As if on cue, Rob Hunt played to the crowd behind the 18th green on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old from Highlands Ranch capped the most memorable tournament of his life in fitting fashion, hitting his approach shot a crowd-pleasing foot from the flag at the 18th hole at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. Minutes later he tapped in for a birdie and the title in the Colorado PGA Professional Championship.
The outcome was a three-way windfall for Hunt, an assistant professional at The Links Golf Course. Besides being his biggest victory and worth the tidy sum of $5,750, Hunt earned a spot in the 2010 PGA Professional National Championship.
“When you look down the list of who has won this event, this means a lot,” said Hunt, the 2008 FCA Denver Open champion. “It’s pretty cool to have your name added to that list. “¦ This is definitely my biggest win.”
Indeed, Hunt’s name will be engraved next to those of three-time champions Bill Loeffler, Ron Vlosich and Ken Krieger, among the many other winners.
Hunt shot a 4-under-par 68 on Wednesday for a 54-hole total of 14-under 202. That was good for a four-stroke victory over Colorado National’s director of golf Matt Schalk and Tray Shehee of Ute Creek Golf Course, who closed with 69 and 68, respectively.
The top seven finishers — Hunt, Schalk, Shehee, 2008 champion Perry Holmes (72-210), Eric Bradley (66-210), Tad Holloway (72-210) and Caine Fitzgerald (72-210) — earned berths in the PGA Professional National Championship that will be played June 27-30 in French Lick, Ind. Fitzgerald made 18 pars on Wednesday, while Bradley eagled the par-4 17th and Holloway birdied the 18th to clinch spots in the national event.
Of that group, though, only Schalk and Shehee made a run Wednesday at Hunt, the second-round leader. Schalk, a former Wyoming Open champion, shared the lead after seven holes of the final round, and Shehee was right on Hunt’s tail at about the same juncture.
“If I got to 12 under, I thought maybe (Rob) would look at that,” Shehee said. “But I was surprised at how well I played after basically not playing golf since August 2nd.”
Schalk had been greatly looking forward to this tournament given that it was at his home course.
“I played great; my ball-striking was fantastic,” he said. “I felt like I had a good shot. But my short game was not very good. It seemed like every time I would miss a green I would make a bogey. And (Rob) played solid.”
After Hunt and Schalk were tied after seven holes, the former grabbed the lead for good with a two-stroke swing on No. 8, where he made birdie and Schalk bogey. Hunt added a birdie on 9, and after another two-stroke swing with Schalk on No. 11 he held a healthy lead the rest of the way.
“I really struggled with the putter the first five holes, but I made an adjustment and got it dialed in for the rest of the round,” Hunt said. “But I hit the ball great all week and only made three bogeys. I just tried to keep pushing. To win by four kind of surprised me.”
COLORADO PGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sept. 16 (final) at Par-72 Colorado National Golf Club in Erie
1 Rob Hunt Highlands Ranch The Links Golf Course 67-67-68–202 $5,750.00
T2 Tray Shehee Mead Ute Creek GC 71-67-68–206 $3,400.00
