By ALAN HOSKINS
Former Piper star Stan Wiehe reigns as the 2012 Wyandotte County Open champion. But it was not his ultimate goal.
“I wanted to break the tournament record,” said Wiehe. “That’s what I wanted from the start. What better way to win my first tournament than with the record? I wanted to be the first to break par.”
And the record was within reach – a par would have done it but an errant drive on the 484-yard 18th led to a bogey and Wiehe finished with a 70-74-144 that matched the tournament record held by Bob Chatterton and Rich Laing.
But more important it was one shot better than Aaron Uzelac.
Uzelac had a chance to force a playoff but his 20-foot birdie putt came up inches short on the final hole.
“It was closer than most of my putts,” said Uzelac, who also finished with a 2-over par 74 Sunday. “I left putts short all day.” Needing only two putts for the win, Wiehe had his 15-footer for par and the record slide just past the hole before tapping in for the winner.
The 18-hole leader at 2-under-par 70 at Sunflower Hills, Wiehe never trailed Sunday but did not know how he stood against the rest of the field until the 17th tee box when Uzelac told him he had a three-shot lead.
“I knew about the record all along but I didn’t have a clue,” said Wiehe.
A hole earlier, the lead had stood at one. A superb 6-iron from 192 yards from the middle of the 11th fairway had enabled Uzelac to par the 480-yard monster 15th but he had no such luck on the 229-yard par 3 16th. Playing into a blustery wind, his tee shot landed 45 yards to the right of the green.
“I almost whiffed,” said Uzelac. “I hit it off the toe and then bladed my chip shot and three-putted.”
Wiehe, meanwhile, chipped to within a foot for the three-shot margin.
That was reduced to two when Uzelac ran in a difficult curling 9-footer for birdie on the par 5 17th and Wiehe opened the door for a playoff when his drive on No. 18 settled among a stand of trees.
“I could only take a three-quarter swing,” said Wiehe, who came up just short of the bunker on his second shot and then left his approach 15 feet short. “That was a bad shot.”
The win was a welcome back to tournament golf for the 27-year-old Wiehe. A state runnerup his senior year at Piper and a WyCo Open entrant, Wiehe stepped away from tournament golf.
“I kept playing but just got away from tournaments and just got back in last year,” said Wiehe, who now farms in the Piper area and southern Leavenworth County.
Playing in his third WyCo Open, Uzelac was 2-under par for the back nine for the two days but four over for the front nine.
“That didn’t make any sense,” said Uzelac, 32, a former SM Northwest and Johnson County Community College player now employed in heating and air conditioning in Overland Park.
Former WyCo senior champion Jerry Reid was the closest challenger to Wiehe and Uzelac.
Three shots back after an opening 73, he was one-under par after the first nine but was five over par on the first four holes of the back nine and finished third at 148.
Defending champion Brad Ansley also opened with a 73 but a triple bogey on the par 5 6th took him out of contention.
“The way these guys (Wiehe and Uzelac) played, it would have been very difficult to catch them,” said Ansley. “They won it.”
Pat Seber-Bradley wins record 5th women’s title
Pat Seber-Bradley overcame her biggest 18-hole deficit to claim a record fifth championship in the WyCo women’s tournament at Sunflower Hills.
Her closing 86 gave her a 178 total that was two shots better than Pennington and three ahead of defending champion and a four-time WyCo champion, Donna Reid.
“Four strokes down I said ‘Oh, oh’ but I got off to a real good start Sunday,” said Seber-Bradley, who had a 3-over par 39 on the front nine. “Putting was what did it. I couldn’t putt Saturday. I three-putted four holes and today I had none. Winning a fifth championship means a lot. I was really excited about it. I had to call my husband and my niece and grand niece came to the trophy presentation.”
2012 Wyandotte County Open At Sunflower Hills
MEN
CHAMPIONSHIP – 1. Stan Wiehe, 144; 2. Aaron Uzelac, 145; 3. Jerry Reid, 148; 4. Colby Yates, 149; 5. (tie) Brad Ansley, Chuck Vallejo, 150.
A flight – 1. Tim Nick, 159; 2. Dan Crabtree, 160; 3. (tie) Brett Ricky, Steve Pope, Marke Browne, 161.
B – 1. Bill Campbell, 156; 2. Travis Sartain, 159; 3. Terry Maskil, 161; 4. Stuart Hunt, 163; 5. Roger DeLong, 164; 6. Jim Thompson, 165; 7. (tie) Dick Hanson, Gerald Baker, Dave Hunt, 166.
C – 1. Jim Damlo, 163; 2. Jim Long, 168; 3. Bob McNellis, 171; 4. (tie) Easton Nigh, Joe Bolen; 6. John Hooser, 175; 7. (tie) Dan Maskil, Dan Brooks, David Upton.
D – 1. Jerry Berbeck, 171 (won scorecard playoff); 2. Dennis Baska, 171; 3. (tie) Zak Kolich, Jay Sutera, 174; 5. (tie) Jim Fox, Dave Klein, 175; 7. Paul Baker, 177; 8. Gene Reynolds, 180.
E – 1. Bob Potter, 183; 2. Nathan Brown 185; 3. (tie) Jesse Smith, Willie Foster; 5. Daniel Chaffin, 188.
WOMEN
A – 1. Pat Seber-Bradley, 178; 2. Emily Pennington, 180; 3. Donna Reid, 181.
B – 1. Melba Gerber, 182; 2. Chris Baird, 194; 3. (tie) Billie Aulthouse, Billie Easterberg, 197.
PROXIMITY PRIZES
SATURDAY – Closest to the pin: LeRoy Wahaus, No. 4; Rich Laing, No. 8; Don McCann, No, 13; Dick Hansen, No. 16. Longest putt, No. 9, Dab Nasjuk; Longest drive, No. 10, Chuck Vallejo; Kansas City’s longest putt, Chuck Vallejo.
SUNDAY – Closest to the pin: Colby Yates, No. 4; Jerry Reid, No. 8; Marlowe Wertjes, No. 13; Doug Winkelbauer, No. 16; Longest putt No. 9, Keith Capps; Longest drive, No. 10, Sam Blake.
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PHOTO 1: Stan Wiehe (right) earned his first Wyandotte County Open championship trophy presented by Sunflower Hills master professional Jeff Johnson Sunday by firing a record-tying 144. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)
PHOTO 2: Pat Seber-Bradley
