Fourth round of KHO
The final round of the 45th Knucklehead Open was set to be played at the Reynold’s signature course — the Oconee course. A pre-round interview with the leaders went as follows. Alan Burke stated he just wanted to play one shot and one hole at a time and see what happens. Bruce Grau was inspired by his wife and kept envisioning to see his name on the trophy. Pete Blauvelt game plan was “Just don’t FU&*K up”.
There were birdies to be had at the Oconee course. Brian Duffy led the way with a chip-in birdie on the uphill 477 yard par 5 #7 hole. Bob Ingram drained a 20 footer birdie putt on the #10 par 5 451 yard par 5. Both birdies were also good enough for CLEARs however both players were too far out to be contenders in the overall KHO standings.
On the downhill par 3 #8 hole Fred Wine is waving a towel as he is still celebrating his new founded grip (as shown in photo). Rick Princinsky who is off to the side is thanking Fred for Bruce’s chocolate cake from last night. But Bruce Grau got the last laugh in as he birdied the 155 yard #8 hole to shoot a 41 on the front nine and solidify his lead.
The uphill #16 hole was short par 4 hole at 303 yards but a treacherous one. Here Gary Boukis is celebrating his fourth shot onto the green (see photo). However Joe Hirsch birdied the hole as he creeped up the leaderboard as he shot an 81 in the final round. However towards the end of the round Joe was bewildered why he couldn’t had played better in the first three rounds (see photo).
At the end it came down to three players vying for the Big Dog trophy and they were keeping a close eye on each other’s play throughoutthe round (see photo). Alan Burke had a couple of early mishaps on the front nine and slid away from the top. Pete Blauvelt could not garner any birdies in the final round to overtake the lead. Bruce Grau played a steady round throughout and ended up shooting a blazing +3 for the final round. In the photo is Bruce Grau walking in his final putt with Lake Oconee in the background and visions of his name on the trophy.
Congrats Bruce for winning the 45th KHO.
Thanks to Bruce Grau for setting up the KHO rounds and accommodations. The golf course and suites were top notch. Even like the first class selection of transportation in lieu of car rentals.
Final standings;
Bruce Grau +2 (Big DOG !!)
Pete Blauvelt Even (Mad Dog)
Joe Hirsch -9
Alan Burke -13
Brian Duffy -17
Gary Boukis -18
Bob Ingram -21
Fred Wine -36
Rick Princinsky -40
Gill Nichols -42
Greg Bayor -44