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And then there were two photo by Andrew Mariman Tommy Smith Smith, Klabunde to meet for men's SOGT title By TIM PYLE Truly friendly competition found its way into the Southern Oregon Golf Tournament men's championship flight semifinals Sunday afternoon. Kevin Klabunde and Dave Schoenmann, who play together so often that they will be partners in an upcoming event, met in a duel at Rogue Valley Country Club to determine one berth in today's 36-hole men's final. Two-time defending champion Tommy Smith extended his SOGT unbeaten streak to 23 with a 5-and-4 victory over Bret Breeze to sew up the other spot in the finals. Klabunde and Schoenmann, however, went the distance, with Klabunde picking up a 1-up victory and a shot at unseating Smith. On the 15th hole, Klabunde two-putted for par to take the 1-up lead that he made stand. "I was able to knock the tee shot on the green and two putt," Klabunde said. "It was probably a 35-foot down-hiller that if I wasn't careful, it was gonna go off the green. "So I just lagged it down there and tried to stop it like 10 feet short of the hole. And that philosophy worked because it just kept running out and ended up right by the hole." The men's runner-up in 1991 and '92 and junior/senior champion in '96 and '98, Klabunde said he must raise his game to knock off Smith today. The first 18 begin at 9 a.m., followed by the second at 2:20 p.m. "Tommy Smith's a heckuva golfer," Klabunde said. "An even-par round is not going to cut it with him. He's gonna be under par, and if you're not gonna be under par with him, he's gonna close you out." Sunday's seesaw battle against Schoenmann provided good practice should the final prove to be another down-to-the-wire affair. "I'd make a bogey, (Schoenmann would) make a bogey," Klabunde said. "I'd make a birdie, he'd make a birdie. It was just a great match. "It made it a lot of fun playing with a friend." Schoenmann echoed that sentiment. "That was the most relaxed I felt the whole tournament," he said. "That kind of helped me a little bit." What didn't help was the tough turnaround from the morning's quarterfinals to the afternoon's semis, with only about an hour between the two. In the morning, Smith took out Carl Johnsen, 1-up, Breeze disposed of Ryan Schaefer, 3-and-2, Schoenmann beat Gary Loeb, 1-up, and Klabunde defeated Doug Olson, 2-and-1. "Somebody said, 'You've gotta play 18 Sunday,'" Schoenmann said. "And I said, 'Well, you've gotta win the first 18 first.' "I didn't know it was gonna be this tough. And it was very difficult." Dave Wittkopf and Greg Miller meet for the junior/senior championship today, while Dan Dixon and John O. Dunkin slug it out for the senior title. Southern Oregon Golf Tournament At Rogue Valley Country Club MEN'S REGULAR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Quarterfinals - Tommy Smith d. Carl Johnsen, 1-up; Bret Breeze d. Ryan Schaefer, 3 and 2; Dave Schoenmann d. Gary Loeb, 1-up; Kevin Klabunde d. Doug Olson, 2 and 1. Semifinals - Tommy Smith d. Bret Breeze, 5 and 4; Kevin Klabunde d. Dave Schoenmann, 1-up. FIRST FLIGHT Quarterfinals - Larry Miller d. David Ruegg, 2 and 1; Todd Couch d. Scott Johnson, 8 and 6; Kurt Schneider d. Bob Miller, 2-up; Erik Hill d. William Westerheide, 5 and 