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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 1, 2003 Kevin Klabunde watches his tee shot from the fourth hole during Sunday�s semifinal round against Kevin Dixon. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Now down to two Klabunde, Tuttle to meet today for the SOGT championship By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Kevin Klabunde led only one hole in his semifinal match of the Southern Oregon Golf Tournament Sunday. But it was the one that mattered most. Klabunde, a former champion playing against upstart Kevin Dixon, had a 5-foot birdie putt conceded to him on the 18th hole at Rogue Valley Country Club to win the match 1-up and secure a date in the 36-hole finals today against Scott Tuttle. Advertisement Defending champion Tuttle defeated Ryan Schaefer, 4 and 3. The championship match has tee times of 9 a.m. for the first 18 and 2:20 for the second. "Another comeback," said Klabunde as he breathed a sigh of relief. "I have a habit of doing that in this tournament. It was something I hadn’t had to do in this one until today. When we were walking up 16, I told my daughter that I may not win, but I wasn’t going to give up." Klabunde had lost the 15th hole and fell 1-down to Dixon, who was making his first Sunday appearance in the regular men’s championship flight. After they both bogeyed No. 16 to leave the tally unchanged, Klabunde came charging back at No. 17. Dixon, hitting first, put his tee shot about 18 feet below the hole on the 191-yard par 3. Klabunde landed his on the back of the green, resulting in a long putt with 1½ feet of break in it. "It had to be 35 or 40 feet," said Klabunde, "but one of the benefits of belonging to this club is knowing every putt out here." He felt comfortable over the putt, hit it 16 inches out to the right as he planned and was walking after it as it caught the edge and dropped into the hole for birdie. "That was huge for me and it had to be a backbreaker for him," said Klabunde. The putt didn’t surprise Dixon. He told a spectator Klabunde would make it. "I knew he was going to make a good run at it," said Dixon. "I knew he’d be close. He had to be. He was 1-down at 17. I had a chance to put my putt on top of him and I didn’t." The two went to No. 18 all square, and Klabunde played the 525-yard par 5 flawlessly. His drive was in the right side of the fairway, and his second shot split the fairway and left him only a pitching wedge to the flag. One swing later, he was 5 feet from the cup. The hole, a dogleg left, didn’t set up well for Dixon, who plays a bit left-to-right off the tee. He hit 3-wood into the right rough, then twisted a 3-iron right again, into the treeline. He tried to loft a pitching wedge over the trees from dirt lie and caught it fat, leaving himself again in the trees. His fourth shot, a low screamer to stay under the limbs, ran over the green. When his fifth shot from hardpan and a downhill lie ran well past the hole, he gave the birdie putt to Klabunde. "If you would have told me I was playing Klabunde on Sunday and was 1-up at 17," said Dixon, "I would have said you’ve had one too many drinks. I had a lot of fun." Dixon was knocking the flagstick down most of the day but only got a couple of putts to fall. And he had a chance at 16 to do some damage, but he sailed a 7-iron long from 175 yards after Klabunde had punched out of tree trouble to the fairway. "I guess I was a little jacked up," said Dixon. "I was a little pumped after winning 15." Klabunde, the tournament medalist with a 69 in qualifying, now faces Tuttle in a battle of the past two champions. "If I can play like I did Friday, Saturday and at the beginning of Sunday," said Klabunde, "then he won’t run away with it. But if I play like I did (later) today, he’ll thump me. He’s not going to make many mistakes, but you never know." Tuttle didn’t runaway and hide from Schaefer, a 25-year-old out of Grants Pass Country Club, but he was never seriously pressed. From the get-go, when he topped Schaefer’s birdie with an eagle of his own at the par-5 first hole, Tuttle was in command. "I hit a lot of greens and made a lot of pars, with an occasional birdie," said Tuttle. "I think I played pretty solid, really. My iron play has really come around this week. I would like to play the same way (today)." Tuttle went 2-up at the third hole with a par, lost the par-3 fourth hole when he pulled his tee shot behind a tree, then caught a limb chipping up. But he won the sixth hole to go 2-up, the 11th to make it 3-up and the 14th to make it 4-up. His par at the 15th sealed it. "Ryan’s a real good player," said Tuttle. "He played beautifully this morning, but it was a long hot day. I think all of us got a little tired." All four played 18-hole