The First Tee Quad-Cities Amateur Tour: Newsroom

Former Rockridge golfer DeWitte shoots day's best at Q-C Amateur
By Tom Johnston, The Rock Island Argus/ Moline Dispatch
Sunday, May 25, 2003

LONG GROVE, Iowa -- Dave Holmes was a little more on his game of prognosticating Sunday than his game of golf for the second round of the Quad City Amateur.

"I told Brian (Soucinek) when we were driving in that Jonas would be the guy to go low,'' Holmes said early Sunday evening after he carded his own 78.

The Jonas he was referring to was former IHSA Class A state champ Jonas DeWitte, who prepped at Rockridge High School. Holmes aced his call as DeWitte fired a day's best 69 Sunday afternoon at a wind-swept Glynns Creek Golf Course.

Despite the solid 3-under that left him with a two-round total of 141, DeWitte holds just a two-stroke lead heading into Saturday's final round at Emeis Golf Course. Mystery man Mike Martin, who has skated quickly after both of his weekend rounds, followed his Saturday 1-under 71 with an even-par 72 in the afternoon breeze and is at 143.

Those two youngsters -- DeWitte preparing to head back to school for his college sophomore year, and Martin, a senior-to-be at Iowa's Simpson College, had a little bit of breathing room on the field.

At 146 are 2001 John Deere Classic Am champ Tom Miler (72-74), defending First Tee of the Quad Cities Amateur Tour champ Soucinek (72-74) and first-round leader Darren Hince (70-76). Hince's St. Ambrose University teammate, Jason McGrane (74-73), was alone at 147. Kevin Lloyd (75-73), Tyler Swanson (72-76) and Kirk Trede (77-71) were at 148.

McGrane had one of the more interesting cards Sunday. He started with a par on No. 18 in the afternoon shotgun, and then carded just one par on the front 9 to go with three birdies and five bogeys.

A group of six stood at 149. Only two of those moved up the leaderboard with solid morning rounds in much more benign conditions. Josh Hart, another former Illinois Class A prep state champ from Erie, fired a 2-under 70 and Tom Nelson carded an even-par 72. Joining them in the afternoon were Mike Long (75-74), three-time Am champ Chris Wilkins (74-75), Dave Struve (78-71), and Mark Drenth (75-74).

The story of the day belonged to DeWitte, who was at 4-under through 17 holes before finishing with a bogey on No. 1. That was better than he thought when a pulled tee shot left him fearing an out-of-bounds penalty.

It was especially surprising that DeWitte, the winner of last year's Glynns Creek Amateur on the local season-long circuit, doesn't think of himself as an especially strong wind player.

"I hit the ball really high and have to work at judging the right clubs,'' he said of mastering the gusty breezes. "I played absolutely flawless except for the bogey on No. 1. I'm happy with the way I played; I can put up pretty good numbers on this course.''

The guys chasing DeWitte aren't about to let him win without a fight.

"I really wanted to shoot 72 and go into Saturday even par,'' said Soucinek, who was well on his way to that until bogeying four of his last five holes as he finished on No. 14 in his round of 74.

Instead, he'll be one of a number of guys trying to play catch up. Soucinek figured that anyone within five shots is still in it. He didn't just pick that number out of a hat.

"Because I think that's how many I'll be back,'' he said as the scores were still being posted. "I think five shots can be made up; Jonas is a real good player and you know you're going to have to play real well. You know what you have to go do.''

Miler continued his steady play and survived a double bogey to card his 74 and remain in the group behind DeWitte and Martin. The banker from Kewanee had two other bogeys and two birdies in his round.

Hince also had some adventures, carding two double-bogeys (Nos. 4 and 12 back into the wind) and an eagle on the down-wind par-5 7th en route to his 76.

Soucinek's round took an incredible turn on the downwind stretch of holes on 7, 8 and 9 as he finished eagle, par, eagle with his scorecard reading 3, 3, 3. that moved him from two-over on the nine to 2-under in a hurry.

The day's second-best score of 2-under 70 belonged to Hart in the morning as the recent Erie High School graduate proved that his new golf swing is progressing. He started on No. 1 and made eight straight pars until birdying the par-5 9th. He then had a three-birdie, two-bogey back nine.

"I didn't do anything stupid and just made a couple of putts when I needed to,'' said Hart, the 2001 IHSA Class A state champ for Erie High School who is headed to Methodist College in Fayetteville, Ark., in the fall.

In the senior's division, Butch Stormer continued to ride his Saturday 68 at Glynns to his lead. Stormer added a Sunday 3-over 74 at Valley Oaks Golf Club to lead Tom Wolfe (Sunday 73 at Glynns for a 144 total) by two shots. No other seniors were better than 151.

East Moline's Patti Lee clubbed her way around Glynns to a 78 and the best Sunday women's score despite bogeys on three of the four par-5s. But it only drew her a shot closer in the women's race as D'Anne Gross salvaged a 7-over 79 for a 156 total and a four-shot lead over Lee.

Like Lee, Gross bogeyed three of the par-5s, all on three-putts -- unlike Saturday when she birdied 3 of the four longer holes at Valley Oaks. But she also carded a pair of birdies to keep her score in the 70s.

"I have no idea how I shot in the 70s,'' said Gross, the defending Am women's champ. "It felt like a 90.''

Steve Schroeder (74-77--151) leads the men’s open flight by a stroke over Trave Toberg (74-78). Jack Dittmer (72-80--152) holds a commanding 15-stroke lead in the Super Seniors race.

Tom Johnston welcomes your comments at tbone@qconline.com or 757-4969.