Tag: Golf

KCKCC golfer overcomes amputation to compete at college level

Parker Vancampen competed for the KCKCC golf team this year. (KCKCC photo)

by Tyler Scott, KCKCC sports information coordinator

KCKCC men’s golfer Parker Vancampen never had the idea that he would play golf. His interest always started with sports like football, basketball and baseball. But an unexpected turn in his life occurred early on, which would propel his start in playing the sport that got him to KCKCC.

When he was an infant doctors found that he had developed a bone tumor that eventually turned worse.

“They discovered it at a couple of weeks old,” Vancampen said. “We fought it until I was 3 or 4 and at that point, it got too far and they decided that we had to amputate my leg. So they amputated it and my first steps were a prosthetic leg and it was off to the races since then. I started competing and playing in sports and really just fitting in like a normal kid.”

Then as he kept playing his right knee started to dislocate every so often. That’s when his trajectory in competing started to change.

“I couldn’t trust myself to run with my prosthetic leg anymore without it dislocating and I just had a lot of fear,” Vancampen said. “I talked to my parents and told them I was going to quit all these sports. They told me I had to keep competing so I said OK. .. I’m going to play golf. I’m going to go out there and work hard at it.”

His interest grew in golf and it has transpired ever since.

This past fall, Vancampen competed in all but two tournaments. He placed in the top 30 at one event, which was his highest finish and hopes to improve upon his game this upcoming spring, which begins in the first week of March.

Vancampen’s interest in KCKCC grew from him getting to know head coach Gary Shrader, as well as the layout of Kansas City.

“I loved Coach Shrader and all my future teammates,” Vancampen said. “There are also a lot of nice courses up here and it just seemed like a good fit. You can get some good practice in and keep developing each day.”

KCKCC’s golf history dates all the way back to the 1970s with numerous individual awards and Region Championships.

Vancampen hopes to be a part of that success, while with the Blue Devils before moving onto the next step.

“I hope to transfer and play at a higher level and just continue golfing and see where that goes.”

Reid wins sixth WyCo title; Favretto his first

Stuart Favretto and Donna Reid reigned as Wyandotte County golf champions, each winning by one shot. (Photo by Randy Smith)

by Alan Hoskins

The 46th annual Wyandotte County Open had a little of everything at Sunflower Hills Saturday and Sunday – big comebacks, a playoff, blown leads, a new champion, a repeat champion.

But the one constant was the consistency of Donna Reid on her way to her second consecutive women’s title and sixth overall. A longtime employee at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Reid, 72, fired back-to-back rounds of 90 and had 36 putts each day for a 180 and one-stroke win over former champion Pat Seber Bradley.

It took a one-hole playoff for newcomer Stuart Favretto of Overland Park to win the men’s championship at 151. Favretto edged longtime KCK favorite Kevin Rome in the sudden death playoff after frittering away a 6-shot lead with a closing 79 on Sunday. It was the third runnerup finish in the last five years for Rome, the 2018 champion.

The biggest comeback belonged to Reid, who trailed Seber Bradley by seven shots and Leslie Taylor by six with nine holes to go. However, while Reid was avoiding double bogeys her challengers ran into a bunch of them on Sunflower Hills’ difficult back nine, Seber Bradley closing with a 52 and Taylor 58 while Reid’s 44 clinched the win at 180.

“At one time there were four who could win, then three and finally two,” said Reid. “I just stayed consistent, three 3-putts and three one putts each day. The back nine I chipped better. The greens were fast and tough, a lot of breaks even on 3 and 4-footers.”

An errant tee shot on the first playoff hole (No. 10) proved fatal to Rome, who had an even par 72 after trailing Favretto by seven shots.

“I came over the top and hit it straight into the woods on the left side,” Rome said. Taking a drop, he hit his fourth shot to the back of green and bogeyed.

Meanwhile, the long-hitting Favretto was only 50 yards out on his tee shot.

