No easy win, and down to the last putt on the last hole. A day accentuated by birdies and bogeys by round one leaders left a window of opportunity open for Denny Hepler, Racoon Run GC, to walk off with the title of the 2007 E-Z-GO PGA Indianapolis Open Championship held at Woodland Country Club in Carmel.

Finishing with a 6-under par 138, Hepler fired two rounds of 69. Hepler ended round one confident and relaxed, staying to chat with spectators while waiting for the field to finish and the cut to be made. His first round on Monday began with birdie on hole #1, and he repeated the feat with birdies on #4, #6, #9, #14 and #16.

Hepler began round two on Tuesday tied for second place with amateur Matt Huffman of New Castle, but a bogey on the par-3 second hole after a dunk in the hazard put him one back until consecutive birdies on #5, #6, and #7 with another on #9 to go out with 34. Two additional birdies on the back, including one on #18, ultimately gave him the win, his birdie on #14 giving him the tie with Huffman. Hepler’s last Indiana Section PGA wins were the 2005 Section PGA Senior Professional Championship and the 1998 Section PGA Professional Championship, though most remember his win last winter in Big Break VI.

Until the 36^th hole it looked as if Matt Huffman might be able to pull off the win after emerging as leader for the entire round two. Birdie at #3 and an eagle 3 on the par-5 #4 put him at 6-under for the tournament and the lead. After a bogey and another birdie, Huffman made the turn at 6-under, but fell back to 5-under on the 10^th. He remained there until the 36^th hole of the tournament when an errant tee shot forced him to punch out of the tree-line and take bogey, finishing at 4-under and tied for second with Alan Schulte and Quinn Griffing.

Indianapolis Open defending champion Alan Schulte, who had edged Quinn Griffing out of Player of the Year honors in 2006, fought erratic play for most of the second round. He dropped to 1-under on the third hole after double on #2 and bogey on #3, but was able to manufacture some outstanding shots to get back to 4-under. Highlights for Schulte’s round included a chip-in from a lie not far from the lip of a greenside bunker on #7 where he commented, “Keeping you busy with my ups and downs,” referring to the leader board.

A monster putt of at least 50 feet on #9 climbed up then down a hill in the green and found the bottom of the cup for another Schulte birdie. Though his best shot of the day came on #14 when his drive landed in a divot on the upslope next to a fairway bunker. Schulte placed the shot to about four feet and made the putt for birdie, to go to 3-under. A 2 on the par-three #17 brought him to 4-under, and a narrowly missed putt on #18 nearly earned him second place alone.

Quinn Griffing, beginning the second round tied with Schulte for first place at 4-under, got to 5-under quickly with birdie on #2. He eventually lost two of those strokes on the front with bogeys, finishing the nine at 3-under. Griffing managed to keep it in the middle off the tee and knock it in close on most of the greens while Huffman and Schulte struggled. However, he could not get the putts to fall to capitalize on his second shots. On the par 5 #16 Griffing went for the green in two, but missed it to the left, landing next to a greenside bunker on the side-hill. He was able to make a great chip onto the green, but lipped out another putt. Griffing finished first in most pars for the two rounds at 91.7 percent.

Round One Recap

One hundred fifty-four players; one title. The E-Z-GO PGA Indianapolis Open continues with round two Tuesday, May 22^nd at Woodland Country Club in Carmel. Heading the leader board are professionals Alan Schulte, Fishers (The Hawthorns) and Quinn Griffing of Fort Wayne (Donald Ross Course), both with 4-under scores of 68.

Schulte, the 2006 E-Z-GO Indianapolis Open champion bumped amateur Matt Huffman of New Castle from the lead spot. Huffman shot 69 for round one, carding six birdies and three bogies.

Schulte went out with 33 (three birdies and no bogeys) and came back in with 35 ( two birdies and one bogey). Having a bit of trouble with his putter, Schulte claimed he “couldn’t make a putt, so he had to hit it in front so I could chip in,” which he did twice.

Griffing didn’t say much about his round, but let the numbers speak for themselves. His nines were the reverse of Schulte’s with 35 on the front and 33 on the back. Griffing claimed he “left a few out there” and will be hoping to find them tomorrow for round two.

Tied for third with Huffman is Denny Hepler, professional at Racoon Run GC also at 69. Hepler found the front the less challenging of the two nines, going out with 32, and coming in with 37.

Amateur Josh Thompson of Indianapolis and professional David Carich from The Bridgewater Club are tied for fifth at 2-under, 70. Also under par for the round are seven additional participants.

After round one the field was cut to the low 60 scores and ties, making 76 the score to shoot to continue on. Round two tee times for the remining 69 players begin Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. at Woodland Country Club. Admission is free.