Brown holds on, wins 46th Iowa Senior Amateur
In the end it was enough.
Jon Brown (right), who posted a 217 (+1) total, held on for victory at the 46th Iowa Senior Amateur hosted by Bent Tree Golf Course. With an opening rough 65, Brown admitted that was the difference in Council Bluffs.
“The first day everything went right,” Brown said. “I didn’t make many mistakes the next day (round two), but today, it’s hard playing with the lead. The conditions were really challenging (today). I missed some short putts early and the set the tone.”
After opening with a 39 (+3) on the front nine in the final round, Brown knew he needed to get to work as Joe Palmer and Chris Kramer, who would tie for runner-up when the dust had settled, gave chase.
“I found myself just trying to hang on,” Brown said. “I didn’t look at the leaderboard until the 18th tee. I knew what my group was doing, but not really anyone else. I just tried to do my best. Today was just one bad break after another and nothing was going right. I knew I needed to buckle down. Today with the wind it was tougher to drive the ball. The course felt tighter than the first two days. If you get out of position, with the greens being so fast, you all of sudden you have a downhill chip running away from you.”
Driving the ball and finding the fairways at the links-style layout of Bent Tree GC was the key to success according to Brown.
“I was able to put myself in positions to be aggressive and my speed with the putter was good,” Brown said. “Today, I had 5-6 footers that you had to be careful with or you could have 6-7 feet coming back. It was one of those days (today), it’s a little bit embarrassing shooting 79 to win, but I am thrilled I had a cushion. Chris Kramer played well today and I’ve had some many battles with Joe. I was never comfortable until I hit the 18th green.”
In the Super Senior Division Dave Gaer chased down the lead thanks to a final round 73 (+1) that included four birdies, good enough for a 222 total and a one shot win over Dave Waugh. Gaer commented that Bent Tree GC was a layout that you had to pick you spots of when to be aggressive and when to throttle down.
“This golf course you can’t force it,” Gaer said. “I got off to a good start today, that helped. I hit a lot of greens on the back nine. The wind blew steady all day and this is a good golf course. You have to use all your clubs in the bag. You get so many more chances here if you drive the ball well. It was a lot of fun (this week).