Defending champ tied for City Golf lead
With a record number of golfers participating this year, the 26th City Championship finished the first of two rounds Saturday under ideal weather conditions. Ever since PGA pro Allen Manguson got the City Championship to move from July to October, the weather has been more conducive to golf.
First-round scores were a bit higher this year, with the low score a 74. The Championship flight has co-leaders, last year’s winner Jim Marcelak tied with B.J. Kuhn. This is Kuhn’s first time playing in the City Championship.
“I played well through 15 holes,” Marcelak said, “but then I bogeyed 16 and double-bogeyed 17 before getting a par on 18. To win, it will take someone playing somewhere around par, plus, you need to be patient. We’ll be in the final flight, and it slows down out there.”
Kuhn’s evaluation of his own game was somewhat different.
“I was way too good to only hit eight greens,” he said, “but I had decent shots to get up and down. Overall, I was pretty happy with the way I played.”
The most pleasant score was posted by Nick Marchitto, a 17-year-old senior from North Fort Myers High. Marchitto is a cancer survivor, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer at age 4. He fought the disease for over two years and has been cancer-free for 11 years. Because of his brave fight, he was spokesperson for Greg Norman’s Cure Search in 2002.
“I was not really surprised by my score, “Marchitto said. “I’ve been working hard with my coach for the past few weeks. I’m going to try to play par golf tomorrow, have fun, and relax.”
“The greens scared me to death today,” Bob Zimmer said. “They are really quick, and if you hit the ball down hill on a down grade, you can hit it off the earth.”
Zimmer is the first-round leader in A flight.
The record number of players caused a bit of delay in the flow of the tournament. The first flights out – women’s, C, and D – took longer to finish their rounds. By the time the Championship, A, and B flights finished, the sun was close to setting. Manguson could be heard at the end of the first round encouraging everyone to play faster on Sunday.
“We’re playing ‘lift, clean, and place’ rules at this tournament,” Marcelak said. “So it takes longer for everyone to play.”
Each player is allowed to pick up their ball after each shot, clean it, and replace it, even on the fairway.
The tournament is broken into six flights, five for men, and one for women. The men’s flights are Championship, and A through D flights. Each of the flights is determined by a player’s handicap. Awards are given out Sunday for the first four places.
The women are a single flight, and awards go to the two lowest gross scores (actual strokes taken) and two lowest net scores (actual score minus one’s handicap).
First-round gross score leader for the women is Collette Charpentier at 87, with a net score of 72. Vi Ney shot a 98, but her net score is 71, so she leads in the net score.
First-round leaders in all of the men’s flights:
Championship: Last year’s winner, Jim Marcelak is tied with B.J. Kuhn at 74.
A: Bob Zimmer 77, followed by JoJo Fortini at 78.
B: Steve Larsen 80, leading by two strokes.
C: Nick Marchitto 74, leading by eight strokes.
D: Ed Fischer and John Szerlag tied at 86. Szerlag is Cape Coral City Manager.
Cape Coral City Championship
Pro-Am
Friday’s Results
Pro Division
1. Brandon Lee 67; 2. Alex Medinis 68; 3. Kenny Tolles 69; 4. (tie) Tyler Merkel, Gyles Robin 70; 6. (tie) Sean Balliet, Adam MIller, Stan Geer 72.
Team – 1. Tuler Merkel, Jason Heidig, Wes Dale, Joe Kowalczyk 118; 2. Kris Andreau, Brandon Stafford, Kevin Faber, Tim Faber 122; 3. George Sakadelis, Jeff Copper Tom Ribarich, Tom Acken 122; 4. Kelly Tolbert, Gary Maschmidt, Will Rucker, Bob Prout 122; 5. Mike Faulkner, Yancy Franks, Chuck Colquillard, Mike Soperak 122.