Kitchen Creek Classic crowns new champ

In a real switch of weather from last year, the annual Kitchen Creek Classic men’s golf tournament crowned a new champion under blazing hot, dry conditions Sunday.
But it was hot for another reason, too.
Winner Johnny Lundon opened his second round Sunday with a birdie on the first hole, but then he bogeyed #3 and #4. “For a while, I thought I was done,” Lundon remarked.
Then he got hot—going birdie, eagle, birdie on #5-#7 to bring his game around. “It was a pretty up and down front nine,” Lundon admitted.
By the 15th, he had battled back and was just one shot behind “Snake” Krawchuk, who was leading the two-day tourney at the time.
“I had one bad shot on #8, out of bounds,” noted Krawchuk, which helped keep Lundon in it early. “And #17 hurt. I took a double bogey. We were tied going into #17.”
With a solid par, Lundon took the lead on the 17th, then finished out the round—and the championship—with another par on #18.
“I hit the best drive of the day on #18,” Lundon said, adding he dealt with the pressure pretty well. “I still had work to do. I told myself just make bogey. I was a little nervous.”
Lundon took the overall championship by two strokes over Krawchuk with a two-day total of two-under 142 (71-71). He won a Fuji digital camera for his efforts.
In all, 104 golfers took part in the tournament in nine flights. Each low gross winner received a Minolta digital camera, with second taking home a putter and third winning Foot-Joy golf shoes.
Prizes also were awarded in each flight for the first and second low net scores.
Lundon, who hadn’t golfed for several years before this summer, was surprised he could hang on to win, especially with well-known golfers like Krawchuk, Russ Desserre (who round out their threesome), and club champ Dr. Steve Chown (who was playing ahead of them).
“Snake can make a birdie or an eagle from anywhere,” said Lundon. “It was scary, Snake and Russ are pretty good players.
“I just hit the ball well and didn’t get into any trouble,” he added. “I tried to keep it together for two days.”
“Golf sometimes goes to he who makes the least amount of mistakes,” noted Murray Young of Thunder Bay, who finished first in the second flight after Sunday’s final round.
“Just ask Mike Weir that today.”
In fact, Lundon could have taught Weir a thing or two.
Weir, the Masters champion and front runner for PGA player of the year, was set up to make a charge at the PGA Championship on Sunday, but when he bogeyed his first five holes, he couldn’t turn his game around like Lundon did.
“I have to give him credit,” Krawchuk said of Lundon. “He was steady.”
“It’s impressive how he held on,” agreed Kitchen Creek club pro Steve Wood. “It’s tough, especially playing with and against a past club champ [Krawchuk].
“He had to beat the best and he did it.”
Wood was very happy with the Classic this year. “Excellent,” he said. “The spirit of the weekend was excellent.
“The weather was awesome, and the course was in great shape. Awesome. The scores were excellent,” he added.
Wood noted the 104 participants was down from last year’s 112, but they still were satisfied with the turnout.
“We can always have more,” he conceded. “We’d love to get to 180.”
Wood also believes the tournament isn’t recognized as the value it is.
“It’s a tremendous value,” he said, adding participants get three rounds of golf, a meal, and very good prizes for the $100 entry fee.
“I think we do pretty well as it is,” he continued. “We’ll try to get some hole sponsorships [next year] to make prizes even better.
“Maybe a car for a hole-in-one in addition to the $10,000 in audio/visual equipment from Sight & Sound.”
Close call
Speaking of holes-in-one, Young had a good shot for an ace at #11 on Sunday.
“I spun out [of the cup] on #11 for a hole-in-one,” he said. “I knew when I hit it I was all over the flag.
“You just hope you picked the right club,” he mused. “I made the [birdie] putt.”
“That’s the closest we’ve been [to giving away the prize],” Wood said of Young’s shot, adding no one has made a hole-in-one in the tournament before.
“The time is coming.”
Another great shot came off Ben Allen’s three-wood on the par-four 10th on Sunday.
“I ripped a three wood [from the tee],” he recalled. “It landed short and took a big bounce to the back of the green.
“I snaked one in from the back of the green,” he added, referring to his eagle putt. “It was pretty sweet.”