Despite heavy rain and a weather delay, all 36 holes of the Indiana PGA E-Z-GO Indianapolis Open presented by Mizuno were completed in two days, May 19-20, at Heartland Crossing Golf Links in Camby. Quinn Griffing of Fort Wayne, PGA Professional at Donald Ross Golf Club, was the champion after shooting 68-71=139.

The tournament began Monday with 153 competitors, but the players in the afternoon wave of tee times were called off the course mid-round due to continuous rains and extremely wet course conditions. Play resumed Tuesday morning, and once the field completed 18 holes, a cut was made at the low 60 scores and ties. Sixty-four players continued on to the final round Tuesday afternoon. Any player who shot 5-over-par 77 or below on the 6,849-yard, par-72 course made the cut. The final round began at 12:20 p.m. with 36 professionals and 28 amateurs.

Griffing and amateur Seth Fair of Brownsburg lead the field after first round scores of 34-34=68. Fair started strong in the final round and turned with a 3-under-par 33 after converting three birdies on the front. The first came on the 530-yard, par-5 third hole when he went for the green in two shots and ended up on the back side and made his up and down. At the 315-yard, par-4 No. 4 he placed his drive in the fairway and landed his approach on the green before one-putting. The final birdie of his round came on the par-4 ninth hole where he made a 20-foot putt.

The back nine for Fair was not as successful. After a drive to the middle of the fairway on the 10thth and 17th holes removed him from the top of the competition and allowed Griffing to take the lead. hole, a par 5, he hit one into the water and later was not able to make the up and down and took a double-bogey. Two bogeys on the 16

“At the turn I felt like if I could just get a couple, two or three, under on the back side, I could get back in it,” said Griffing, who was four shots behind Fair after nine holes. With a second shot into a fairway bunker that resulted in a bogey on the 560-yard, par-5 sixth hole, he turned at 37. He was striking the ball well, but leaving birdie putts short kept him from making a birdie on the front. “I kept trying to grab the right lines, but I was just a little tentative,” he said.

Aside from putting, Griffing struck the ball to his satisfaction. “My ball striking kept me in this tournament. I was flighting the ball really well meaning I was hitting the ball with the right trajectory for the conditions,” he explained. “I was fortunate to execute shots today.” On the 10th hole he executed a drive down the fairway and kept it there on his second shot. From there he got his ball up and down for birdie. Hole 16 was when he finally started executing putts and one-putted for birdie to tie Fair for the lead. Griffing made another birdie on 17 after punching a 6-iron in to eight feet and making the putt to take the lead over the entire field at five under. He secured the win with a par on the final hole.

Fair finished three under for the tournament to tie for 5th with a 68-73=141. Tied in second place were PGA Professionals Denny Hepler of Raccoon Run Golf Course, Alan Schulte of The Hawthorns Golf and Country Club and Tim Frazier of Sycamore Hills Golf Course with scores of 140. “I look at the runner-ups and those guys are the marquee players in the state. It was great to go up against the best and come out on top,” concluded Griffing.

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