Hunter runner-up in Sleepy Hole Am

Published 9:44 pm Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ben Hunter of Suffolk, left, took second, and Mike Redwood, right, took first in the championship division of the 2015 Chick-fil-A Sleepy Hole Amateur this past weekend in Suffolk.(Photo by Benford Hunter)

Ben Hunter of Suffolk, left, took second, and Mike Redwood, right, took first in the championship division of the 2015 Chick-fil-A Sleepy Hole Amateur this past weekend in Suffolk.(Photo by Benford Hunter)

Mike Redwood won the championship division of the 2015 Chick-fil-A Sleepy Hole Amateur, while Ben Hunter of Suffolk finished one stroke back amidst a large group of golfers at Sleepy Hole Golf Course on July 26.

Sleepy Hole director of golf operations J.T. Belcher said the two-day tournament went well.

“It had the most people I’ve had since I’ve been here in 10, 11 years,” he said. “We had 126 people, so I was pretty excited about it. Chick-fil-A on Portsmouth Boulevard helped me out as the main sponsor.”

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The same store gave the tournament its first title sponsor last year.

Redwood finished the event with a three-under-par 36-hole score of 141, and Hunter shot a two-under 142.

“I felt pretty good,” Hunter said of his performance. “I just went into the tournament just wanting to shoot two rounds under par because I’ve been struggling with being consistent over the summer doing that.”

He was successful in this mission, shooting a one-under 71 on both July 25 and 26.

In the final round, Hunter was down by two strokes after 14 holes and three strokes after 15 holes. Then on No. 16, he hit for par, while Redwood bogeyed.

“I missed a fairly easy birdie putt on 17,” Hunter said.

Redwood bogeyed No. 18, but Hunter only parred it, leaving the decisive one-stroke difference in their scores.

“I didn’t get the win, but I gave myself a chance,” Hunter said. “It’s something to learn from.”

Hunter first played in the Sleepy Hole Amateur in 2006 when he was 15 years old; he won the event that year.

He plans to participate in the 2015 Portsmouth City Amateur next, set for Aug. 8 and 9 at Bide-A-Wee Golf Course.

Pug Taylor won the Sleepy Hole Amateur’s senior division this year with a two-day score of 144. George Riefler was the top Suffolk finisher in the senior division, shooting a 153, which was good for third place.

“I was satisfied with my performance,” Riefler said. “The biggest difference was Saturday, I finished the round triple bogey, double bogey, and Sunday, I finished par, birdie. I actually played well Saturday, too, until the last couple of holes.”

Riefler will next play in the 68th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship starting on Aug. 24 at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach.

J.P. Leigh of Suffolk took fourth in the Sleepy Hole Amateur senior division with a score of 154. He was not happy with his performance.

“I quadruple bogeyed 18 the first day and doubled it the second day, so that kind of took me out,” he said.

Following are the results from the 2015 Chick-fil-A Sleepy Hole Amateur:

Championship division

1st-Mike Redwood, 141; 2nd-Ben Hunter, 142; 3rd-Mike Askew, 146; 4th-Adam Horton, 147; 5th-Kyle Martin, 150; T-6th-Jim Gallagher, 151; T-6th-Jonathon Coats, 151; T-6th-Stan Britton, 151; 9th-Travis Johnson, 153; 10th-Barry Cousler, 154; 11th-Steven Rhinard, 155; 12th-Dustin Brown, 156; 13th-Matthew Spruill, 157; 14th-Billy Britton, 158; 15th-Tod Foshee, 159; 16th-Ron LaBorde, 160; T-17th-Alex Rivera, 162; T-17th-Joe Monk, 162; 19th-Joshua Howell, 166; T-20th-Chris Greenfield, 167; T-20th-Chris Tuttle, 167; T-20th-Garret Swanger, 167; T-23rd-Brian Jeltema, 168; T-23rd-Paul Kubicz, 168; 25th-Mike Bulich, 170; 26th-Joshua Viohl, 171; 27th-Phillip Nelson, 172; T-28th-Greg Fisher, 175; T-28th-Will Comer, 175.

