The annual Senior Men’s Open at Kitchen Creek last Wednesday saw an overnight changing of the guard as winner Dennis “Poncho” Krantz was disqualified the following morning, leaving Rob Badiuk in top spot.
Krantz picked up his ball instead of tapping in a short putt, which, by the rules, disqualified him from the tournament.
What was notable about this development was who brought his mistake to the attention of the tournament’s organizers.
“I disqualified myself,” he said. “It was about a six-inch putt and I [was] just brain dead, I guess.”
Krantz was tied with Badiuk with a score of 76 after 18 holes—forcing a playoff. Badiuk bogeyed on the second hole of the playoff while Krantz made par just as the weather began to turn nasty.
His non-putt had happened earlier in the tournament, and Krantz said he realized his error that night thinking about the tournament, “replaying in my mind and I discovered I didn’t hole out on one hole.”
He said part of the reason may have been that he was enjoying the Senior Open so much. “When you’re playing casual rounds with your buddies, you know you’re good [without having to take the short putt],” he explained.
Krantz said he couldn’t bear to take his championship prize—a power saw—realizing that he had cheated, and phoned Badiuk and organizer Ken Bekesi on Thursday morning.
“The disqualification was in line, and he insisted on it,” Bekesi said.
Coming in second in the revised standings was Tom Bennett, with Bill Hughes in third.
Despite giving up his spot atop the leaderboard, Krantz said he enjoyed the day thoroughly. “We had a great time. Well-run tournament, great people and everything,” he remarked.
Wayne Strachan, director of golf at Kitchen Creek, said he hadn’t heard of anything like the disqualification happening before, but that it did “show the type of man [Krantz] is.”
“Definitely good to be honest on the part of ‘Poncho,’ but it’s kind of, I guess, a little bit weird to hear that it happened.”
The Kitchen Creek Senior Men’s Open drew a field of 86 golfers, aged 50 and up, from around the region and across the river—the oldest of which was 83-year-old Bill Ozero.
About a dozen golfers had scores under 80, Strachan noted, insisting the seniors’ tournament brought out some skilled competitors.
“It was anyone’s tournament to take,” he said.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
