and lost touch with the leaders. He finished in a tie for fifth with defending champion Zach Steffen at 209 after a final-round 74. 

Steffen made a strong run in his Sani title defense. Nine shots back after the first round and five behind after the second round, Steffen got off to a dubious start Sunday with a bogey at No. 1. But an eagle on No. 11 got him to within a shot of the lead before the three-time Sani champ fell back with bogeys at the 13th and 14th. 

“I hit it in there close on 12, too, but just didn’t make it,” Steffen said. “Then I made a bad swing on 13. But I put myself in contention, which is always fun. My first round (72) was just too much to overcome.” 

Grant Smith posted a closing 68 and was third alone at 206, up one spot from his Sani finish of a year ago. Charles Jahn was alone in fourth after a 70 and a score of 208. 

Dumas played the back nine in 12 under par for the championship. He had two birdies in a first-round 34, birdied five of the first six holes in a back-nine 32 Saturday and posted a closing 30 there Sunday that included a pair of eagles on the par-5 11th and par-4 15th holes. 

“On 11 I drove it down the middle, then hit an 8-iron to 8 feet,” he said. “A perfectly-played hole. Then I hit driver to 2 feet on 15. A little luck of the draw there.”

Though 15 is a downhill 308-yard hole and you can’t see the green from the tee, Dumas knew something pretty special had happened. 

I heard one of the IGA radios back on the tee box,” Dumas said. “Someone was talking to the spotter, who said, “Two feet. Best of the day.’ ” 

Dumas, who tied for eighth at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in his final college event, will now work with an eye on PGA Tour qualifying school this fall. 

“This (Sani title) is just confirmation that what I’ve been working on the past few months and years, grinding and not winning a lot, is paying off,” Dumas said. “I’ve just got to keep my nose to the grindstone.” 

Dumas also became the fifth Sani Scholarship winner to capture the golf tournament played in honor of Herman Sani, the IGA’s first director. Dumas joins J.D. Turner, Steve Spray, Kent Wagoner and another former Drake player, Ben Pettitt, as Sani scholars who went on to win the Sani Tournament. 

“It’s cool to look back to four years ago,” said Dumas, a Sani Scholarship recipient in 2021. “I was just going into my freshman year of college. Now, four years later, I’m done. It’s gone full circle.” 

Dave Gaer, a Sani Scholarship winner in 1977, brought his own flair to the championship Sunday. The 67-year-old won the Sani’s Super Senior Amateur title by six shots after rounds of 74-73-72. 

Gaer’s final shot of the championship, a choked-down 7-iron into the wind on the 155-yard 9th hole, went in for the first hole-in-one of his distinguished career. 

When the shot was in the air, one of Gaer’s playing partners, Rob Christensen, said, “That’s in the hole.” Gaer’s ball landed 3 feet short of the hole and disappeared. 

“It was kind of surreal,” said Dave, the reigning IGA Super Senior Player of the Year. “I wasn’t sure what to say. Pat Roan (his other playing partner) and Rob were more excited than me. I was kind of sitting there, dumbfounded.” 

Gaer hit 17 greens in regulation, but had no birdies coming to his 18th hole. But he had an ace of a finish up his sleeve. 

Jon Brown won the Senior Amateur title with rounds of 66-72-71. Brown finished three shots better than Joe Palmer (75-75-67) and Ron Peterson (71-75-66).

Complete Results

Golf has a way of keeping players humble.

Just one day after lighting up the course with a blistering 9-under 63 in the opening round of the 76th Herman Sani Tournament presented by Coppola Enterprises, Albia’s Darin Fisher found himself grinding to stay in contention on Saturday.

Fisher, now 7-under for the tournament after a second-round 74 (+2), needed three clutch birdies down the stretch to remain in the final pairing for Sunday’s decisive round at Hyperion Field Club.

He’ll be chasing 18-year-old Andrew Johannsen (above) of Johnston, who backed up his opening round with another strong performance to take the solo lead at 9-under. Johannsen, who calls Hyperion home, has fired off 12 birdies and an eagle through the first 36 holes, showing no signs of letting up as he heads into the final round with a two-shot advantage.

Hot on his heels is a tightly packed leaderboard. Fisher shares second place with Jack Dumas and Andrew O’Brien, both of whom surged into contention with matching 68s (-4) on Saturday. Just one shot further back at 6-under are four more challengers, including Hyperion member J.D. Anderson, setting the stage for a thrilling Sunday showdown.

In the Senior Division, Jon Brown holds a three-shot lead over Sam Billmeyer, with three others sitting four shots behind.

Dave Gaer leads the Super Senior Division by four strokes, while Rob Christensen and Pat Roan look to mount a Sunday comeback of their own.

