Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Many worried what the effects of Hurricane Dennis would have on the 90th Indiana Open at Stonehenge Golf Club.
But it was Hurricane Alan that tore up the prestigious course.
Alan Schulte that is.
The 42-year old club pro from Hawthorn's Golf and Country Club in Fishers outlasted four-time champion Jeff Cook of Indianapolis to grab his first Indiana Open victory with a four-day score of 274 and a final-round 66 Thursday.
Save a 10-minute rain during Wednesday's third round, the golfers played under clear skies.
During Thursday's final round, the golfers had to contend with a swirling wind and scorched greens that provided fits.
Schulte adapted quickly to the greens, and for that walked away with an Indiana Open title.
"It ranks right up there," said Schulte of the victory. "I've won a couple of regional club professional tournaments in Nebraska. I'm feeling pretty darn good right now."
Cook and Schulte were tied at 8-under heading into the 14th hole, but Cook bogeyed, allowing Schulte to play with a lead. A lead he didn't know he had.
Schulte said he knew that the contest was tight but wasn't aware the two golfers were tied.
Crawfordsville's Lee Williamson, the 2004 Indiana Open champion, made a hard final-round charge, shooting a 66 to finish with a four-day tally of 277, good for a second-place tie with Cook.
Cook lost a ball in the heather right of the green on the 18th hole, forcing him to take a penalty and dropping him to a tie for second place rather than sole possession.
Williamson bogeyed the 17th hole after knocking a ball in the water. Unfettered, the pro birdied the 18th to finish the tournament.
Schulte locked up first place on the 17th after his approach shot landed just two feet from the pin. He knocked in the easy birdie putt to move his lead to two strokes with one hole to play.
"Somehow I just managed to come through," said Schulte. "I got used to the speed of the greens and I didn't have any bogeys today. That's pretty good."
With the win, Schulte garnered a $5,000 check and exemption into next year's Open. The top 20 golfers and ties also gain exemption into next year's tournament.
One of those finishing in the top 20 was North Manchester's Quinn Griffing.
Griffing, the head professional at Sycamore Golf Course, shot a final-round 71 to finish with a 289 and in a 12th place tie with Marion's Todd Chin.
"I had a ho-hum solid round," said Griffing. "The challenge with this course is the greens and I thought today this course played the toughest it had all week because of the wind."
While Griffing was able to shoot an even-par round despite the wind, other area golfers had problems.
Warsaw's Jake Brodhead, who helped lead the Tigers to their first state championship in June, shot a 78 and finished tied for 43rd with a 300. Raccoon Run professional/owner Denny Hepler shot an 80 Thursday and also finished tied for 43rd with a 300.
North Manchester's Patrick Brandenburg overcame a Wednesday round of 79 to shoot a 73 and became the third local to finish with a four-day score of 300.
Syracuse's Stephen Conrad carded a 73 Thursday and finished the tournament tied for 37th with a 298.
Conrad, a 2003 Wawasee High School graduate, was consistent over four days with two 74s and a 73.
Stonehenge assistant professional and Warsaw resident Jeff Schumaker shot an even-par 71 to finish tied for 25th with 295.
Shawn Marshall of North Vernon was the Open's low amateur, finishing with a 286 and in seventh place.
