MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. — Bendt Bendtsen and Joe O’Brien have been friends for more than two decades and have battled many times on the golf course with nothing on the line except for who buys the first round in the clubhouse.
On Sunday, a potential runaway turned into one of the best final-round battles in recent Racine Tri-Course Amateur Championship history.
Bendtsen’s five-stroke lead to begin the day was down to one shot on the back nine, but a two-shot swing on the 16th hole gave Bendtsen some breathing room and he went on to beat O’Brien by two shots at Meadowbrook Country Club for his fifth Tri-Course victory.
Bendtsen shot a 1-over-par 72 Sunday for a three-day total of 204, matching his own tournament record from 2008. O’Brien shot a 2-under par 69, giving him three sub-par rounds in the tournament, and a total of 206 for the second-best score all-time, just ahead of Ricky Kuiper’s 207 last year.
‘Grew Up Playing Golf Together’
“We’ve been friends since I was 15 and he was 14,” Bendtsen said. “So we’ve been kind of like brothers in that sense. We kind of grew up playing golf together — we’ve played probably 1,000 times together — and always just trying to beat each other. And that’s how we have pushed each other a lot over the years.”
Paul Koszarek, who had the best round of the day with a 3-under 68, moved up to third place at 211, and Mike Masik shot a 72 and was fourth at 214. Fifth-place Zach Nash was five shots behind Masik at 219.
In the Senior Division, Jeff Thomas and Todd Schaap both totaled 217 and needed a playoff to decide the title, and Thomas had a par to Schaap’s bogey on the first playoff hole for the win.
Bendtsen began the day with a five-shot lead over O’Brien, but Bendtsen bogeyed three of his first five holes and that allowed O’Brien to pick up two shots over those holes. Back-to-back birdies on the 336-yard, par-4 seventh hole and 470-yard, par-5 eighth hole pulled him to within one shot.
O’Brien’s shot on No. 8 was probably the most impressive of the day and possibly in recent tournament history. His tee shot nicked a tree, went just 230 yards and left him a blind second shot to the green.
The pin was cut to the right side of the green behind a pond, but O’Brien hit a hybrid over the water and just 10 feet behind the flag. Bendtsen just cleared the pond and had to chip onto the green. O’Brien, who struggled with his putter all day, just missed the hole to the left and tapped in for birdie. Bendtsen two-putted for par.
“I honestly hit the ball well this weekend,” O’Brien said. “(Saturday and Sunday) I hit the ball probably as good as I’ve ever hit it. I hit all four par-5s in two and I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my life.
“So I was thrilled with the ball striking, but the putter just wouldn’t cooperate.”
Bendtsen got a shot back with a par on the 410-yard, par-4 ninth hole — O’Brien three-putted for bogey — and the lead was two shots going to the back nine.
The lead fell to one again on the 571-yard, par-5 13th hole when O’Brien two-putted for birdie from 30 feet and Bendtsen missed a five-foot birdie putt.
After pars for both players on the par-4 14th and 15th holes, then came the fateful 16th, a 401-yard, par-4. Bendtsen hit the fairway and O’Brien hit into the right rough on their respective tee shots, but things changed quickly. Bendtsen hit a shot to within five feet of the cup, while O’Brien went in the left bunker.
O’Brien mis-hit his shot out of the sand, still wet from Friday’s rain, and it went over the green to the opposite fringe. Bendtsen made the birdie putt, and O’Brien couldn’t get up and down, creating a two-shot swing that suddenly gave Bendtsen a three-shot lead.
Bendtsen appeared to be in trouble on the 159-yard, par-3 17th when his tee shot hit the green and spun back to the bottom of the hill in front of the green, while O’Brien hit his shot to within 15 feet.
Bendtsen got his shot on the green about eight feet past the hole, leaving him a tricky putt to save par. O’Brien missed his birdie putt and tapped in for par, then Bendtsen calmly drained the putt to maintain the three-shot lead.
As important as his putt was on 17, Bendtsen thought the approach shot and subsequent birdie on 16 was a bigger shot.
“I think the putt on 16 (was big), because I was one up at that point,” Bendtsen said. “I knew he made bogey already, and I knew if I made that it was going to be big.
“I was three shots up and two holes left, so unless I blow up, it’s going to be very tough for him to catch me, even if he makes birdie (on 17 or 18). I think on 17, even if I missed it, I’m still two shots up going to the last hole.”
The Final Hole
On the final hole, the 429-yard, par-5 18th, Bendtsen hit into the greenside bunker and made a bogey, while O’Brien got up and down for par.
O’Brien was happy he had the chance to win and was also happy for Bendtsen’s victory.
“Ben gave me some openings early on,” O’Brien said. “He was a little squirrely off the tee and wasn’t playing great, and I was able to make a couple birdies. I got it within one, but I’m just thrilled with how I played.
“Obviously, I love playing with Ben — he’s one of my best friends. He had a heck of a tournament and putted the ball well. Frankly, the birdie on 16 when I bogeyed, and then the safe par on 17 — I mean, those were just nails.”
Koszarek had back-to-back rounds of 67 and 68 on Saturday and Sunday after a first-round 76 at H.F. Johnson Park. He shot 34 on each nine to move ahead of Masik, who couldn’t buy a birdie on the back nine.
Senior Division Play
In the Senior Division, Thomas began the day with a two-shot lead, but fell two shots behind Schaap after a triple-bogey 7 on the 410-yard, par-4 ninth hole. The two went back and forth on the back nine, with Thomas holding a one-shot lead going into 18.
Schaap put his tee shot in the rough, then hit a bending second shot that landed just a few feet from the pin and made the putt. Thomas was about 50 feet away from the flag on his second shot, then two-putted for par, making a tricky five-foot putt.
On the first playoff hole, Thomas was on the green in two and Schaap hit his second shot over the green, and Thomas parred to win the division for the fourth time in five years.
“I went from thinking I was going to win on 18 to thinking I was going to lose,” Thomas said. “I needed two putts just to have the playoff. I run it about five feet by, and I made it coming back.”
Schaap said he and Thomas had a fun tournament.
“Yeah, it was a great three days,” Schaap said. “We played together all three days. He had a tough time on the ninth hole, and then on the back nine he came back.”
Final scores and course analytics are available online at www.golfgenius.com, and scores are available on the Golf Genius app. The GGID code is RYA8TV.