A four-way tie for the lead with scores of 67 at the Indiana PGA Northern Open at Indiana National Golf Course at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind., was broken by a playoff Monday, June 2. The win went to amateur Brian Maurer of Richmond after saving par against Quinn Griffing of Donald Ross Golf Club in Fort Wayne, local favorite Chad Hutsell of Plymouth Country Club in Plymouth, and Cary Hungate of Kokomo Country Club in Kokomo who all made bogey or higher.

After a stray tee shot left into trees, Maurer found himself with a tough second shot while the other three competitors’ balls landed in the fairway or first cut of rough. “I had an awkward stance up against a tree and I had to punch out,” he explained. The punch shot came to about 60 feet, and he was able to get the ball up and down for par. Despite their successful tee shots, Hungate planted his approach in the water and eventually picked up, and Griffing and Hutsell’s putting failed to keep them in the game.

Maurer defeated the other 130 players in the field with his consistent 33-34=67. “I was fortunate enough to keep the ball in play, avoid trouble and make putts when I needed to,” said Maurer. “I just played solid all day. Obviously it paid off.” He made three sets of back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth, seventh and eighth, and 16-17th holes to more than make up for his bogey on the 401-yard, par 4 hole 1.

This is Maurer’s second IGA-PGA win; he was the winner of the 2007 IGA McDonalds Stroke Play event at The Legends of Indiana in Franklin. He will continue his collegiate golfing career at Ball State University this fall as a senior, and this year’s win earned him an exemption into the 2009 PGA Indiana Open as well.

In the Senior Amateur division, Sam Till of Fort Wayne was the victor with a 3-under-par 69 and Griffing and Hungate claimed the Senior Professional division with their 67’s. The Super Senior division was taken by Tony Krebs of Black Squirrel Golf Course in Goshen.