T2 Matt Schalk Erie Colorado National GC 68-69-69–206 $3,400.00
T4 Eric Bradley Eagle Adams Mtn. CC 72-72-66–210 $2,137.50
T4 Tad Holloway Rifle Rifle Creek 66-72-72–210 $2,137.50
T4 Perry Holmes Boulder Green Gables 67-71-72–210 $2,137.50
T4 Caine Fitzgerald Aurora Murphy Creek GC 71-67-72–210 $2,137.50
T8 Bill Loeffler Highlands Ranch Highlands Ranch GC 69-70-72–211 $1,500.00
T8 Pat Reidy Littleton Inverness GC 68-72-71–211 $1,500.00
T10 Bill Hancock Littleton Littleton Golf & Tennis 70-72-70–212 $1,050.00
T10 Doug Rohrbaugh Carbondale Ironbridge 72-69-71–212 $1,050.00
T10 Zane Zwemke Aurora Aurora Hills 67-71-74–212 $1,050.00
T13 Ken Krieger Cheyenne, WY Cheyenne Country Club 71-72-70–213 $825.00
T13 Chris Johnson Castle Rock Raccoon Creek 72-71-70–213 $825.00
T13 Barry Jennings Longmont Fox Hill 71-71-71–213 $825.00
T13 Jason Brandt Arvada Links Golf Course, The 67-70-76–213 $825.00
T17 Graham Cliff Parker Colorado GC 70-74-70–214 $658.33
T17 Mike Northern Colorado Springs Valley Hi 73-74-67–214 $658.33
T17 John Ogden Castle Rock Cherry Hills 69-69-76–214 $658.33
T20 Tom Underwood New Castle Lakota Canyon GC 71-71-73–215 $587.50
T20 Micah Rudosky Cortez Conquistador 71-71-73–215 $587.50
T22 Doug Wherry Littleton Links Golf Course, The 72-73-71–216 $488.33
T22 Scott Hart Aurora Plum Creek 72-71-73–216 $488.33
T22 Russ Clark Denver GolfTEC-Park Meadows 72-74-70–216 $488.33
T22 Aaron Schellhorn Edwards Sonnenalp 69-74-73–216 $488.33
T22 Will Panella Commerce City Buffalo Run 71-71-74–216 $488.33
T22 Dale Smigelsky Fort Collins Collindale 68-68-80–216 $488.33
T28 David Arbuckle Colo. Springs Springs Ranch GC 69-76-72–217 $395.00
T28 Jeff Hanson Edwards Red Sky GC 71-74-72–217 $395.00
T28 Dan O’Shaughnessy Aurora Fitzsimons 71-73-73–217 $395.00
T28 Mike Zaremba Pueblo West Desert Hawk 76-74-67–217 $395.00
T32 Barry Milstead Centennial Valley 70-75-73–218 $355.00
T32 Darren Szot Edwards The Club at Cordillera 74-71-73–218 $355.00
T32 Gregg Jones Colorado Springs Colorado Springs 71-72-75–218 $355.00
T32 Kevin Bolles Boulder Boulder 75-71-72–218 $355.00
36 Craig Stephens Frederick Indian Peaks 73-75-71–219 $330.00
T37 Peter Norwood Cheyenne, WY Cheyenne CC 75-71-74–220 $317.50
T37 Erik Billinger Highlands Ranch Highl. Ranch GC 72-75-73–220 $317.50
T37 Jeff Carlson Aurora Cherry Creek 65-76-79–220 $317.50
T37 Mike McCutchen Aurora Deer Creek Golf Club 77-73-70–220 $317.50
41 Ron Vlosich Lakewood Green Gables 73-73-75–221 $305.00
T42 Don Powers Colorado Springs 73-74-75–222 $297.50
T42 Rudy Castaneda Arvada Indian Tree GC 71-76-75–222 $297.50
T44 Brad Delman Eagle Beaver Creek 74-74-75–223 $282.50
T44 Robert Quaratino Commerce City Lake Arbor 75-74-74–223 $282.50
T44 Bob McNamee Windsor Pelican Lakes 76-74-73–223 $282.50
T44 Tom Woodard Denver Foothills 73-77-73–223 $282.50
48 Bryan Heim Englewood Cherry Hills 76-73-75–224 $270.00
T49 Rick Cole Eaton Eaton 75-72-78–225 $262.50
T49 Scott Walter Franktown Bear Creek GC 77-73-75–225 $262.50
T51 Paul Surniak Colorado Springs Hollydot GC 73-73-80–226 $252.50
T51 Kirk Rider Denver Bear Creek GC 77-73-76–226 $252.50
T53 Dave Detweiler Larkspur Life Member 72-76-79–227 $242.50
T53 Doug Perry Fort Collins City Park Nine 78-71-78–227 $242.50
55 Derek Osinski Golden Saddle Rock GC 71-77-81–229 $235.00
56 Mark Sturtz Denver 75-75-80–230 $230.00
