OXFORD – The duo of Todd and Rik Seiler needed every last bit of a four-stroke, first-round lead to hold off a trio of hard-charging teams at the Bluestone Golf Course Men’s Member-Guest Tournament Sunday.
Todd Seiler overcame a poor tee shot on the 18th hole draining a 30-foot undulating putt allowing his team to shoot a 4-under-par 66 and hold on for a one-shot win over Bryan Smith and Jeremy Rickard. Smith and Rickard made up three strokes of a four-shot deficit and also birdied the final hole as well for a 63.
“We heard the talk on the back nine (about the low scores on the course), and we said to ourselves, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’” Rik Seiler said. “Yesterday we hit the ball great and probably could have shot a 60. Today, we didn’t hit the ball close to the hole at all, and it’s tough to score when you’re left with 20-footers for birdie all day.”
A nearly-flawless first-round 64 had the two Seilers up big and in a comfort zone. They realistically could not have expected teams situated at the bottom of the championship flight to make a strong run, but a couple of those tandems did.
Tom Muserilli and Drew Seiler shot an 8-under-par 62 to post the early overall low score on the leaderboard (7-under-par), and they held that until Scott Seiler and John Lott matched that 62 for an 8-under-par aggregate.
“Yesterday we just played great, that’s where we won it,” Rik said. “We both played well, and when one guy was out of the hole, the other was right there.”
On Saturday, Todd Seiler also knocked in a long putt for birdie on the 18th hole, and that was longer than his winning putt Sunday.
It was the fifth overall Bluestone Member-Guest title for Todd Seiler, who last won in 2001 as a guest with Stan Brewer. The tournament fielded 52 teams, up from 40 a year ago, said course owner Will Bradley.
Other flights: Jason Golden and Cliff Owen shot a 66 in the final round to stave off the teams of Chad Bradley-Jason Bradley, and Rick Race-Jerry Birdsall by one shot. Race and Birdsall nearly made up a three-shot deficit from the bottom of the flight with a bogey-free 64... .Brothers Bill and Rich Van Orden had five birdies en route to an even-par 70 to capture the second flight by two shots over Doug Jackson and Rick Wood... .In the third flight, a pair of teams agreed to share the overall title in lieu of a playoff. Tim Paden and John Stafford ended in a deadlock with co-champs John Witchella-Todd Hall as each team entered the final round tied, and both shot a one-over-par 71... . In the fourth flight, Joe Motyka and Andy Bevilacqua had four birdies and two bogeys shooting a 68 to top the tandem of Hugh Witchella-Dennis McBride by one stroke. Witchella and McBride fired a 33 on the inward nine to also finish with a 68. ... In the fifth flight, Brian Willis and John Pickering were far and away the top team shooting a final-round 71 to outlast Jerry LeClar and Scott Meeker by five shots.
Results
Championship Flight
T. Seiler-R. Seiler 64-66-130
B. Smith-J. Rickard 68-63-131
S. Seiler-J. Lott 70-62-132
D. Seiler-T. Muserilli 71-62-133
G. Wood-D. Caldwell 70-67-137
K. Seiler-D. Popovich 70-68-138
B. Aldrich-C. Farwell 70-75-145
First Flight
J. Golden-C. Owen 72-66-138
