Hannah closes strong again, becomes city, state champ in four-day span

By Ken MacLeod

BROKEN ARROW – In a four-day blue of birdies, Austin Hannah became both a city and state champion.

Both times closing with rounds of six birdies and one bogey for 67, Hannah won the Tulsa Golf Association Stroke Play Championship Sunday at Battle Creek by six shots, then followed that up Tuesday by winning the Oklahoma Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship at The Club at Indian Springs by a single shot over former University of Tulsa golfer Rob Laird.

Hannah, 28, who played for Oral Roberts University from 2005-2009, now lives in Jenks and works for T&T Security and is a member of Oaks Country Club.

‘Not too bad," Hannah said of the back-to-back victories. "I’ve never won an OGA event before and really wanted this one. It means a lot coming against great players like Rob and Drageon (Majors, who finished third).

Hannah opened with a 69 and trailed Laird by two shots. Despite four birdies, he was still two shots down after his only bogey, that on the par-3 13th hole.

Hannah then birdied the twisting par-4 14th to pull within one and followed with another birdie on the par-5 15th. Laird, 3-under on the day without a bogey to that point, pulled his tee shot out of bounds to the left, then followed with a second shot into the trees left. His fourth shot went into a deep hazard and required a drop. By the time he signed for an eight, his one-shot advantage was a three-shot deficit.

"I was just going to let it out on that hole and got quick over the top," said Laird, who concluded his TU career in 2010 and now works for Pacer Energy Marketing and is a member at Cedar Ridge Country Club. "The really dumb shot was the pitch out. I had a bad yardage and wasn’t trying to get anywhere near that hazard."

Laird rebounded to birdie the final two holes to pull within one. Majors made a great birdie on the difficult par-3 16th hole to pull within two shots of Hannah, but promptly pulled his tee shot left into water on the par-5 17th, leading to a double bogey.

"I just told myself coming in today to play my game, play the golf course and not get caught up in what anybody else was doing," Hannah said. "I thought if I could do that, it would be okay in the end."

It was, but there were some dramatics. Hannah saved par from 25 feet on the fifth hole after chunking both his second shot and approach chip. Then he chipped in from five yards off the green on the ninth hole.

"That was a big save on five," Hannah said. "Then I missed a 3-foot birdie putt on six. It’s kind of funny how this game gives and takes away."

Hannah finished at 8-under 136, Laird, who had five birdies and no bogeys but the one triple bogey, was 7-under 135, while Majors birdied the final hole to finish at 5-under 139.

Oklahoma Golf Association
Mid-Amateur Championship
June 29-30, 2015
The Club at Indian Springs – River Course
Final Results

Austin Hannah, Jenks, Okla. – 69-67–136
Rob Laird, Tulsa, Okla. – 67-70–137
Draegen Majors, Tulsa, Okla. – 68-71–139
Jeff Cox, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma – 72-68–140
Heath Myers, Kingfisher, Okla. – 74-75–149
Michael Gotcher, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 78-71–149
Dillon Jordan, Ardmore, Okla. – 70-79–149
Matt Ramage, Tulsa, Okla. – 72-78–150
Kacey Threet, Grove, Oklahoma – 74-77–151
Charlie Crouse, Edmond, Okla. – 75-76–151
Joel Driver, Oklahoma City, Okla. – 73-79–152
Scott Kennedy, Edmond, Okla. – 77-75–152
Bryce Newell, Oklahoma City, Okla. – 81-72–153
Don Clark, Shawnee, Okla. – 75-79–154
Scott Mabrey, Bixby, Okla. – 79-75–154
Michael Koljack, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 79-76–155
Blake Gibson, Yukon, Okla. – 78-78–156
Matt Rison, Edmond, Okla. – 79-77–156
Tony Woods, Owasso, Okla. – 77-83–160
Trevor Nelson, Harrah, Oklahoma – 79-81–160
J Todd Brown, Ada, Okla. – 84-77–161
Brent Robison, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 86-76–162
Blaine Walker, Owasso, Okla. – 84-79–163
Brian Brown, Claremore, Okla. – 83-83–166
James Callison, Owasso, Okla. – 78-90–168
Brian Woods, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 86-88–174
Josh Overfield, Collinsville, Okla. – 86-88–174
Andy Blankenship, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 83-96–179
Eric Mowdy, Ardmore , Oklahoma – 94-90–184
Joey Bray, Stigler, Okla. – 83-NC–NC
Tom Nielsen, Edmond, Okla. – WD