Midwest Deaf Golfers Association
Fall 2005 Newsletter

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John Rush – MDGA Champion
 
     John Rush, from Colorado, finally claimed his second MDGA Championship in a very thrilling contest with two-time defending champion Robert Ritch.  After two rounds, Ritch and Rush were tied at 147, four over par.  In third place was MDGA President Darrell Hovinen, four strokes behind.  Newcomer Brandon Babineaux from Texas was in 4th place, two behind Hovinen.  To let you all know, just two weeks before, Babineaux shot 67 in the final round of the USDGA tournament in Rochester, New York.
 
    The first two days, it was not windy, just a slight breeze.  The last day, it was very windy and everybody struggled on the front nine.  Ritch started out the strongest.  After six holes, he had a two shot lead on Rush, but Rush battled back to tie it up after nine holes.  Babineaux, Ritch and Rush all shot four-over par 39.  Hovinen shot 40, and followed up with 41 on the back nine to finish in fourth place.
 
     Rush went up by two shots after Ritch bogied the 11th and 12th holes, but gave one back with a double-bogey on the 14th hole.  Rush still had the one shot lead with two holes to go, then he birdied the very difficult par-three 17th hole to go up by two strokes, which was the final margin at the end.  It was a very difficult day for both Rush and Ritch as they struggled at times, but Rush pulled it out with some great golf in tough conditions.
 
     Babineaux birdied three of the last four holes for an even-par 36 on the back nine.  But, it was too little, too late for the newcomer.  He is a very impressive young golfer, just 23 years old.  He hits the ball high and long.  Once he is able to control his shots, he will be very difficult for USA deaf golfers to beat (except for Kevin Hall).
 
     Rush’s first championship was 1982 in Jacksonville, Illinois.  He has been playing excellent golf for many, many years now.  In the 1991 MDGA in Missouri, he tied with Bill Roberts after 54 holes of play, but a thunderstorm forced the course to cancel the playoff, so they used a coin flip to decide the champion.  Bill Roberts firmly believes that John Rush should be a co-champion of the 1991 tournament.
 
Flight Champions
 
     Dan Krpata won the First Flight with a final round 82.  He won by six shots over runner-up Joel Barish, who was leading by three shots after two rounds.  Stephen Coppock ran away with the Second Flight championship by shooting a final round 83.  Karl Gruetzner was a distant runner-up, behind Coppock by 12 strokes.  Gruetzner was also three shots ahead before the final round.  Tim Anderson won the Third Flight by three shots over Albert Rozman.  This is Anderson’s first MDGA flight championship, and the second time Rozman was Third Flight runner-up.
 
     David (Ebbie) Bosworth captured his first MDGA Senior championship in his first year in the senior division.  Harry Larson was the runner-up.  Five-time defending champion Art Gendreau was not at full strength, see article below for more details.  Roger Taylor beat out Jim Potter by one shot to capture the MDGA Senior First Flight championship.  Lawrence Schultz was the MDGA Senior Second Flight champion, beating Jerry Nichols by five shots.  It is second year in a row Schultz was a Senior Flight champion.
 
Handicap Champions
 
     In a big surprise, Michael Maxwell won the Handicap tournament.  For the first time, the most improved golfer did not win the Handicap tournament.  Donald Phelps from Maryland is the Senior Handicap champion.  It was a very good tournament for Maryland golfers.  Maryland does have a very strong group of golfers.
 
52 Straight Tournaments!
 
     Arthur Gendreau just played in his 52nd straight MDGA tournament.  He has never missed an MDGA tourney since 1954.  Jack Kunz is the only other golfer to hit the half-century mark.  Kunz played in 52 straight tournaments from 1948 to 1999.  Wilbur Sawhill has played in 48 tournaments since 1949.  Wally Riege now has the second longest current streak with 21 straight years since 1985.
 
     Gendreau did not play up to his usual standards.  He had an accident at home during the spring, and was cleared to play at the last minute by his doctor.  He was in physical pain while playing, but he did play.  He could not grip the club with all ten fingers due to two of his fingers still swollen.  It was a very impressive showing for the senior.  Most people would not even have played at all.
 
New MDGA Hall-of-Famer
 
     Congratulations to Richard McLaughlin from Wisconsin who was elected to the MDGA Hall of Fame.  He is now the 49th member out of 890 golfers in history.  He participated in 20 MDGA tournaments, first tournament was in 1948, last in 2002.  He was the Tournament Chairman in 1959 at St. Paul, Minnesota.  He was the Senior Champion in 1997 during the 50th annual MDGA tournament.  He is still going strong in his late 70’s, still playing golf a couple of times a week.
 
Fifth Annual Putting Contest
 
     John Rush becomes the first golfer to win both the putting contest and the tournament.  Runner-up Bob Graf is obviously a very consistent putter and one of the best putters in the Midwest.  Four out of five years, Bob was in the money.  The other six golfers in the money were (from 3rd to 8th): Bryan Jendra, Joel Saunders, Kip Baulisch, Wilbur Sawhill, Patrick Arnold and Charles Schwan.
 
Failed “Three-peats” in 2005
 
     Robert Ritch did not win his third tournament in a row.  Darrell Hovinen did not win his third putting contest in a row.  They were not the only ones to fail in 2005.  The New England Patriots did not win their third Super Bowl in a row.  The University of Southern California did not win their third national championship in a row.  It was a bad year for “three-peats”.  Maybe next time.
 
49th Annual State 4-Man Team Competition
 
     Maryland claims their 5th MDGA state team title in a huge comeback win on the final day.  After two rounds, Illinois had a 27-stroke lead on Maryland.  The final round, Maryland averaged a little over 81 strokes while Illinois averaged a little over 88 strokes.  Maryland outscored Illinois by 28 strokes and won by one shot.  
 
All states with at least 4 players in the tournament are eligible for this competition.
 
Champion:   Maryland      (997) – W. Tonigan (240), D. Bosworth (247), J. Hynes (248), D. Krpata (262)
Runner-up:  Illinois          (998) – C. Blankenburg (243), B. Dramin (246), B. Stricklen (254), B. Jendra (256)
3rd Place:     Minnesota (1035) – N. Johnson (241), D. Schnoor (258), G. Cook (262), T. Anderson (274)
4th Place:     Wisconsin (1057) – M. Maxwell (238), R. Graf (268), W. Riege (274), M. Venz (277)
5th Place:     Indiana      (1104) – G. Gantt (275), M. Gessinger (275), P. Arnold (276), T. Perkins (278)
6th Place:     Michigan   (1123) – D. Hovinen (232), K. Gruetzner (286), R. Deschler (298), R. Aylesworth (307)
7th Place:     Iowa          (1151) – S. Coppock (274), W. Sawhill (286), R. Taylor (293), D. Froehle (298)
8th Place:     California  (1163) – G. Lentz (253), E. Leighton (291), L. Hinks (300), J. Nichols (319)
9th Place:     Colorado   (1264) – J. Rush (224), K. Loui (286), D. Swartz (373), S. Wolgamott (386)