Dean Prange of Hillcrest Country Club in Indianapolis won the Indiana PGA TaylorMade Southern Open with a 34-34=68 at Bloomington Country Club Monday, May 5th. After teeing off at 8:54 a.m. in the 18-hole, stroke-play event, he waited all day to see if his 4-under-par round would hold up against the afternoon wave of tee times. None of the other 148 players in the field, including 79 of Indiana’s top professionals and 69 of the best amateurs in the state, could match his score.
“I felt good coming in. I had a nice practice round and felt pretty confident going out there. There weren’t a lot of nerves; I stayed pretty calm,” said Prange. Despite his confidence entering the tournament, his front nine was up and down. “It took me seven holes to make a par,” he said. After taking a birdie on the par-5 first hole, he made two straight bogeys before recovering with an eagle at the par-4 hole 4. On the 361-yard No. 4, Prange placed his drive in the middle of the fairway and holed out with an 8-iron for a two. However, the eagle was followed by another bogey. Two more birdies on the par-4 hole 6 and par-5 eighth hole lead to the 2-under-par 34 on the front.
His back nine was a little steadier with seven pars and two birdies at holes 15 and 18 to finish the round. He attributed the last four birdies to hitting his approach shots to within 12 feet and making the putts. “I hit the ball in the fairway all day long and hit a lot of greens,” stated Prange, who hit 15 of the 18 greens in regulation. His stand-alone round in the sixties triumphed and earned him a $2,000 first prize check as well as an exemption into the 2008 PGA Indiana Open at Prairie View Golf Course July 7-10.
The closest competitors were John DalCorobbo of Prairie View G.C. in Carmel and amateur Brandon Pike of Bloomington who each shot 70. Pike, who just finished his junior year at Indiana University in Bloomington, placed first in the amateur division.
Merle Strong of Anderson, Head Professional at Meadowbrook Golf Course, tied with Lon Kinney of Harbour Trees Golf Course in Noblesville and Dave Fleming of Otte Golf Center in Indianapolis after firing rounds of 74 to share the win of the Senior Professional Division. The Super-Senior Division was claimed by Jim Ferriell of Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel with a 77. The Senior Amateur Division was split by Mike Bell of Indianapolis and Robert Karcher of Bloomington who each shot 74.
Two players who did not succeed in placing in the top 10, did however highlight the day with hole-in-ones. Denny Ford of Indianapolis, PGA Professional at Pleasant Run Golf Course, hit a 7-iron on the 149-yard, par-3 ninth hole for the hole-in-one. At the 204-yard, par-3 hole 13, Dale Jalovecky, an amateur from Porter, hit a 5-iron in for the ace.

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