2004 Fall Newsletter


Robert Ritch – MDGA Champion Again!

Robert Ritch, from North Carolina, claimed his second straight MDGA Championship by three strokes over John Rush, from Colorado. Ritch is only the seventh golfer in history to win at least two tournaments in a row. Herb Deurmyer, Jack Kunz, Bob Bouchillion, Art Gendreau, Mike Maxwell and Bill Roberts are the others.

After two rounds, Ritch had a one-stroke lead over Rush. David Bosworth, from Maryland, was in third place, just two shots behind Ritch. After 6 holes in the final round, Rush was one-under par and leading Ritch by one shot, but then lost four shots to Ritch on the next two holes to fall back by three shots. That turned out to be the final margin as both Ritch and Rush shot 39 on the final nine holes. Both Ritch and Rush claimed medalist honors with a 72 in the first round. Bosworth was five strokes behind Ritch after nine holes, but fell back as Curtis Blankenburg, from Illinois, shot a 76 to finish in third place by one shot. Michael Houston, from Arizona, finished in fifth place, three shots behind Bosworth.

Flight Champions

Bob Graf won the First Flight for the second time by just one stroke over Bob Dramin. Doug Schnoor and William Tonigan were tied for third place, only one shot behind Dramin. Graf shot 78-91-78 this year. This is very interesting because when Graf won the First Flight in 1978, he shot 79-96-78.

Bryan Jendra won the Second Flight in a sudden death playoff, beating Thomas Perkins on the first extra hole after Perkins took three putts for the first time all day. To force the playoff, Perkins birdied the final hole while Jendra made bogey. Jendra was First Flight champion last year. Only two other golfers in MDGA history have won different flight championships two years in a row. Frank Dunham won Second Flight in 1962 and First Flight in 1963. John Dyreson won First Flight in 1975 and Second Flight in 1976.

Dick Chadwick won the Third Flight by two shots over John Kaleta. This is Chadwick’s first MDGA flight championship. By the way, Kaleta was Second Flight champion last year.

Arthur Gendreau won his fifth straight Senior Championship by 12 shots, turning back a valiant effort by David Booker, who was just four shots behind after two rounds. Lawrence Schultz, a Nebraskan, was very surprised to learn he won the Senior First Flight in his very first MDGA tournament. Schultz and Roger Dempewolf tied after 54 holes. Neither golfer was available for a playoff, therefore the MDGA used the USGA-recommended tiebreaker system. Schultz won because he shot 99 to Dempewolf’s 101 in the final round.

Handicap Champions

The handicap champions this year are both from the Southeast region. Lewis Fowler from Kentucky and David Booker from Tennessee both played their best MDGA tournament in history. They both shot three rounds in the 80’s. Booker’s two previous MDGA tournament scores were 292 in 2000 and 299 in 2002. Fowler’s two previous scores were 279 in 2001 and 276 last year. Booker shot 257, 42 shots better than in 2002, to win the Senior Handicap tournament by a very large margin over Joseph Siudzinski.

Fowler won the Handicap tournament by just two shots over Robert Lawson. He also won the most improved golfer award. Last year, he shot 276. This year, he had 255, so he improved by 21 strokes. Michael Lewis was second with 15, followed by Richard Aylesworth with 12 and Barry Froehle with 11. Only golfers who shot 299 or less last year are eligible for this award.