Phillips solves greens riddle to win Section Championship at Hillcrest CC
By Ken MacLeod
BARTLESVILLE – Tracy Phillips used his stellar short game to overcome some testy pin positions on the undulating new greens at Hillcrest Country Club and win the PGA South Central Section Championship.
Phillips prevailed in a one-hole playoff with Steven Hausmann of Hausmann Golf in Wichita. Both finished 54 holes at 2-under 214. Phillips made a nifty up-and-down after driving his tee shot right into trees on the playoff hole, while Hausmann suffered a double bogey after his second shot drew a terrible lie in a greenside bunker. He pitched out short of the green, chipped long and missed a 20-footer for bogey.
Phillips, 50, who also won this event in 2011 at his home course at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, seemed one of the few players comfortable on the greens at Hillcrest, which were redesigned over the last three years by Norman architect Tripp Davis.
He overcame a double bogey-double bogey-bogey three-hole stretch on the first day and consecutive bogeys early in the final round by pouring in 12 birdies over the course of the tournament. After bogeys on holes four and five Tuesday, he pitched in from a greenside bunker for a birdie on six and nearly holed a shot for eagle and had a tap-in birdie on the par-5 seventh. After nearly driving out of bounds right on the par-5 eighth, he hit a low hook that bounced over a greenside bunker, leaving him 15 feet for another birdie which he made.
It was all pars from there, but that didn’t mean the adventures were over. Phillips continued to make excellent recovery shots whenever his driver failed him.
Phillips had not played at Hillcrest since high school and couldn’t remember the holes let alone the previous greens. He won’t soon forget the new ones.
"They are small and undulating," he said. "They have movement within movements. It’s not easy to consistently hit the right parts of the greens to give yourself a good birdie chance, because there’s so much slope."
Tim Fleming, director of golf at Oklahoma City Golf & CC, and Michael Boyd, director of golf at The Club at Indian Springs, tied for third at 1-over 217.
Jim Woodward won the Section Senior Championship by draining a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Pat McTigue. Woodward, a teaching professional at Oak Tree National in Edmond, also won the Senior event two years ago at Cedar Ridge. He will be defending his title next week in the Senior Professional National Championship in Virginia.
"My game is coming around," Woodward said. "I feel pretty good about it. I’m going to go there and give it a shot."
Both McTigue, owner of GolfTec stores in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and Woodward shot rounds of 71-71 to finish at 2-under in the 36-hole senior division. Rod Nuckolls of Willowbend CC in Wichita and Jim Kane of Edmond tied for third at 3-over 147.
McTigue hit the flagstick on his approach shot on 18, leading to a birdie that pulled him even with Woodward. He was four strokes behind at the turn. McTigue also finished runnerup in 2011 to Phillips at Cedar Ridge.
Trent Rommann, an assistant pro at Crestview CC in Wichita made a double-eagle on the par-5 seventh, hitting his second shot in from 189 yards with a six iron. He said it was the second double eagle he’s made, the first was back in high school.
Section Championship
at Hillcrest CC
Pos Player Today Thru Total R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Tracy Phillips (p) Cedar Ridge CC -1 F -2 70 73 71 214
