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Steady play gets it done for 31-year-old Vermeer
Published 8/3/2009 in Pro-Am
By KEVIN THOMPSON
A golfer's scorecard sometimes resembles a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and lots of downs.
For 31-year-old Ryan Vermeer, his card looked more like a safe kiddie ride with a couple ups, one down, and a whole lot of flat. And that was fine with him.
Two shots off the lead coming into Sunday, Vermeer carded two birdies on his final nine holes -- including an exclamation point five-footer on the final hole -- to record a 5-under par, good enough for his three-stroke victory in the 30th Southwest Kansas Pro-Am at The Golf Club at Southwind.
Vermeer started the day at 4-under par. He lost a stroke with a bogey at his second hole, the par-4 11th, then parred in to make the turn at -3.
Vermeer and playing partner Pat Grady were tied at the turn, but Grady recorded two straight bogeys to fall off the pace while Vermeer held steady.
Vermeer got back to 4-under on the par-5 fifth, tapping in a one-foot putt after his chip hit the flagstick.
He lagged a 60-foot putt to within two feet for another par at the sixth, got up and down from behind the green on seven, and two-putted for par on the eighth before closing with his birdie.
Grady, on the other hand, could only match Vermeer's birdie on five and took bogey on the final hole to fall out of contention.
Second-round leader Mark Walker had started the day six under and still held a share of the lead with Colby Meyers at the turn at four under, but they stumbled on the back side and opened the door for Vermeer.
On a day when the south wind defined the golf course, Vermeer just took it in stride.
"It's nothing new, but it definitely makes a golf course like this play plenty hard," he said of the gusts.
Vermeer began the day two behind Walker, but his strategy was fairly simple.
"I didn't really have a number in mind. I just wanted to hit the ball in the fairway however I could do it. (Saturday) at Dunes I drove the ball all over the lot. Today I knew that on this golf course with the wind blowing if I got it in the fairway I'd have a chance," he explained.
And his methodical string of pars was all right by him, too.
"On 36 holes on the golf course, I only made three birdies. You wouldn't think that would be enough to win," he said. "You don't play too many mini-tour events where even par is a very acceptable score but out here it sure is."
Vermeer said he thought his drive on the fifth hole would be knocked down by the wind, so he was surprised when it slung around the corner. Though his second shot went off the green, he had a great lie and simple chip. An eagle would have been great, but a birdie was just fine.
"Making a four there was big," he said. "At the time I think that was just to get me tied for the lead. It's a cushion, too, going into those next few holes because the wind's going to start turning back into your face coming down the stretch."
His lob wedge saved him again on No. 7. He had a good lie behind the green, slid the club underneath the ball, and nestled the ball to within 18 inches of the cup.
"My chipping was unbelievable the past two days. So any time I was around the greens, as long as I didn't have a shot that was really awkward, I felt really good about it," Vermeer said.
His birdie on the final hole was the result of rethinking his club selection. Fellow competitor Nate Mason, who had birdied eight, hit a five iron over the green. "I was going to hit a six iron, but after I saw that, I was like, the wind's not hurting as much as I'm feeling it so I went ahead and hit a seven," he explained.
His putt was five feet away, pin high, with little slope. "It was everything you'd want in a putt, so it was pretty nice," he smiled.
AMATEURS SHINE: The team of Kent Colvin, Kelly Hill, David Watkins, Larry Eakes and Greg Brown claimed the amateur team title. They shot 15-under Saturday at Southwind to go with their 14-under on Friday at Buffalo Dunes to claim the title by three strokes.
They started their Saturday afternoon round on the back nine by draining four straight birdies.
"Then we hit a dry spell," Colvin said. "It felt like we lost a lot of energy. We weren't hitting greens. We came up to no. 18 and missed the green to the left by 15 feet or so. It's a pretty easy up-and-down for a par. But fortunately for us Larry chipped it, hit the pin and it dropped straight in for birdie."
Colvin said they heard the first-day leaders were only 3-under on the front side.
"That," he said, "fired us up."
On their final eight holes, they dropped in seven birdies and an eagle. The latter came on hole five. Hill hit driver and nine iron to within three feet and Brown sank the putt.
Momentum was important in their win.
"On the way in, I was talking to the team. I told them, 'Guys, you never know when you're going to get another chance to win this again. Finish strong. Finish strong,'" Colvin said.
"I really thought we'd win it by one, but as it turned out, we won it by three. I must have whipped them a little hard there getting them to come in," he laughed.
"The thing about our team, it was a true scramble team. Some teams are dominated by one player. We had five players that could all putt, and all contributed for two days, so it was a lot of fun," he said.
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