by Alan Hoskins
A pair of veteran golfers who know Sunflower Hills awfully well reign as Wyandotte County Senior champions for 2016.
Ritch Nigh, who won the 2015 Wyandotte County Open, took low gross honors with a sparkling 3-under 69, while Jay Sutera, who works on the Sunflower Hills groundskeeping staff, took low net honors with a net 65 to best 103 entrants in the 33rd annual senior championship Friday.
For the 56-year-old Nigh, it was his first year in the senior championship.
“I wanted to play in the senior last year after beating my brother (Reece) in the 2015 WyCo Open but I was on vacation and did not want to cut it short,” said Nigh, a Piper resident who would have had a chance of being the first to ever won both championships in a single season. The 69 was the tournament’s only sub-par round.
No stranger to tournament play, Nigh is a frequent competitor in the Golf Channel Land Tour and only last month finished eighth in the Tour’s national four-day tournament in Palm Harbor, Fla.
“My dad (Clarence Nigh) is a member at Sunflower Hills so I play with him as much as I can,” Nigh said. “I’m a KCK fireman (25 years) so I work one day and have two days off. He was a fireman for 38 years and now my son has become a fireman so we have three generations of firemen.”
While 83, Clarence Nigh took second place in the Senior Seniors flight and his 84 was the closest to his age.
Nigh started Friday’s play with back-to-back birdies on the 9th and 10th holes, posted his only bogey on No. 1 and then finished the round with birdies at No. 3 and No. 8.
“Putting is my strong suit,” said Nigh, who ran in a 30-footer on No. 8, 15-20 feet on No. 3 and 12 on No. 10. “If I can get a putter in my hand, I can usually get it close enough to make the second one.”
Sutera started his Friday on a mower.
“I had to cut the greens before I teed off ,” said Sutera, 61, who finished with a net 65 after a round of 80 on an extremely wet Sunflower Hills course. A regular in the senior tournament since becoming eligible six years ago, it was Sutera’s first championship although he was low in his flight just a year ago with a 79.
“I was killing my drives so I had a lot of wedges to the green,” said Sutera, who had six bogeys and a double bogey. “And my putting was pretty good. Most of my long putts I had tap-ins on my second ones. This is the only time I don’t play the red tees playing at least a couple times a week. We have about 20 guys who play here on Saturday. They’ll be giving me a bad time, calling me a sandbagger.”
A Bishop Miege High School graduate and a longtime KCK resident near Strawberry Hills, Sutera previously worked with some of his six brothers and two sisters in the well-known Sutera’s Italian restaurant near Kemper Arena.
Kevin Moore, Glenn Rice, Bob Chatterton, Jerry Reid, Dave Klein and Bill Palmer won low gross flights; James Philpot, Allen Stapleton, Jeff Stetina, Steve Burke, Tom Colley and Richard John son met flights. The results:
33rd WyCo Senior Championship
Kids (ages 55-60) – 1. Kevin Moore, 79; 2. (tie) Bill Campbell, Daron Maier, 81;4. Craig McKinley, 83. NET – 1. James Philpt, 69; 2. Greg Schmidt, 70; 3. Wilson Winn, 72; 4. Len Zimmerman, 70.
Freshmen (61-63) – 1. Glenn Rice, 76; 2. Tom Bachelor, 77; 3. Joe Carrillo, 78’ 4. John Stenge, 81. NET: 1. Allen Stapleton, 67; 2. Greg Loethen, 70; 3. Rick Egnatic, 71; 4. Frank Campbell, 74.
Sophomores (64-66) – 1. Bob Chatterton, 75; 2. T.J. Beecroft, 82; 3. Rick Richardson, 83; 4. John Steege, 84. NET: 1. Jeff Stetina*, 71; 2. Rick Paulsen, 71; 3, (tie) Bill Edwards, Lew Levin, Denny Murphy, 72.
Juniors (67-69) – 1. Jerry Reid, 74; 2. Bob Janesko, 80; 3. Ron Wilson, 83; 4. Bill Toepher, 87. NET: 1. Steve Burke, 69; 2. Roger DeLong, 72; 3. Merle parks, 73; 4. Ron Medley, 75.
Adults (70-75) – 1. Dave Klein*, 84; 2. Jorge Prieto, 84; 3. (tie) Dane Manis, John Stewart, 86. NET: 1. Tom Cooley, 71; 2. (tie) John Bukaty, 72; 3. Emmitt Hightower, 73; 4. Dale Moore, 74.
Seniors (76 and over) – 1. Bill Palmer, 78; 2. Clarence Nigh, 84; 3. Carl Bruce, 91; 4. Paul Palmer, 92. NET: 1. Richard Johnson, 69; 2. Jerry Savner, 73; 3. Bob Stephan, 78; 4. Joe Dercher, 79.
Proximity winners: Closest to hole, Jerry Savner, No. 4; Carl Roach, No. 8; Lew Levin, No. 13; Phil Hoffman, No. 16. Closest second shot: Joe Carillo, No. 10; Don Giannotti, No. 18. Longest putt: Len Zimmerman, No. 9. Closest score to age: Clarence Nigh, 84.