At the third round at the judge course the putting and scores were much better than the previous first round. However the leaders felt the pressure of winning the big dog trophy as most of the leaders faltered throughout the third round.
Greg Sadowski made an amazing recovery after attempting to drive the well protected green on the 264 yard 18th hole using his 3-hybrid at the Judge course. Here is a photo of Greg hittiing through the trees in route to a par on the 18th hole for a final score of 74. Greg had to use his hybrid on the 18th hole as he broke his driver slamming it to ground after hooking his tee shot on the par 5 10th hole.
On the other hand, Alan Burke placed too much backspin on his approach shot on the 18th hole. After hitting the rocks near the waterfall his golf ball bounced back in the fairway in good condition. Attached is a photo of Alan sizing up his third shot. Similar situation occurred to Pete Blauvelt. His second shot was only 74 yards away. His ball also bounced amongst the rocks and landed 10 feet to the left of his original position at 72 yards away. Pete was able to rope his 3-wood on the lengthy 179 yard par 3 #12 hole to within 20 feet. He drained the left to right downhill putt for birdie as the ball was picking up speed.
Bob Ingram took a risk on the 11th 340 yard hole with a split fairway separated by a pond. Bob took his driver to the left of the pond to the narrower fairway. With only 114 yards away, Bob hit a pitching wedge to 15 feet where he drained his putt for a birdie.
Bruce Grau smoked his 5-iron on the 6th par 3 148 yard hole to within 12 feet to sneak in for CTP just inches in front of Gary Boukis. Bruce took time to snap a photo of his tee shot in front of Gary’s marker (photo is attached)
On the 17th 327 yard par 4 hole Tommy Stewart was 92 yards out and Bruce was standing near the pin. Tommy Stewart hit a pitching wedge to a pin that was back right on the green over a swale. Bruce ” you can take it from here” as he yells out it is within 6 inches !
After the round the group traveled to Birmingham in preparation for the fourth round at Ross Bridge. A nice ribeye dinner at Saltgrass was enhanced by a cheerful manager Stephanie (photo attached).
Rain is in forecast for the fourth round. The true mudder will rise to the top of the standings. Current standings are attached.
The second round of the 42nd KHO was played at the Grand National Lakes course in Opelika. Results are attached. Joe Hirsch played a steady round throughout and then birdied the 18th hole by putting from the fringe to continue his dominance and remain in first place. Bob Ingram and Joe Hirsch got lucky breaks on the par-3 number 15 hole from 182 yards out. Both tee shots fell short of the green complex but hit rocks in the Lake Saugahatchee and bounced on the rough near the green surface. On the number 9th hole Tommy Stewart double hit his chip shot (like T C Chen) in the hole and according to the revised rules it counted for par. Pete hit an amazing approach shot on the downhill 356 yard par 4 #11 hole. Pete hit his 5 hybrid-iron to within 7 feet and made the birdie putt. On the 5th hole Gary hit a blazing 7 iron from the bunker 145 yards out to within 15 ft of the pin. Unfortunately he did not make his birdie putt. Forecast for Monday is wet grounds has rain continues throughout the night. The third round is scheduled for the Judge — Be prepared to be judged!
Round/Day 1:
Boys are now competing for the 42nd Knucklehead OPEN in Alabama. Here is the report, 1st day scoring, and snapshots sent in.
First round of 42nd Knicklehwad round is at the Judge course in Prattville, Alabama. The greens had many undulations making putting very difficult with the hanging weather from 80 degree weather to cool 70 degree weather with rain showers the low scores were very few today. It is wartime!
Photos: go https://knuckleheadgolf.com/knn/photos/. Then click OPEN 2019.
Bruce Grau parred the downhill 347 yard first hole with a super chip shot that almost rolled in.
Joe Hirsch hit an approach shot on the 350 yard #2 hole to within 2 feet for a birdie to make a good start.
Alan Burke smoked a driver to the 179 yard #12 par 3 hole and made a 12 footer for par. Joe Hirsch made a score of 10 on that par 3 hole for a minor setback.
On the dog-leg left par 5 500 yard #15 hole Joe Hirsch approach shot landed on top right of green. On his first putt he was too delicate and the ball stopped 2 inches from the top of the slope with Joe yelling GO GO GO!
Tommy Stewart had to make a 12-footer on the 10th hole par 5 to salvage a double bogey to keep it at zero points. That kept his momentum going for the round as he finished fourth.
