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Taking it back: Southwind rallies to win Brookover Cup

Published 7/20/2009 in None

By KEVIN THOMPSON

sports@gctelegram.com

Going into Sunday's final round of the Brookover Cup, the team from Buffalo Dunes was running on momentum.

After being down by seven points after Friday's first round at Southwind, the action switched five miles south where the home team pulled to within two Saturday in a better-ball format. They won four of the six matches Saturday.

After the front nine at Southwind on Sunday, the visitors had taken a two-point lead.

But that's when the Southwind squad took back control, using home course knowledge and some good back-nine play to their advantage.

Southwind regained the Brookover Cup by defeating Buffalo Dunes 38¬½ points to 33¬½, winning the cup for the sixth time in the 10 years of the tournament.

Sunday's format was singles match play with one point for winning the front nine, one for the back, and one for an overall win.

Buffalo Dunes won six of the front nines outright and halved four of them to take eight of the possible 12 available points and grab a 25-23 lead.

On the back nine, that's where Southwind golfers rallied. After Terry Jones of Dunes beat Gerry Schultz by two points, Justin Shaddix of Southwind picked up two on Jay Warren, Butch Nally beat Dan Pianalto by two and Andrew O'Brate beat 14-year-old Juan Ollarzball, Jr. 3-0.

Buffalo Dunes kept on the attack, though.

The Dunes' Jeff Debusk halved with Craig Brown, as did Bett Marshall (BD) with Rodney VanNorden. Phil Adams (BD) defeated Travis Leonard 2-1, as did Jered Salas (BD) against Larry Jenkins.

Thad Despain (BD) held off Jason Just 3-0 and Cole Wasinger (BD) took care of Ryan Martin 2¬½-¬½ in the match-up between the two head golf professionals and team captains.

But Southwind's Grant Vollertsen defeated Verl Seger 2¬½-¬½ in one of the final groups, and teammate Shawn Audrain shut out Jim Claussen 3-0 in the final group to cinch the win.

Southwind captain Ryan Martin was happy his club got the Cup back, and he credits his team's overall play on the back nine with the difference.

"Those back four or five holes are tough," he said. "Luckily some of the matches didn't make it all the way through."

Southwind lived up to its name as the back nine featured breezy conditions that affected play.

"It was tough out there. The wind was flat blowing. It affected putts a lot more than it has normally. But our guys just bore down and played hard," Martin said.

"We wanted that cup back," he added. "It's good that everybody stood their ground and played well today."

Buffalo Dunes captain Cole Wasinger said that round two gave his team a much-needed boost.

"We played a little bit better (Saturday). Obviously we were at our home course where we were a little more comfortable. We changed some of the matchups to put some of our better golfers with some who struggled on Friday," he said.

"I felt really good about today's matches," Wasinger said of Sunday's round. "We just had a couple of matches we thought we were strong in flip the other way. Our guys struggled coming down the stretch. Their guys were obviously familiar with the back nine holes. The last four holes at Southwind are as good as they get and we struggled a bit coming in."

Team players qualified for the Brookover Cup by placing in the city tournament a few weeks ago. Martin said guys play the city event just to make this competition.

"It's a great reward for playing the city tournament," he said.

He added that he and Wasinger will be exploring format possibilities for next year, still keeping it fun and competitive while seeing if they can implement a few changes.

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Saturday's results at Buffalo Dunes (Better-ball format):

Brett Marshall and Jered Salas (BD) def. Jason Just and Rodney VanNorden 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Larry Jenkins and Andrew O'Brate (SW) def. Juan Ollarzball, Jr. and Jim Claussen 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Jay Warren and Phil Adams (BD) def. Justin Shaddix and Travis Leonard 3-0.

Dan Pianalto and Thad Despain (BD) def. Gerry Schultz and Butch Nally 2-1.

Shawn Audrain and Grant Vollertsen (SW) def. Terry Jones and Jeff Debusk 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Cole Wasinger and Verl Seger (BD) def. Ryan Martin and Craig Brown 3-0.

Match Score through Saturday: Southwind 19, Buffalo Dunes 17.

Sunday's results at Southwind (Singles match play):

Terry Jones (BD) def. Mark Green 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Justin Shaddix (SW) def. Jay Warren 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Butch Nally (SW) def. Dan Pianalto 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Jeff Debusk (BD) halved with Craig Brown.

Phil Adams (BD) def. Travis Leonard 2-1.

Andrew O'Brate (SW) def. Juan Ollarzball, Jr. 3-0.

Brett Marshall (BD) halved with Rodney VanNorden.

Jered Salas (BD) def. Larry Jenkins 2-1.

Thad Despain (BD) def. Jason Just 3-0.

Grant Vollertsen (SW) def. Verl Seger 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Shawn Audrain (SW) def. Jim Claussen 3-0.

Cole Wasinger (BD) def. Ryan Martin 2 ¬½ - ¬½.

Final Result: Southwind 38 1/2, Buffalo Dunes 33 1/2.

Series: Southwind leads 6-4.

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