Wilkins blows out the candles on birthday cake and golf victory

May 19, 2008 03:27AM

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By Tom Johnston

ALEDO – Chris Wilkins might not argue the old adage that with age comes wisdom.

Celebrating his 35th birthday this week, the Bettendorf resident went out and won his first Quad-City Amateur Tour event since the 2004 Tour Championship. Wilkins held off fellow Bettendorfer Adam Seitz on Sunday to take the Hawthorn Ridge Amateur title by a stroke.

``The victory feels better than the birthday, I must admit,'' said Wilkins, who carded a 2-over 74 in blustery conditions and finished the 36 holes even par. ``It's been a long time coming; birthdays come once a year, but it seems as if victories don't come that often anymore.''

Not all that long ago, Wilkins was a dominant force on the local summer tour that this year is being sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank. He was always near the top of the leaderboard, if not winning tournaments, and always a factor in the Player of the Year race. As the dry spell indicates, though, things have changed for the father of two, who started his Sunday round birdie-birdie and never relinquished the lead.

``It sounds cliché, but I've taken a new attitude and am just focusing on executing each shot more than I'm worrying about my score,'' said Wilkins.

That must be true, because he stopped Seitz in his tracks on the 18th green.

``We both had makable birdie putts on 18 and Chris came over and asked me `Am I up 1 on you?''' said Seitz, whose 1-over 73 was the best championship flight score of the day.

After Seitz had birdied 15 and 16 and Wilkins bogeyed the par-3 17th, the margin was, indeed, one. Seitz said Wilkins secured the victory with a great par ``from out of nowhere in the trees on 18.''

``I'm very happy and pleased,'' said Wilkins of the even-par victory. ``There's a lot of competition out here now and it's hard to win; it certainly is hard for me, at least. It's nice to start off the year on a good note.''

Seitz, who has struggled with his game the last few years, was also happy with his finish.

``Second is great, but it's not anything like a win,'' he said, always expecting the most out of his game. ``Chris played well; I think we both could have played better, but the conditions and course were tough. Chris just played better.''

It was also a nice way to start his birthday-week celebration. Even better than a trip with the family to Ganzo's Mexican Restaurant to enjoy his victory.

Wilkins wasn't the only other player celebrating on Sunday. Rock Island's Dan Fisher aced the 194-yard 17th hole using a 4-iron that came while playing with Wilkins, Seitz and Kirk Trede (71-78=149, for a T3 finish). It was Fisher's second career ace and came in a round of 80.