Joe Hobensack watches his tee shot on the ninth hole during Thursday qualifying for the Lima City Golf Championship at Hidden Creek Golf Club.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
The drive to earn the Lima City Golf Championship singles title began with a morning medal play qualifier and the first round of match play on the second day of competition Thursday at Hidden Creek Golf Club.
The first day of the annual city tournament Wednesday featured senior flights and all open flights qualifying.
The top linksters hit the the fairways in the Championship bracket and as always a number of interesting finishes and the field remains wide open with a number of area favorites still in contention.
After championship match play competition, Joe Hobensack, ranked No. 1 of the 32-person bracket. He went on to defeat Tyler Hawk 8 and 7 in match play.
“I know 90 percent of these guys and I play with them all the time,” Hobensack said. “I know anybody can beat anybody so really no pressure. Anybody can beat anybody. I honestly believe that.”
Despite the early tournament success, Hobensack admitted he “scraped it around” but managed to post low score on a sunny day, ideal for playing.
“Good misses. Good short game,” Hobensack said. “I escaped a lot of bad shots but scored well.
Kayne Richardson, who was seeded No. 5 after the morning qualifier also advanced after winning 6 and 5 against Bill Taflinger. Richardson made to the final four last year before falling to in the semifinals to Steve Creps.
“I started out pretty good in qualifying and then the wheels kind of fell off on the back nine but I was able to get a five seed and then in match play I just made a bunch of pars,” Richardson said. “I hit the driver really, really well and that helped a lot.”
Richardson added that he thinks whoever can consistently shoot par can win the event.
“If you make 18 pars and somebody beats you then I will shake your hand,” Richardson said. “Making pars. That is about it.”
One newcomer, Braydon Bottles, is getting his introduction to Lima and the surrounding courses. Bottles graduated from Tippecanoe High School and is committed to play at the University of Northwestern Ohio.
In his match play win, Bottles downed Troy Lauck 1 up.
“I do some area tournaments around south and then coach sent out this tournament and told us that we should try and play it,” Bottles said. “This is the first time I have played this course.”
Bottles was pleased with his play and admitted that he traditionally had not fared well on courses that he has not played but said it was different Thursday.
“I played well, had a few mess ups and chucked a few but I feel pretty good despite not knowing any of the courses around here.”
