It was likely the coldest two days since winter turned to spring in 2013 as many of the top amateur golfers in the state of Missouri convened at Jefferson City Country Club to contest the annual Hieronymus Cup Matches.
The West squad, led by Captain Antonio Serrano hosted the East team captained by Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame Member, Bobby Godwin. Ten players from each side of the state competed over two days in a series of three matches featuring varying formats.
Due to the inclement weather the traditional schedule of Foursomes and then Four Ball on Saturday was reduced to just the Foursomes session. The Four Ball was pushed to Sunday before the final session of ten singles matches ensued. The underdog East squad got off to a fast start taking a 3-2 edge after session one. The duo of Ryan Eckelkamp of Franklin County Country Club and Patrick Riordan of Persimmon Woods Golf Club notched a 1up victory of Harry Roberts and Travis Mitchell. Captain Bobby Godwin paired with Hieronymus Cup rookie, Joe Migdal to defeat Jamie Hathcock and Billy Wynn of Fremont 3&2. The final point for the East squad came from the Old Hickory Country Club partnership of David Bremer and Paul Neeman as they knocked off Missouri Mid-Amateur Champion, Brad Nurski and Tyler Stalker with a 1up victory.
The West earned points from Kory Bowman / Wayne Fredrick as they defeated Chris Dale / Chad Niezing with a 1up win. Brian Haskell and Drew Hatten made easy work of Dustin Ashby and Bryan Bohme with a 5&4 victory on the shoulders of three early birdies by Drew Hatten.
While the rain that delayed play on Saturday moved out of the area, the cold temperatures moved in on Sunday morning. It was barely over 40 degrees when players teed off both #1 and #10 at 8am to begin the Foursomes (Alternate Shot) session.
The West bounced back strong in the Foursomes competition winning 4 out of the 5 matches. Only the due of David Bremer and Paul Neeman were able to tally a point for the East squad defeating Brad Nurski and Travis Mitchell 1up. Tyler Stalker paired up with Brian Haskell in Foursomes to defeat what appeared to be the East squad’s strongest pairing of Chad Niezing and Patrick Riordan 4&3. Drew Hatten kept things going along side Harry Roberts to win 3&1 over Chris Dale and Ryan Eckelkamp. Billy Wynn and Jamie Hathcock bounced back from their loss in the Four Ball format to knock off the young gun pairing of Joe Migdal and Bryan Bohme. The West’s top squad of Kory Bowman and Wayne Fredrick had a scare early in their match, trailing 2 down thru 6 holes before the old “Joplin turnaround” shifted momentum ultimately leading to a 4&2 victory for the West over Dustin Ashby and Bobby Godwin.
Carrying a 6-4 lead into the ten singles matches, the West only needed 4 points to retain the Cup. Playing in the first pairing of the singles session were the matches featuring Billy Wynn (West) vs. Dustin Ashby (East) and Tyler Stalker (West) vs. David Bremer (East). Ashby notched his first point of the weekend with a 2&1 win over Billy Wynn while Tyler Stalker would avenge his Foursomes defeat to David Bremer with a 3&2 victory to tally one of the four points needed for the West squad.
Brian Haskell remained unbeaten for the weekend defeating Chris Dale to earn the second point for the West. Wayne Fredrick of Springfield, MO would tally the third point with a 3&2 win over Paul Neeman. After Harry Roberts (West) halved his match against Joe Migdal of Ballwin, MO, the West only needed a half point to secure the cup.
Ryan Eckelkamp defeated Travis Mitchell 3&2 to keep the East hopes alive. Eckelkamp finished the weekend with a 2-1 record.
Hieronymus Cup rookie Bryan Bohme faced a familiar opponent in the unbeaten Drew Hatten in singles. Hatten was on the winning side in a match against Bohme in the Foursomes format but the East Squad rookie responded in singles winning 2&1.
Playing alongside the Bohme / Hatten match was the pairing of Jamie Hathcock vs. Bobby Godwin. Godwin trailed 1 down headed into the 16th hole and it appeared he would square up the match with Hathcock in trouble on the short par 4. Hathcock however would drain a long putt to save par and preserve his 1up advantage. Hathcock would match Godwin over the final two holes to win 1up and earn the clinching point for the West.
The final two matches on the course would also go the West’s way with Kory Bowman defeating Patrick Riordan 1up and Brad Nurski notching his first point of the weekend with a 3&2 win over Chad Niezing.
The final outcome resulted in a 12.5 – 7.5 victory for Captain Antonio Serrano and the West squad.
Final Individual Records:
WEST
Brian Haskell (3-0)
Kory Bowman (3-0)
Wayne Fredrick (3-0)
Jamie Hathcock (2-1)
Harry Roberts (1-2)
Brad Nurski (1-2)
Travis Mitchell (0-3)
Tyler Stalker (2-1)
Drew Hatten (2-1)
Billy Wynn (1-2)
EAST
Paul Neeman (2-1)
David Bremer (2-1)
Ryan Eckelkamp (2-1)
Chad Niezing (0-3)
Chris Dale (0-3)
Joe Migdal (1-1-1)
Bryan Bohme (1-2)
Dustin Ashby (1-2)
Bobby Godwin (1-2)
Patrick Riordan (1-2)
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