(Indiana Open Scores)
1 Alan Schulte, Fishers 68-69-71-66-274 -10
T2 Jeff Cook, Indianapolis 70-67-67-73-277 -7
T2 Lee Williamson, Crawfordsville 70-74-67-66-277 -7
4 Bill Schumaker, Columbia City 68-72-70-71-281 -3
5 John Andrews, Indianapolis 72-69-67-75-283 -1
6 Fred Mattingly, Camby, 74-73-68-70-285 +1
7 Shawn Marshall, N Vernon 75 68 75 68 286 +2
8 Chris Eckerle, Indianapolis 68-71-73-75-287 +3
9 Greg Havill, Indianapolis 74-74-69-71-288 +4
T9 Randy Nichols, Connersville 75-70-70-73-288 +4
T9 Todd Smith, Peru 71-71-70-76-288 +4
T12 Quinn Griffing, N Manchester 73-71-74-71-289 +5
T12 Todd Chin, Marion 73-72-73-71-289 +5
14 Rob Knuckles, Clayton 70-70-77-73-290 +6
T15 Chad Penman, Fort Wayne 73-72-71-75-291 +7
T15 Zach Wolma, Mooresville 74-67-75-75-291 +7
T17 Scott Morris, Fishers 74-67-70-81-292 +8
T17 Steve Evans, Marion, 74-74-75-69-292 +8
T19 Chad Crane, Washington 74-74-74-71-293 +9
T19 Dave Pugh, Culver 72-75-74-72-293 +9
T21 Chip Novak, Ft Wayne 77-73-75-69-294 +10
T21 Dave Vlasic, Valparaiso 77-72-74-71-294 +10
T21 John Wray, Fort Wayne 77-74-70-73-294 +10
T21 Tim Frazier, Fort Wayne 69-74-80-71-294 +10
T25 Benjamin Davidson, Indianapolis 72-74-77-72-295 +11
T25 Brad Fellers, Martinsville 77-71-73-74-295 +11
T25 Cary Hungate, Kokomo 74-70-75-76-295 +11
T25 Denny Ford, Indianapolis 77-74-68-76-295 +11
T25 Jeff Schumaker, Warsaw 75-77-72-71-295 +11
T25 Lon Kinney, Noblesville 75-71-73-76-295 +11
T31 Ben Fox, Fort Wayne 75-74-72-75-296 +12
T31 Dave Fleming, Indianapolis 76-74-74-72-296 +12
T31 Eric Huther, Jasper 77-75-72-72-296 +12
T31 Heath Peters, Auburn 76-70-72-78-296 +12
T35 Gary Chapman, Mooresville 70-75-74-78-297 +13
T35 Skip Runnels, Richmond 77-75-73-72-297 +13
T37 Aaron Knapp, Columbus 74-75-79-70-298 +14
T37 Stephen Conrad, Syracuse 74-77-74-73-298 +14
T39 Carl Kalinka, Valparaiso 78-71-77-73-299 +15
T39 David Carich, Noblesville 77-71-74-77-299 +15
T39 Ron Carter, Monticello 74-75-76-74-299 +15
T39 Ryan Ford, Franklin 76-73-78-72-299 +15
T43 Bob Rothgeb, Peru 76-74-72-78-300 +16
T43 Denny Hepler, Warsaw 73-70-77-80-300 +16
T43 Jacob Brodhead, Warsaw 76-71-75-78-300 +16
T43 John Cunningham, Anderson 78-70-77-75-300 +16
T43 John Lett, Avon 75-76-76-73-300 +16
T43 Patrick Brandenburg, North Manchester 74-74-79-73-300 +16
T43 Stephen Ford, Indianapolis 72-72-77-79-300 +16
T50 Adam Darrow, Granger 76-72-76-77-301 +17
T50 Andrew Varner, Marion 76-71-80-74-301 +17
T50 Jeff Huffman, Fort Wayne 77-73-74-77-301 +17
T50 Jeff Schroeder, Indianapolis 75-75-73-78-301 +17
T54 Brandon Boomsma, Schererville 76-75-75-76-302 +18
T54 Jeff Marsh, Fort Wayne 75-76-73-78-302 +18
T54 Mark Weghorst, Carmel 78-74-78-72-302 +18
T54 Rick Hemsoth, Fort Wayne 77-72-75-78-302 +18
T54 Ricky Jones, New Castle 75-77-75-75-302 +18
T54 Terry Stanley, Angola 74-77-77-74-302 +18
T60 Erich Martin, Ft Wayne 75-75-75-78-303 +19
T60 Wayne Denger, Lebanon 71-75-76-81-303 +19
62 Eric Johnson, Hartford City 80-70-77-77-304 +20
63 Dennis Bush, Anderson, 78-72-76-79-305 +21
T64 Bob Stephens, Indianapolis 80-72-79-75-306 +22
T64 Joshua Baldwin, Noblesville 80-70-81-75-306 +22
T64 Tracy Miller, Bremen 76-74-81-75-306 +22
67 Michael Amore, Mooresville 74-78-77-78-307 +23
68 Max Weaver, Peru 74-75-77-83-309 +25
T69 Mark Krizic, Portage 78-74-78-80-310 +26
T69 Tyler Zink, Greenville 75-76-82-77-310 +26