2 Steven Hausmann (p) Hausmann Golf E F -2 72 70 72 214
T3 Tim Fleming (p) Oklahoma City G&CC E F +1 74 71 72 217
T3 Michael Boyd (p) Indian Springs CC +2 F +1 73 70 74 217
5 Trent Rommann (p) Crestview CC -2 F +2 77 71 70 218
T6 Edward Roethlisberger (p) Big Creek G&CC -1 F +3 75 73 71 219
T6 Tim Graves (p) Coffee Creek GC +1 F +3 74 72 73 219
8 Shannon Friday (p) Lake Hefner GC +3 F +6 74 73 75 222
9 Kyle Flinton (p) Quail Creek G & CC +5 F +7 75 71 77 223
10 Cary Cozby (p) Wichita CC E F +8 73 79 72 224
T11 Lee Johnson (p) Hidden Lakes +1 F +11 81 73 73 227
T11 Peter Vitali (p) Gaillardia CC +1 F +11 75 79 73 227
T11 Greg Bray (p) Terradyne CC +8 F +11 77 70 80 227
14 Philip Holley (p) Hot Springs CC +5 F +12 77 74 77 228
T15 Mark Fuller (p) Gaillardia CC +5 F +13 81 71 77 229
T15 Bruce Baxley (p) Searcy CC +5 F +13 75 77 77 229
17 Jeremy Dear (p) LaFortune Park GC +4 F +14 76 78 76 230
T18 Jonathan Beaver (p) Emerald Falls GC +3 F * +15 77 79 75 231
T18 Kyley Tetley (p) Cedar Ridge CC +3 F * +15 74 82 75 231
T20 Kirt Mowery (p) Shangri-La GC +6 F +16 80 74 78 232
T20 Jarod Lundy (p) Quail Creek G & CC +2 F * +16 80 78 74 232
T22 Matthew Luther (p) University of Oklahoma +4 F * +17 79 78 76 233
T22 Michael Henderson (p) Lakeside GC +4 F * +17 81 76 76 233
T24 Rod Alexander (p) Lew Wentz +9 F +18 76 77 81 234
T24 Paul Eiserman (p) Pinnacle CC +2 F * +18 79 81 74 234
T26 Tyler Bolin (p) Crestview CC +5 F * +22 82 79 77 238
T26 Mike Hansen (p) Duncan G&T Club +1 F * +22 82 83 73 238
28 Brian Soerensen (p) Kickingbird GC +6 F * +24 79 83 78 240
29 Kurt Gibson (p) Reflection Ridge GC +11 F * +25 80 78 83 241
T30 Steve Blaske (p) Tex Consolver GC +10 F * +27 78 83 82 243
T30 Scott Donovan (p) Choctaw Creek GC +9 F * +27 84 78 81 243
T32 Corey Burd (p) Bailey Ranch Golf Club +13 F * +33 80 84 85 249
T32 Dee Roadman (p) Battle Creek Golf Club +12 F * +33 87 78 84 249
34 Jim Elliott (p) Willowbend GC +11 F * +34 91 76 83 250
35 Robert Yanovitch (p) Shangri-La GC +12 F * +35 83 84 84 251
36 Aaron Speaker (p) Hillcrest +18 F * +36 82 80 90 252
37 Brent Cryer (p) The Greens CC +14 F * +45 87 88 86 261
38 Michael Booth (p) Terradyne CC +20 F * +56 88 92 92 272
Senior Section Championship
at Hillcrest CC
1 Jim Woodward (p) (p) -1 F -2 71 71 142
2 Pat McTigue (p) GolfTEC – Tulsa -1 F -2 71 71 142
T3 Rod Nuckolls (p) Willowbend GC E F +3 75 72 147
T3 James Kane (p) +1 F +3 74 73 147
5 Tim Jenkins (p) Country Club of Arkansas E F +4 76 72 148
6 Vince Bizik (p) +2 F +5 75 74 149
7 Chuck Coatney (p) Stillwater +5 F +7 74 77 151
8 Fletcher White (p) E F * +8 80 72 152
9 George Glenn (p) +6 F +9 75 78 153
T10 Darren Watts (p) Lake Hefner GC +1 F * +10 81 73 154
T10 Mike Stewart (p) +4 F +10 78 76 154
T12 Michael Gowens (p) Brent Bruehl Mem GC +5 F * +12 79 77 156
T12 Troy Hendricks (p) Auburn Hills Municipal +9 F +12 75 81 156
14 Brian Gunter (p) Crestview CC +7 F +13 78 79 157
15 Jeff Tucker (p) Fairfax +8 F +14 78 80 158
16 Jerry Garrison (p) +9 F +15 78 81 159
T17 Andy Schaben (p) Wild Horse Canyon +11 F +16 77 83 160
T17 Fred Forbes (p) +9 F * +16 79 81 160
19 Kevin Brown (p) Lew Wentz Memorial Golf C +7 F * +18 83 79 162
20 Barry Howard (p) Hot Springs CC +8 F * +19 83 80 163
21 Robert Lee (p) +10 F * +20 82 82 164
22 Jerry Benedict (p) Adams GC +10 F * +22 84 82 166
23 Kevin O’Brien (p) Twin Hills Golf & CC +7 F * +24 89 79 168
24 Patrick Tubach (p) Cedar Ridge CC +11 F * +33 94 83 177
25 Tim Andruss (p) Dick’s Sporting Goods +16 F * +37 93 88 181