On Monday, August 8th, 2022, the Iowa Tri-State chapter of the Amateur Players Tour held their 8th tournament in the 2022 season. Hunters Ridge GC in Marion, Iowa would be the host of this event. Hunters Ridge GC was the most requested course by the Iowa players in 2021, so it was a must have for the 2022 season. The course lived up to the hype, by producing lush fairways and firm and fast greens, in spite of receiving several inches of rain prior to the event. Monday the rain held off all day and 33 players would test their skills on this wonderful course. All 5 divisions would produce a champion and a few of the divisions would produce some epic showdowns that you will want to read about.

Division one was our only division lacking any drama on the day. Joseph Booth was the lone ranger for division one. Booth’s only competition for the day was himself and let’s just say that the inner struggle that all golfers have was on full display. There were highs and lows and at the end of the day Booth hit some great shots and some not-so-great shots. However, Booth was able to be hold on for the personal victory of finishing the tournament and walk away with the prize money and a trophy.

Division two had some fierce competition for second place with five players moving up and down the leaderboard throughout the day. Our division two champion Charlie Estabrook (72) would walk away from the field on the back nine and secure a six-stroke victory over Pete Alepra (78). Alepra and two others were down by three-strokes at the turn, posting 40’s on the front nine holes. Alepra would improve his back nine score by two-strokes, posing at 38. However, Estabrook would do the same, posting a -1 (35). Estabrook would post three birdies on the back nine and finish with his best round since joining the APT. Estabrook would also be our champion for the Senior Net Game, posting an impressive -7, defeating Pete Alepra who also posted a great round of -2.

Division three was full of excitement coming down the stretch, with 7 players within 4 strokes of the lead. The leader at the turn was Paul Mccune after posting a 40. With three players within one-stroke and 4 others within 4-strokes Mccune must have felt the pressure, posting a 50 on the back dropping him to a 5th place finish. Our champion would be Chad Beavers (81) after improving by one stroke on the back. Although, Beavers won by 4-strokes, it was not a simple walk away victory. Nathan Similar and Darin Smith would give Beavers a run for his money. All three players would struggle down the stretch, leading to a battle of who can calm their nerves and finish strong. Smith would finish his last four holes at +6, Simler would finish the same stretch at +5 and Beavers would finish the same stretch at +3. Simler and Smith would tie for second place leading to a scorecard playoff. Simler would win the scorecard playoff to capture the prize money.

Division four would see a new face in the winner’s circle on Monday. Kyle DeFreece would take home the hardware after posting an 86, his best round since joining the APT. Don Murray would be the runner up after making a late charge with a birdie on 17. Unfortunately, he followed up the birdie with a triple bogie on 18, giving DeFreece the 4-stroke victory.

Division 5 was an epic battle between Bob Witt and Jayme Duinink. Duinink held a commanding lead at one point, leading by 6-strokes over Witt. Witt would battle back in the final few holes by tying Duinink on the 17th hole. Both players would bogie 18 to remain tied. This would lead to the longest and most exciting playoff in the young history of the Iowa Tri-State chapter of the Amateur Players Tour. The recap of this playoff is described below by fellow member Brian Vance.

Hole 1 of the division 5 playoff.
Both Bob and Jayme found the left rough on their tee shots. Bob's 2nd shot came up short left of the green Jayme's 2nd shot ended up pin high right of the green. Bob's 3rd shot was a fantastic shot over the bunker and onto the green about 12 feet short of the pin. Jayme's 3rd was a thing of beauty, he had to chip it over a bunker to a short-sided pin sloping away from him. His shot ended up about 15 feet from the pin. They both 2 putted to move onto too a 2nd playoff hole

2nd playoff hole division 5
Jayme hooked his tee shot into tall grass. Bob hit his into the left rough just above a sand trap. Bob advanced his shot down the fairway leaving him a 3rd shot into the green form 120 yards. Jayme's was able to get a club on his ball advanced to the same distance as Bob. Neither of them was able to hit their 3rd shots onto green. Bob hit his 4th shot onto the green leaving himself a 20 foot putt for 5.
Jayme wasn't as fortunate and left his 4th shot short of the green. Jayme decided to putt his ball onto the green. They both 3 putted to tie and we moved onto the 3rd playoff hole.

3rd playoff hole
Both Bob and Jayme found the fairway with their drives. Bob's 2nd shot was short of the green. Jayme's 2nd shot was left of the green in the rough. Bob's 3rd found the green leaving himself a 20-foot putt. Jayme's 3rd shot came up short of the green. His 4th shot ended up 7 feet from the pin. Bob putted his to within a foot or so and tapped it in for bogie. Jayme had to make a downhill slider of 7 ft to continue the match and he knocked dead in the middle to continue the playoff.

4th playoff
Bob teed off 1st on the par 3 and hit an excellent tee shot that landed 12 feet from the pin. Jayme gave it valiant try but his carried into the bunker behind the green. Jayme made a great shot out of the bunker, but it came up about 20 feet short of the pin. Jayme putted 1st and the putt slide by the hole about 5 feet. Bob was able to 2-putt and secure his 1st win of the year.

If this commentary of the final events at Hunters Ridge doesn’t get you excited about golf with the APT, I don’t know what would. Hunters Ridge provided a wonderful course for us to host our first event in Cedar Rapids. Players in every division were battling for position in local Player of the Year standings, which led to some great golf being played. I cannot wait to see what excitement our next tournament will bring. Our next event will be at Veenker Memorial GC in Ames Iowa on August 21, 2022. This course is sure to test every player. Could we possibly have more excitement than what Hunters Ridge provided? I guess you should register today and find out. Maybe you will be the next hot topic of the APT community…. register today and write your own story.

As always Ashlee and I would like to thank everyone involved with helping us provide the highest quality golf tournaments in the country. We would also like to thank the wonderful staff at Hunters Ridge GC for assisting us with any help we needed. It was a pleasure to work with each of them. Lastly, we would like to thank our players for their awesome support of our chapter and the kind words of encouragement that help us make it through the long APT season. We truly have the best members in the country. So, if you’re in the area in the next month and would like to meet our amazing member, here are our final three events of the 2022 season:

August 21 – Veenker Memorial GC

August 28 – Tournament Club of Iowa

September 10th & 11th – Amana Colonies

TOURNAMENT RESULTS