Championship Sunday is shaping up to be a can’t-miss finish in Johnston.

Complete Results

Darin Fisher enjoys playing at the Hyperion Field Club.

“It just fits my eye,” he said.

On Friday, the 50-year-old professional from Albia posted an eye-popping 9-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead in the Herman Sani Tournament presented by Coppola Enterprises.

Fisher (right), a two-time Sani champion, takes a three-shot lead over 18-year-old Andrew Johannsen of Johnston heading into Saturday’s second round. Johannsen, who had it 8 under par late in his round, settled for a 66. That was one shot better than Grant Smith, who had a bogey-free 67. Johannsen finished third and Smith fourth in last year’s Sani played at Echo Valley.

This is Fisher’s 13th appearance at a Sani hosted by Hyperion. His previous low round had been a 66 in the first round of 2014 and the final round in 2012. Fisher won that 2012 Sani in a one-hole sudden-death playoff against Tracy Vest. His second Sani title came in 2022 at Echo Valley.

Fisher was also tied with Gene Elliott, and one shot ahead of Sean McCarty, with four holes to play in 2010. But the tournament was called because of weather. McCarty and Elliott had been tied heading into that final nine and were declared co-champions.

Darin’s 63 was not a tournament record. Scott Hart shot 61 in the first round of the 2003 Sani. That 61 is also the lowest round shot in an Iowa major championship. On Friday, Fisher was two lipped-out putts away from joining Hart.

“I also had a three-putt on 11,” Fisher said. “But I did make a 50-footer on No. 5. I wouldn’t say (the round) was easy, but it was comfortable.”

Fisher was paired with another former Sani winner, Jon Brown, who shot 66 to lead the Senior Amateur Division. Brown has a two-shot edge over Jeff Panek of Johnston. Dave Gaer of West Des Moines leads the Super Senior Amateur Division with a 75.

“Jon played great, too,” Fisher said. “We just kept our momentum going the entire way.”

Fisher had just one birdie on a par-5 hole, but played Hyperion’s par-4s in 7 under par. Friday was just one more highlight in a season of smiles for Fisher. He was named the men’s and women’s golf coach at William Penn in February. He played in the U.S. Senior Open in June and won the Iowa PGA Section title in July at Echo Valley.

“It’s been a really good seven or eight months,” Fisher said.

Johannsen (right) is very familiar with the Hyperion Field Club.

“It’s my home track,” he said.

Smith has plenty of local knowledge at his disposal, too.

“I used to work here and I’ve played (Hyperion) hundreds of times,” said Smith, 30, a data analyst for Farm Bureau.

That home-course advantage paid off Friday. Johannsen credited his putter for his fine play.. Smith’s scrambling ability was the highlight of his round.

“The first 14 holes, I don’t think I missed a putt,” Johannsen said. “The last few holes things went a little haywire on me. But the putter was hot.”

Johannsen started his round on No. 10. He eagled the 11th, then birdied the final four holes to turn in 30. Two more birdies, at No. 3 and No. 4, got him to 8 under par.

Johannsen hit 17 greens in regulation. The only miss came at No. 7, where he didn’t get up-and down and recorded his first bogey of the day. Then he three-putted No. 8 for another bogey. Johanssen led Johnston High to a State Class 4A title last fall and finished as the individual runner-up to Andrew Galvin of Cedar Falls after a playoff. He has committed to Iowa to play his college golf.

Smith was a master at getting up-and-down for par on Friday.

“I made a lot of up-and-downs from not so easy places,” Smith said.

He started his round on No. 1 and missed the first three greens in regulation, but scrambled for par each time.

“Then I hit it long on No. 7 and made an up-and-down, which was pretty impressive,” Grant said. “”You don’t expect to make an up-and-down from where I was.”

That scramble save was sandwiched around birdies at No. 6 and No. 8. Smith. Smith birdied the 10th, 14th and 17th holes on the back nine to complete his 34-33 card.

McCarty, the Sani’s only five-time champion, had an interesting day. He finished at 70, but was shaking his head afterwards. McCarty’s scorecard showed two eagles, four birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey.

During his career, Fisher has shown many times that he’s not afraid to go low.

“You learn that it’s OK to be 5 or 6 under and keep going,” he said. “You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas. That comes with experience. I think the older I get, the less anxious I am in those moments. That makes it easier to keep going.”

There’s an old axiom in golf that it’s hard to back up a low round with another one the next day.

“If you look at the leaderboard there are other guys who can do the same thing at a moment’s notice,” Fisher said. “And if I think this is the end all to be all tomorrow, I’ll be in trouble. I have to keep my head down and keep going forward.”

Complete Results