Reprinted from article
by Gary D’Amato of the Journal
Sentinel
Posted: Jun. 28, 2009
Janesville — Going into
the final round of the Ray Fischer 72-Hole State Amateur Tournament, 10 golfers
werewithin four shots of the lead.
Any
one of them could have gone on to win Sunday.
It
could have been Matt Behm, the 2006 champion who works at the host venue, Janesville Riverside Golf
Course. Or Tom Halla, one of the state's top amateurs for two decades. Or Kevin
Cahill, winner of the WisconsinState Golf Association
Match Play title two weeks ago. Or Kelly Kretz, the MarquetteUniversity
standout who lost the Fischer in a playoff last year.
But
none of the usual suspects emerged from the shootout with the trophy.
Instead,
18-year-old Andrew Steinhofer, a recent graduate of Madison La FolletteHigh School,
stole the show in the Wisconsin Public Links
Association's premier event.
Steinhofer
birdied the 71st and 72nd holes to win the title. He stuffed a 135-yard wedge
shot on the final hole and made a slippery 2½-footer to break a five-way tie
for the lead.
"He
certainly deserved to win," Halla said. "You've got to hand it to him
for not wilting. What a confidence-builder for somebody that young."
Steinhofer
shot a 3-under-par 69 and finished at 12-under 276. He went into the final
round trailing the co-leaders, Halla and Michael McDonald, by three shots.
"I
just wanted to play good," Steinhofer said. "I didn't expect to win,
although I knew I could if I played well. It feels good. There are some good
names in the field, some good college players."
Steinhofer's
name goes on the trophy that also includes the names Steve Stricker, Skip
Kendall, Bob Gregorski, Mark Bemowski, Gary Menzel, John Pallin and Archie Dadian.
All are in the WSGA Hall of Fame.
Behm
(69), Kretz (70), Halla (73) and University
of Wisconsin golfer
Patrick Duffy (68) tied for second at 277.
"I'm
phenomenally disappointed," Behm said. "Overall, I blew it. I had
four three-putts this morning (the tournament has a 36-hole finale) and another
one this afternoon."
Kretz
lost a playoff last year to Ben Bendtsen III and lost to Cahill in the WSGA
Match Play final on June 18.
"Pretty
disappointing," Kretz said. "I bogeyed 15 and 16 (in the final round)
for the second consecutive year."
Duffy
finished 68-68 but started the day too far back.
Halla,
40,birdied the 10th hole in the afternoon round and finished with eight
consecutive pars in winds gusting to 30 mph. But it wasn't quite good enough.
"We
have our own tournament, the LOG - low old golfer - and I'm happy to win
that," he said. "And I beat Tony Romo by 10."
Romo,
the Dallas Cowboys quarterback and a Burlington native, tied for 18th place at
1-under 287.
Cahill
(73) and Dustin Schwab (71) tied for sixth at 279 and McDonald finished with a
76 and tied for eighth with Tyler
Leis (69).
"I
shot a really good round in the morning," McDonald said, who had a 65.
"I had a good front nine in the afternoon but got to the back nine and hit
a couple wayward shots. Overall, I can't complain. It was a great
experience."
Steinhofer,
who plans to attend Madison Area Technical College in the fall, pulled into a
five-way tie for the lead when he hit a wedge to within 5 feet on the 71st hole
and converted the birdie putt.
On the
last hole, he hit another great approach with his 52-degree wedge, his ball
rolling to a stop 2½ feet to the right of the cup.
After
Behm barely missed a 20-footer that would have gotten him to 12-under,
Steinhofer stepped up to his putt and coolly knocked it in.
