The final round of the Sani Tournament, presented by Coppola Enterprises, had a little bit of everything Sunday at Echo Valley Country Club.
A fluctuating scoreboard, a hole-in-one, a birdie for the ages, some good luck and stretches of brilliant golf by multiple players sprinkled in. When it was over, Zach Steffen (above) had won the third Sani title of his career.
“I don’t know how many people have won it that many times,” Steffen said after a closing 7-under-par 65 and a 207 total gave him a two-shot victory over Denny Bull. “I’ll have to look at the trophy and see.”
Sean McCarty has five Sani titles to his name. Joe Brown and Mike McCoy won it four times. Steffen joins Jerry Smith as three-time winners. Steffen won his first two Sani titles at Hyperion, in 2018 and 2021.
“I love Hyperion, and I expected to win one there,” said the 32-year-old professional from West Des Moines, who also received a winning check of $2,500. “Out here, I’m just a little bit uncomfortable off the tee. I just had to trust my swing.”
Steffen, who had opened with a 74 in Friday’s first round, got himself back into contention with a late rally and a 68 on Saturday. He finished that round birdie-birdie-eagle, and carried that momentum into Sunday.
After an opening par on the first hole of the final round, Steffen ran off four straight birdies. That made him eight under for an eight-hole stretch going back to Saturday. His winning total of 207 was 9 under par.
That fast start let Steffen pass second-round leader Grant Smith. But that was just part of the day’s story. Paired in the second-to-last pairing with 2013 Sani champ Chad Proehl and Bull, there were plenty of fireworks to come.
“When I saw that pairing, and getting a chance to play with those guys, I thought, “This is going to be a great day,’ ” Bull said. “It exceeded my expectations. It was crazy. Awesome.”
Proehl, who started the final round with a double bogey to drop to even par for the championship, was 5 under par just five holes later. First came the par-4 second hole. He hit the same tree on the right side of the fairway on two consecutive shots, then holed a 79-yard gap wedge for a birdie.
He added birdies at the third and fifth holes. Then he aced the par-3 6th hole, hitting 5-iron. It was his second ace in a Sani Tournament and 14th of his career.
“I make that ace and I’m thinking, “Anything’s possible,’ ” Proehl said.
Steffen birdied the par-5 9th hole to turn in 31, and 7 under for the championship. Then it was Bull’s turn to make a run. He made nine consecutive pars on the front nine.
“I felt left out,” Bull said. “Those guys were making birdies, and holing out.”
Bull ran off five consecutive birdies, starting at No. 10, and caught Steffen for the lead at 7 under. Steffen also birdied No. 11 but had his only bogey of the final round on the next hole.
“I just felt like I needed one (putt) to go in to get a little momentum,” Bull said.
His momentum hit a road block when he didn’t birdie the par-5 15th hole.
“That was disappointing, because that’s probably the easiest hole on that side,” Bull said. “My chip checked up on me.”
Steffen was in a greenside bunker in two at 15, then nearly holed his third for eagle.
“It landed right in front of the cup, hopped up and caught the right edge of the cup,” Steffen said.
He tapped in for birdie for the outright lead and never gave it up. Proehl dropped back with bogeys at the 13th and 16th holes. Steffen got to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead over Bull, and then dodged disaster.
His tee shot sailed right, and looked headed for the penalty area, but it caught a tree and dropped down in the right rough. He hit his second shot to 25 feet, and Bull kept the pressure on by hitting his approach to 15 feet.
But it became anticlimactic when Steffen holed his birdie putt.
“It probably had five feet of break,” Steffen said. “”It was one of those where I was expecting Denny to make his. I wasn’t trying to ram it by, but I wanted to give it a chance. It caught the left door and it fell in. I was very fortunate off the tee to stay out of the penalty area, and I took advantage of it.”
When Steffen’s putt fell in, Bull stopped and clapped for the winner. Then he two-putted for a closing par.
“I felt good about that putt,” Bull said. “But when his went in, it took the wind out of me.”
Andrew Johanssen of Johnston, 17, finished in third alone at 5-under-par 211 after a closing 70. Johannsen broke par in all three rounds. Smith (73) was alone in fourth, another shot back. Defending champion Hogan Hansen (73) and Proehl (71) tied for fifth at 213.
Joe Palmer captured the Sani’s Senior Amateur title. His final-round 75 and 215 total was two shots better than Jon Brown (70).
The Super Senior Amateur title went to Dave Gaer by six shots. Gaer closed with a 72 and a 215 total. Robert Pomerantz (72) was the runner-up.
When the day’s drama had ended, and Steffen had finished on top, he reflected on what had happened.
“Honestly, it was one of the most fun rounds I’ve ever had, playing with Chad and Denny,” Steffen said. “Everyone played great at times during the round.”
But Steffen was the last man standing.
“I’m happy for Zach,” Proehl said. “He played really well.”
From left – Super Senior Champion Dave Gaer, 75th Herman Sani Champion Zach Steffen, Low Amateur Dennis Bull and Senior Champion Joe Palmer.
