Elliott posts final round 66, wins third Iowa Senior Am title overall
West Des Moines’ Gene Elliott (pictured above) got off to a hot start and never looked in the rear view mirror until late in the day in the final round of the 39th Iowa Senior Amateur. Elliott blistered Burlington Golf Club for a 66 (-6) to win by eight shots over Burlington’s Scott Briggs and Muscatine’s Tom Norton.
“I played very well today,” Elliott said. “I have played nine days in a row (counting rounds at the U.S. Senior Amateur in Minnesota). That’s a lot of golf for me. I am not a guy who does that, but that’s the way things worked out.”
Truth be told, Elliott, after being defeated in the round of 32 on Tuesday at the U.S. Senior Amateur, forgot he was actually still entered in the Iowa Senior Amateur, which began on Wednesday.
“I almost wasn’t here for several different reasons,” Elliott admitted. “I totally forgot it (Iowa Senior Amateur) after I got beat. I was so shellshocked from losing my match. If I would of won that match I wouldn’t of been here. My wife and a good friend John Harris told me to just come down here and get it out your system and forgot about what happened up in Minneapolis. Fortunately things worked out.”
The win marks a second consecutive victory, third overall for Elliott in this event.
“I felt good about my game all day,” Elliott said. “I missed a couple of birdie putts that I thought I made or made good putts on. I got on a roll and felt like I could birdie every hole, which was nice. I didn’t check the leaderboard until the 16th fairway. I saw a good lead and figured just stay upright and I would be ok.”
In the Super Senior Division Marshalltown’s Rob Christensen held off a charging Jim Butler (Ft. Madison) to win. Christensen posted a 73 (+1) in the final round to finish at 220 (+4) for the one stroke victory.