HARROD — Mother Nature took control of the Lima City Mens’ Golf Championship following a night of rain that wreaked havoc with the tournament schedule.
But co-operation among the local golf courses allowed play to be completed on day two despite two of the scheduled courses being deemed unplayable due to the torrential downpour.
The Open flights were scheduled for Colonial Golfers Club and were played as scheduled following a two-hour delay with a cart path only restriction. The senior championship, super senior and senior open flights were scheduled to be played at Bluffton but were moved to Colonial and also finished play for the day.
First flight action saw Kayne Richardson best Rich Dackin by a final margin of 6 and 4. Richardson will now play number one seed Brian Joseph at 10:46 a.m. today at Shawnee Country Club.
“Today was all about hitting fairways and greens,” Richardson said. “Plus, I finally made some putts.”
Todd Coil knocked off Stephen Kessen 1-up in 20 holes and now plays against number four seed Chris Inskeep at 10:53 a.m.
“I was 4-up at the turn and then he made a long putt to win number 10 and he got to 1-up after 16 holes.” Coil said. “I made a birdie at number 18 to force extra holes and won with a par on the second extra hole; it was a great match.”
Number two seed Tim Grigsby also advanced with a bye and will meet Ian Hasting at 11 a.m. Hasting advanced with a 4 & 3 win over Dave Schimmoeller.
Finally, number three seed Andrew Hobensack also enjoyed a bye and now faces B. J. McPheron at 11:07 a.m. McPheron bested Paul Masters Jr. by a 2 & 1 margin.
Second flight play saw Chris Fast advance to meet number one seed Rob Fletcher at 10:18 a.m. with a 4 & 3 win over Sean Mefferd. Kirk Slusher beat Kevin Wilkerson 1-up and now meets number three seed Sean Anderson at 10:25 a.m.
Jeff Harris knocked off Greg Stumbaugh 3 & 2 and moves on to meet number two seed Jason Carpenter at 10:32 a.m. Mark Swords advances with a 1-up in 20 holes win over James Shipper and will play Michael Sarno at 8:40 a.m.
Fletcher, Anderson, Carpenter and Sarno all received byes in the first day of match play.
“I played good and only had one “blow-up” hole and that doesn’t hurt in match play.” Harris said. “Everything was fine but my chipping was real good, I was able to get it close when I did miss the green.”
Third flight winners included Chris Lauck 3 & 2 over Tug Taviano, Patrick Heffley 3 & 1 over Dennis Rockhold, Drew Boughan 7 & 5 over Gavin Stumbaugh, and Michael Borges over Alan Patrick by a final of 7 & 5.
Jim Sherrick, Kevin Manley, Billy Taflinger and Mitch Hasting all enjoyed byes on the day.
Third flight tee times begin 9:50 a.m. today at Shawnee.
