Second annual Michiana Hickory Open finding a great home at Warren Golf Course
The second annual Michiana Hickory Open was hotly contested on the Warren Golf Course at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. on Saturday, Aug. 24. Thirty-two intrepid golfers from five Midwestern states, an increase of seven from last year, challenged the Coore-Crenshaw links style layout under warm sunny skies.
Bert Coghill, last year’s overall champion, repeated again this year, shooting an 82. He received a vintage golf trophy as well as a gift certificate from the pro shop. Even though the course layout was slightly shorter, the pin positions and the tricky putting surfaces resulted in higher scores all around.
In the Open division, Joe Bodnar claimed the gold medal with a 67; Dave Ramos the silver with a 72, and Scott Staudacher the Bronze with a 75. New this year was the Senior division and Roger Hill, past GCS President, repeated his winning ways from a year ago and claimed the gold medal; Tim Stroshine the silver with a 69; and Max Hollen the bronze with a 77.
In the Scramble division, the dark horse team of Gordon Beggs, Joe Trefilek, Micah Bosman, and Bill Nelson carded an excellent eight under par to claim their engraved medals.. The second place team of Brad Baird, Bryant Murphy, Tom Borger, and Paul Carlson finished two strokes behind with a 66.
There were two new hickory players – Darren Spinks from Illinois and Kenny Fry from South Bend. Kenny was the PGA professional who opened the Warren Golf Course. He claimed the Closest to the Pin prize while Tim Gray, also of South Bend, canned an 18-foot putt to win that award.
This tournament is a joint outing between the Golf Collector’s Society and the Society of Hickory Golfers. Many thanks go to Bob Caston, the president of SoHG for his help in setting up the golf course, and to Ed Ronco from the Wyandotte Hickory Organization (WHO) for bringing a set of hickory clubs. Tom Borger also helped to organize the event.
Thanks also to Gary Wyckoff, Willie Gayle, Micah Bosman, Bill Nelson, and Tim Stroshine for setting up a Trade Fair. John Foster, the general manager of the golf course, and his staff, Cody Risedorph and Greg Helmkamp, did an outstanding job. Finally, many thanks go to Tim Gray, the official tournament photographer for the past two years. Check out photographs on the Warren Golf Course web page, the GCS webpage, the SoHG webpage and GCS Facebook page. A short video, shot by television station WSBT can also be seen on the GCS Facebook page.