“I had to punch a shot under a tree on the left side and two putted,” he said.

Rome had five birdies on Sunday, Nos. 3, 6, 10, 12 and 17 despite almost not playing in the tourney.

“It’s been a bad year,” he said. “I lost a brother in April, had COVID for about a month and then hurt my back two weeks ago. So I hadn’t played in two weeks. I was disappointed but happy with the way I played. The course was in great shape, the greens rolled well, everything was just excellent.”

For Faveretto, 33, it was only his fourth and fifth rounds at Sunflower Hills. Born in Canada, he moved from San Francisco to Overland Park a year and a half ago to work for Garmin in Olathe.

“My driver (which regularly has 300 yards of carry) was pretty good both days but the second day I was not hitting the greens and four-putted and three-putted. I was surprised I got into a playoff but that’s golf,” he said.

Flight winners were Jerry Reid, Vince Gerstner, Ian Bayless, Phil Stines and Tim Hinkle. Donna Nelson won the women’s second flight while Leslie Taylor had Kansas City’s longest putt.

46th Wyandotte County Open

Men

Championship flight -1. Stuart Favretto, 151; 2. Kevin Rome, 151; 3. Jacob Fratzel, 157, Favretto won one-hole playoff.

A – 1. Jerry Reid, 154; 2. Brian Shatto, 157; 3. Chris Faddis, 161; 4. Jake Kolich, 164; 5. Bob Stoddard, 166.

B – 1. Vince Gerstner, 161; 2. Stuart Hunt, 161; 3. Rick Egnatic, 162; 4. Tim Nick, 162; 5. Bob Chatterton, 164.

C – 1. Ian Bayless, 163; 2. James Hovey, 167; 3. Andy White, 168; 4. Les Damlo, 174’ 5. Phil Hoffman, 175.

D – 1. Phil Stines, 167; 2. Gary Burgess, 167; 3. Jason Lawrence, 169’ 4. Chris Sardou, 170; 5. Michael Klein, 174;


E – 1. Tim Hinkle, 182; 2 Rob Michalski, 184; 3. David Gonzales, 185; 4. Tom Butler, 186; 5. Josh Shultz, 187.

Women

A – Donna Reid, 180; 2. Pat Seber Bradley, 181. Leslie Taylor, 188.

B – 1. Donna Nelson, 198; 2. Linda Hume, 217; 3. Joyce Thomas, 225.
• – Won scorecard playoff.

Proximity prizes

Saturday


Closest to pin – Daron Maier, No. 4; Kevin Rome, No. 8; Vince Gerstner, No. 13; James Hovey, No. 16. Longest putt No. 9 – Tim Nick; Long drive No. 10 – Stuart Favretto.


Sunday


Closest to pin – Leslie Taylor, No. 4; Mike Gillaspie, No. 8; Ray Giesler, No. 13; Rick Egnatic, No. 16. Longest putt No. 9 – Gary Hudgens; Long drive No. 10 – Vince Giesler.

McFadden, Dawson reign in 38th WyCo senior golf tourney

Don Dawson, left, took low net honors, Ed McFadden the overall championship in the 38th annual WyCo Senior Championship at Sunflower Hills Friday. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins
Special to Wyandotte Daily

Big finishes earned Ed McFadden and Don Dawson top honors in the 38th annual Wyandotte County Senior Golf Tournament at Sunflower Hills Friday.


McFadden finished the final seven holes with three birdies for a 2-under par 70 to win the overall championship; Dawson was one just one over with the putter the final six holes to take net honors with a 59.


The overall championship was the second for McFadden, who also won in 2015, and came in dramatic fashion – a scrambling birdie on his final hole to edge Jerry Reid. Finishing on the par 5 second hole, McFadden hit his drive in trees on the right, found a tree on the second shot and then lobbed a 54-degree wedge 50 yards over trees and holed a 12-foot putt.


