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49 °F 5 Day Forecast Saturday, November 29, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend September 2, 2003 Scott Tuttle blasts out of the sand and within a few feet of the cup with this second shot on the par-3 15th hole at Rogue Valley Country Club. Tuttle earned his second straight Southern Oregon title on Monday. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Tuttle seizes the moment When championship foe Klabunde falters late, Tuttle takes charge to successfully defend his men’s title in the Southern Oregon By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune It wasn’t your usual source of inspiration, this white-clad bundle of cuteness that meandered through a thicket of spectators’ legs to get to the tee box. "Dad! Dad!" called out 8-year-old Leighton Tuttle. In the midst of his pre-shot routine at No. 12, Scott Tuttle, trying desperately to defend his Southern Oregon Golf Tournament title Monday, turned and smiled at the boy about half as tall as the club in his hands. Boosted by his tiptoes, son reached up and hugged tight his bending father. Advertisement "He felt like it was a good time to run up, give me love and tell me not to give up, that I could do it," said Scott Tuttle. There was, after all, reason to doubt. It was the 30th hole of his 36-hole men’s regular division championship match against Kevin Klabunde, Tuttle was 2-down and hadn’t once led over the original course at Rogue Valley Country Club. That all changed on the next four holes. He won three of them, taking his first lead at No. 15, and closed out Klabunde two holes later for a 2-and-1 triumph. Leighton Tuttle either is a master motivator or has terrific timing because nothing his father tried prior to their embrace had fazed Klabunde. Tuttle shot 5 under par on his first nine holes of the afternoon round and hardly dented the 3-up lead Klabunde had fashioned through 18 holes in the morning. "That was quite a battle," marveled Tuttle. He admitted to being happier with this SOGT title even though 2002 marked his first win in more than a decade of trying. "Today’s match, for me, was so exciting," said Tuttle. "You don’t remember every match you play, but I’ll remember this one. To be down 3 and shoot 5 under and still be 2 down ... I’m happy with the way I was able to hang in there." Klabunde had a different perspective after making an eagle and three birdies over the same stretch. "That should be enough to gain a hole or two, but I lost one," said the 2001 champion who played so wonderfully much of the week. Given his resume, Tuttle is expected by many to prevail in an amateur tournament in his own backyard. That’s easier said than done. "I’ve said this in all the years past when I haven’t won," said Tuttle. "When you start out with 64 people in match play, on any given day you can lose. It’s hard to win every day. I played three or four very good players." Each time he’s lost before, he said, he played poorly. This time, he did that over the first 18 holes on a day when he still had another 18 to regroup. At the same time, Klabunde’s first 27-plus holes were stellar, but his game faded down the stretch "I’m really disappointed in the way I played on the back side this afternoon," said Klabunde, the North Medford High boys golf coach who was the qualifying medalist. "My game just totally left me." His downfall began at the 12th, not because of the Tuttle family reunion but because of a mental error. Tournament rules allow players to "bump" their ball in the fairway. After Klabunde teed off to the left rough, then hit a tree limb on his second shot, his ball came to rest in a drainage ditch. Still in the rough, he took a free drop, then reached down and grabbed his ball to place it, resulting in a one-shot penalty. With Tuttle in a greenside bunker in two, Klabunde conceded the hole. "It was a stupid mistake," said Klabunde, who still was 1-up. After they halved No. 13 with bogeys, Tuttle did what he’d been doing all day and got up and down from a bunker at No. 14 to win the hole with a par. Like many of his other sand saves — seven on the day — this one was a gimme and evened the match. "My bunker play was fabulous," admitted Tuttle. Like on the next hole, when he took the lead for the first time and for good. Both players hit to the right on the uphill par 3 that measures 212 yards. Tuttle found a sand trap, prompting Klabunde to joke, "I wish he would have hit it on the green." True to form, Tuttle got up and down and Klabunde, unable to stop his chip from the pin-high rough, two-putted for bogey. "Kevin had the harder shot," said Tuttle. "You can spin it from the sand, and you need all the help you get stopping the ball there." At No. 16, Klabunde had tree trouble down the left side and lost the hole to go 2-down. At No. 17, both players hit loose tee shots, Tuttle right and Klabunde left, but both made handy chips, resulting in a halved hole and a Tuttle triumph. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times