Senior division

1st-Pug Taylor, 144; 2nd-Dave Umberger, 151; 3rd-George Riefler, 153; 4th-J.P. Leigh, 154; 5th-Robbie Hughes, 156; 6th-Bobby Bleiler, 159; 7th-Steve Widden, 160; T-8th- Mark Hanna, 166; T-8th-Quirino Arzadon, 166; 10th-Michael Almodovar, 168; 11th- 180 Joe Tade.

Flight 1

1st-Kyle Mutter, 148; 2nd-Stewart Blau Jr., 156; 3rd-Herb Autry, 158; 4th-Donny Marshall, 159; T-5th-Johnathon Wright, 160; T-5th-Perry Barber Jr., 160; T-5th-Porter Balke, 160; 8th-Jeremey Brittenham, 161; 9th-Sanford Belcher, 164; 10th- Bill Smith, 167; 11th-Clarke Kinney, 168; 12th-Stewart Blau, 171; 13th-Stephen Matthews, 173; 14th-LeCardi Johnson 177; 15th-Ryan Bernardo, 178; 16th-Drew Menk, 185.

Flight 2

1st-Jimmy Boswell, 151; T-2nd-Alan Troy Cook, 153; T-2nd-Dave Cox, 153; 4th-Jacob Davis, 156; 5th-Jay Tucker, 158; 6th-Richard Cox, 161; 7th-Charles Herrin, 165; 8th-Ted Hartung, 166; T-9th-Marvin Teachey, 167; T-9th-Pat Shanahan, 167; T-11th-Brandon Frye, 168; T-11th-Ryan Fisher, 168; T-13th-Keith Matthews, 169; T-13th-Wrangler Brooks, 169; 15th-Justin Askew, 170; 16th-Chris Brown, 172.

Flight 3

T-1st- Greg Bell, 160; T-1st-Tom Hilling, 160; T-1st-Tommy Tyree, 160; 4th-David Baker, 162; 5th-Wayne Rhoads, 164; 6th-Jason Simpson, 166; T-7th-John Gregory, 168; T-7th-Paul Couch, 168; 9th-Ron Fuhrmann, 169; 10th-Jerry Strickland, 172; 11th-Dale White, 173; T-12th- Joey Sult, 174; T-12th-Sean Sands, 174; 14th-Marvin C. Hinkle Jr., 176; T-15th-Bob Cashdollar, 177; T-15th-Cliff Queen, 177; T-17th-Bruce Blair II, 178; T-17th-Fred Cronkhite, 178; T-17th-Mike Atkins, 178; T-17th-Tim Hanley, 178; 21st-Billy Author Gilpin Jr., 192.

Flight 4

1st-Bob Dolak, 165; 2nd-Elwood Chappell Jr., 166; 3rd-John Martie, 171; 4th-Jim Belcher, 172; 5th-John Motley, 176; T-6th-Dewayne Stables, 178; T-6th-J.R. Edgerton, 181; 8th-Gene Garrick, 181; 9th-David N. Shatzoff, 182; 10th-Ron Kittinger, 184; 11th-Craig Carter, 186; 12th-Johnny Askew, 188.

Flight 5

1st-Sonny Taguba Jr., 169; 2nd-Robert Weaver, 171; 3rd-Richard Winters, 176; 4th-Chuck Grady, 177; 5th-Mike Sabo, 178; 6th-John Fritschi, 180; 7th-Tony Holmes, 181; 8th-Rick Park, 182; 9th-Stacy Turpin, 189; 10th-Danny Brannock, 196; 11th-Alan Parrish, 197; 12th-Frank Pennington, 198; 13th-Jack Wolfe, 204; 14th-Robert Haueisen, 214; 15th-Geoff Rhoads, 229.