“I putted real well; my putter saved me,” said McFadden, who had five birdies. Two over par through nine holes, McFadden bogeyed three of the next four holes (Nos. 12, 13 and 15). Another scrambling birdie at No. 14 helped ease the pain. “I was in trees 120 yards out and hit a 9-iron over the trees to 10 feet. But it could have been a bogey.”


McFadden’s other birdies came at No. 5, a 115-yard wedge to 10 feet; No. 11, where he two-putted the par 5; and No.18, where he hit a wedge shot from the rough over a sand bunker to within a foot.

A 1972 graduate of Bishop Ward, the 66-year-old McFadden has played Sunflower Hills almost from its opening in 1977.

“My cousin, Bill Lindquist, was instrumental in getting Sunflower built,” he said. In sales with Jay Wolfe Auto for more than 30 years, he’s currently with Jay Wolfe Toyota near the airport.

Dawson’s win was not only his first senior win, it was his first win in any tournament. “I used to play in the ’90’s but started back this year,” said Dawson, a 30-plus year employee at KU Medical Center. “I made time,” he said of his return to the game.

His round of 86 was highlighted by a pair of back-to back birdies, knocking in a 12-foot putt on the par 5 17th hole and a 4-footer on the par 4 18th.

“My putter got hot,” Dawson said. “I played a lot better the last nine. I three-putted a lot on the first nine but was only one over the last six holes.”

Bob Stephan, 87, and Jerry Reid, 71, were each one stroke off their age in the closest to age competition.

38th WyCo Senior Golf Championship

Low gross champion, Ed McFadden, 70; Low net champion, Don Dawson, 59
Senior kids (55 to-61) – Low gross: 1. Todd Milberger, 72; 2. Mike McNellis, 73; 3. Bob McNellis, 79; 4. Roger Dill, 83. Low net: 1. Chris Faddis, 69; 2. Brad Burton, 70; 3. Daniel Burgess, 72; 4. Jeff Baker, 73.

Freshmen (62-66) – Low gross: 1. Mike Moore, 73; 2. Jim Padelli, 79; 3. Ray Loya, 82; 4. Bill Campbell, 83. Low net: 1. Scott Ramsey, 68; 2. Jay Sutera, 70; 3. Mike Super, 71; Craig McKinley, 72.

Sophomore (67-68) – Low gross: 1. Rick Egnatic, 76; 2. Marcus Allen, 80; 3. Greg Loethen, 81; 4. Randy Kancel, 83. Low net: 1. Tony Kovach, 68; 2. (tie) Jim Wolf, David Pierce, Tim Cavlovic, 69.

Juniors 69-71) – Low gross: 1. Rick Richardson, 78; 2. (tie) Bob Chatterton, Ray Giesler, 81; 4. Jim Orth, 88. Low net: 1. Kevin Johnson, 67; 2. Dan Kalazek, 71: 3. (tie) Don McCann, Frank Moss, 73.

Adults (72-74) – Low gross: 1. Jerry Reid, 71; 2. (tie) Bob Janesko, Bill Toepfer, 78; 4. Steve Burke, 79. Low net – Gary Burgess, 63; 2. Robert Ulmer, 66; 3. Carl Roach, 67; 4 (tie) Roger DeLong, Craig Carbery, 70.

Seniors (75 and over) – Low gross: 1. Dave Klein, 80; 2. Phil Stines, 86; 3. Paul Palmer, 87; 4. Dane Manis, 88. Low net – 1. Everett Marmon, 66; 2. (tie) Bob Stephan, Ron Favrow, 69; 4. John Smarekar, 70.

Proximity prizes
Closest to pin: Paul Palmer, No. 4; Ted McClellan, No. 8; Tim Cavlovic, No. 13; Bob McNellis, No. 16. Closest pin (second shot): Bill Campbell, No. 10; Gary Burgess, No. 18. Longest putt, Tom Butler, No. 18.