‘Old-timers’ lead amateur
By Craig DeVrieze

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The National City Bank Amateur Tour has gone old school.

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The race for the tour’s Player of the Year will be decided at this weekend’s Tour Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Ill., where the four top contenders all will be 36 or older.

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Steve Schwabe, 40, leads Greg Rios, 37, by 10 points in a season-long point series that encompasses a player’s best five finishes out of nine events.

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Tied for third, another 40 points behind, are two-time Player of the Year Brian Soucinek, 37, and 51-year-old Tom Miler of Kewanee, Ill.

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Last year’s Player of the Year was collegian Tyler Swanson, and college freshman Tyler Pitlik and high school junior Adam Seitz have won on the tour this year.

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Still, the old fellows have more than held their own.

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“I certainly can’t play basketball or softball anymore,’’ said Schwabe, a Rock Island resident who won the Short Hills Amateur and finished in the top five of six other events. “golf is the thing you do if you want to stay competitive.’’

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Rios won the Palmer Hills Amateur and was the tour’s top finisher at the Riverboat Days Am in Clinton. He  stays young by coaching the boys golf team at Davenport West High School and said experience can overcome youth on the links.

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“Unless you are really gifted, you get better when you are older,’’ he said. “You know a little bit more, get a little smarter. Your mistakes aren’t as bad and you are able to scrape it around a little better.’’

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Said Quad-Cities Amateur champion Soucinek: “golf is a little different than football and basketball. You can stay in peak golfing condition into your 30s and 40s.

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“And as we get older, I don’t think there is as much pressure on us to play. You are going out there with a much more relaxed frame of mind.’’

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Schwabe, for one, will not relax when the leaders tee off at 11:56 a.m. Saturday. He has played on the amateur tour since its inception in 1999. He makes no bones about his interest in being Player of the Year when the tourney concludes Sunday afternoon.

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“The guys who are out here playing are pretty good,’’ he said. “To have a chance at it makes me feel good.’’

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More than that is on the line in the year-end tournament, which is open to the top 32 in the standings and leading 12 seniors.

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Just 20 points separate senior leaders Randy Trine, Carlos Salaber and Dan Dalzeil, and many will be competing for berths in the Iowa-vs.-Illinois Hasley Cup competition in two weeks at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley.

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The Hasley Cup teams comprises each state’s top 12 in the championship flight and top four seniors.

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Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com.

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Amateur Tour winners

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Muscatine Amateur — Greg Manjoine*

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Hawthorn Ridge Amateur — Tyler Pitlik

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Quad-Cities Amateur — Brian Soucinek

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Riverboat Days Amateur — Paul Huddle*

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Short Hills Amateur — Steve Schwabe

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Glynns Creek Amateur — Mike Jump*

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Valley Oaks Amateur — Dean Cavanaugh

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Indian Bluff Amateur — Adam Seitz

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Palmer Hills Amateur — Greg Rios

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* — not a National City Bank Amateur Tour member

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