3. Semifinals - Larry Miller d. Todd Couch, 1-up; Erik Hill d. Kurt Schneider, 2-up. SECOND FLIGHT Mark Decker d. G. Meyerding, 21st; Kyall McGee d. Raef Lillesve, 20th. Consolation - Chris Campbell d. Darrell Cooper, 2-up; Stephen Groves d. Gary McDonald, 7 and 6. THIRD FLIGHT Geoff Davis d. Daryn Clark, 3 and 2; Ray Cox d. Mitch Parsons, 1-up. Consolation - Brooks Gard d. Pete Hovard, no score available; Steve Schireman d. Rob Marshall, 5 and 4. FOURTH FLIGHT Bob Foote d. Scott MacDowell, 1-up; Fritz Schuler d. Scott Reed, no score available. Consolation - Mark Ziegenhagen d. David Rowland, 3 and 2; Bret Cormwell d. Kevin Jones, 4 and 3. FIFTH FLIGHT Greg Jones d. Jasin Owen, 1-up; Gary Sterton d. Brad Pederson, 1-up. Consolation - Derek Schweitzer d. Alan Cartwright, 1-up; Matt Smith d. Ken Harle, 1-up. SIXTH FLIGHT Jeff Stirewalt d. Dave Mettler, 2 and 1; Jerry Sessions d. Jim Waltrip, 4 and 3. Consolation - Jerry Makowski d. Steve Lytle, 2 and 1; T. Lernhan d. Tom Maulding, 3 and 2. SEVENTH FLIGHT Allen Picchi d. Matt Van Sant, 1-up; Tim Gallagher d. Del Nickols, 3 and 2. Consolation - Scott Byrd d. Craig Owen, 3 and 1; Don Webb d. Ed Chun, 1-up. MEN'S JUNIOR/SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Dave Wittkopf d. Bob Dickey, 5 and 4; Greg Miller d. Tom Deatherage, 2-up. FIRST FLIGHT Pat Moore d. Jake Watkins, 19th; George Mack Sr. d. Richard Condon, 2 and 1. SECOND FLIGHT Scott Weaver d. Jim Cox, 4 and 3; Paul Aversano d. Steve Johnson, 1-up. THIRD FLIGHT Ralph Perry d. Jerry Quast, 3 and 2; Brian Adolph d. Buck Brigham, 1-up. FOURTH FLIGHT Glenn Kilroy d. Rick McCabe, 1-up; Brent Orrico d. Bruce Farthing, 3 and 2. FIFTH FLIGHT Ron Hosek d. Kevin George, no score available; Brad Heilman d. Benny Sullivan, 1-up. SIXTH FLIGHT Bill Shevlin d. Herb Farber, 6 and 5; Don Pinkham d. Chuck Carnese, 3 and 2. SEVENTH FLIGHT Les Cracraft d. Michael Susi, 7 and 6; Jerry Johnson d. Bill Schneider, no score available. EIGHTH FLIGHT Kelly Timmins d. Steve Watkins, 1-up; Tom Groves d. Dan McBride, 2 and 1. NINTH FLIGHT Gary Smerdon d. Larry Boeck, 2 and 1; Craig Prewitt d. Frank Holminski, 1-up. MEN'S SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Dan Dixon d. Mike Austin, 2 and 1; John Dunkin d. Jim Smith, 1-up. FIRST FLIGHT Ken Bailey d. Tom Muir Jr., 1-up; Don Rose d. Dick Brekke, 1-up. SECOND FLIGHT J. Ferguson d. Rich Rise, 4 and 3; Terry Newsom d. T. Hitzelberger, 5 and 4. THIRD FLIGHT Jerry Cochrane d. Bob Buck, 2-up; Dick Entinger d. Hal Light, 1-up. FOURTH FLIGHT Ed Setzler d. Bruce Hanson, 1-up; Bob Kaczor d. John Jensen, 3 and 2. FIFTH FLIGHT Harvey Myers d. Clarence Primasing, 4 and 2; Tom Hurd d. Steve Goodrich, 19th. WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT Carmen Akins d. Luneta Ah-Sam, 1-up; Johnna Nealy d. Reena Eklund, 1-up. FIRST FLIGHT Amanda Nealy d. Lena Snyder, 2 and 1; Heather Holte d. Trina Rasmussen, 2 and 1. SECOND FLIGHT Deanna Wilson d. Norma Luther, 1-up; Mary Plankenhorn d. Alison Myers, 1-up. THIRD FLIGHT Jody Larson d. Tracie Armitage, 3 and 2; Maureen McFaddin d. Doris Grosch, 2 and 1. FOURTH FLIGHT Jerry McCann d. Coral Edwards, 1-up; Joan Jarbo d. Sharon Wilson, 1-up. FIFTH FLIGHT Valeta Prosise d. Gloria Tyson, 7 and 6; Jaci Jones d. Patti Ward, 1-up. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.