quarterfinal matches in the morning. Tuttle defeated Dave Schoenmann, 4 and 2; Schaefer downed Kurt Schneider, 1-up; Klabunde topped Bret Breeze 3 and 2; and Dixon beat Ryan Hawkins, 7 and 6. Men’s Results Championship Flight Quarterfinals — Scott Tuttle, RVCC, d. Dave Schoenmann, RVCC, 4 and 2; Ryan Schaefer, Grants Pass, d. K. Schneider, Oswego Lake, 1-up; Kevin Klabunde, RVCC, d. Bret Breeze, 3 and 2; Kevin Dixon, RVCC, d. Ryan Hawkins, Grants Pass, 7 and 6. Semifinals — Scott Tuttle, RVCC, d. Ryan Schaefer, Grants Pass, 4 and 3; Kevin Klabunde, RVCC, d. Kevin Dixon, RVCC, 1-up. First Flight Raef Lillesve, Broken Top, d. Eric Ford, RVCC, 4 and 3; Kyle Stanfield, Running Y, d. Ian Parent, RVCC, 1-up; Brian Hay, Reserve Vinyards, d. Travis Brink, RVCC, 5 and 4; Brooks Newsom, Columbia Edgewater, d. Derek Schweitzer, Springhill, 4 and 3. First Flight Afternoon Raef Lillesve, Broken Top, d. Kyle Stanfield, Running Y, 2 and 1; Brooks Newsom, Columbia Edgewater, d. Brian Hay, Reserve Vinyards, 7 and 6. Second Flight B.J. Boeck, Heron Lakes, d. Bobby Foote, RVCC, 3 and 2; Zach Osborn, Ashland, d. David Luther, Tualatin, 3 and 2; Second Flight Consolation Steve Ausland, Grants Pass, d. Blen Hinton, RVCC, 19th; Joe Rossknecht, Grants Pass, d. Kevin Jones, Torrey Pines, 2 and 1. Third Flight Ralph Wallis, Medford, d. Duane Mataczynski, Eastmoreland, 4 and 3; Jeff Barry, RVCC, d. Tom Berry, RVCC, 2-up. Third Flight Consolation John Barry, RVCC, d. Steven Ekwall, Central Point, 1-up; David Rowland, RVCC, d. John McCoy, RVCC, 1-up. Fourth Flight RJ Glover, Eagle Point, d. Scott Reed, RVCC, 4 and 3; Wayne Van Wey, RVCC, d. Daryn Clark, Lake Tapps, 2 and 1. Fourth Flight Consolation Curtis Wagoner, RVCC, d. Mitch Harle, Meadow Wood, 4 and 3; Pat Latendresse, Stoneridge, 3 and 2. Fifth Flight Mike Finnel, The Hideaway, d. Mitch Parsons, Eagle Point, 1-up; Dennis Richards, RVCC, d. Derron Moreland, Portland, 3-up. Fifth Flight Consolation Rob Neff, Medford, d. Rick Dyer, RVCC, 8 and 7; Tom Willis, Stoneridge, d. Craig Fox, Cedar Links, 21st. Sixth Flight Matt Smith, RVCC, d. Danny McBryde, Springfield, 1-up; Andy Luther, Grants Pass, d. Ryan Suvoy, Tokatee, 2 and 1. Sixth Flight Consolation John Morris, Hubbard, d. Jim Stormo, RVCC, 1-up; Ken Harle, Druid’s Glen, d. Keith Lallo, Stone Ridge, 1-up. Seventh Flight Brad Pederson, Cedar Links, d. Jim Hauck, Willamette Valley, 1-up; Mike Bottjer, Eagle Point, d. Scott Olson, Chicago, 19th. Seventh Flight Consolation Al Satterfield, Medford, d. Bill Kelly, Kenton County, 2-up; Darrell Hunt, Twin Lakes, d. Al Cartwright, Cedar Links, 4 and 3. Eighth Flight Mitch Sorenson, Portland, d. David Lillesve, RVCC, 4 and 3; Rick Hutchins, RVCC, d. Tom Jones, Eagle Point, 19th. Eighth Flight Consolation James Brekke, Bidwell Park, d. John Snyder, Tacoma, 5 and 4; Bob Hauck, Willamette Valley, d. Jeff Dahl, Medford, 1-up. Junior-Senior Championship Flight David Boals, RVCC, d. Tom Deatherage, Bend, 5 and 3; Doug Ward, d. Steve Johnson, Napa, 2 and 1. First Flight Greg Miller, RVCC, d. Doug Engle, Stoneridge, 3 and 2; Jim McCabe, Langdon Farms, d. Jerry Eklund, RVCC, 19th. Second Flight David Orr, RVCC, d. Bill Crenshaw, Arrowhead, 4 and 3; Scott Weaver, RVCC, d. Steve Boldish, RVCC, 3 and 2. Third Flight Bob Dickey, RVCC, d. Glenn Kilroy, Meadowlark, 5 and 4; Layne Sims, Cedar Links, d. Bill Shevlin, RVCC, 1-up. Fourth Flight Don Dow, RVCC, d. Jerry Johnson, Jacksonville, 19th; David Street, RVCC, d. Dean Hellweg, Temecula Hill, 8 and 6. Fifth Flight Brian Odell, Meadowlake, d. Tim Horndecker, Eugene, 3 and 2; Steve Rodermund, Seal Beach Navy, d. Bret DeForest Oak Knoll, 1-up. Sixth Flight Mark Clarke, RVCC, d. Gary Wood, Franklin Canyon, 1-up; Don Sever, Oak Knoll, d. Michael Susi, Cedar Links, 4 and 3. Seventh Flight Robert Husel, Medford, d. Tom Groves, Juniper, 4 and 2; Richard Dent, Cedar Links, d. Manava Siliga, Stoneridge, 4 and 2. Eighth Flight Brian Schmitz, RVCC, d. Craig Prewitt, RVCC, 1-up; John Decker, Woodcreek, d. Michael Diehl, Eugene, 3 and 2. Ninth Flight Tom Mayer, RVCC, d. Ray McClenathan, Harbor Links, 3 and 2; Winston Tucker, RVCC, d. Mike Snyder, Desert Williow, 3 and 2. Seniors Championship Flight Bob Harrell, RVCC, d. John Johnson, RVCC, 19th; Dan Dixon, RVCC, d. Terry Anderson, RVCC, 2 and 1. First Flight Doug Burwell, RVCC, d. Alan Peterson, Reams, 1-up; Dean Keller, Pumpkin Ridge, d. Ken Bailey, RVCC, 3 and 2. Second Flight Wayne Werner, Eugene, d. Dick Melville, RVCC, 3 and 2; Jim Stough, RVCC, d. Jerry Bailey, Mt. Graham, 1-up. Third Flight Bruce McDonald, Tacoma, d. Larry Brown, 2 and 1; Howard Phearson, Reams, d. Doug Rowe, Eagle Point, 1-up. Fourth Flight Ron Primasing, Cedar Links, d. Mike Jantzer, RVCC, 2 and 1; Wendall Towe, Napa, d. Carl Hansen, Contra Casta, 1-up. Fifth Flight Rich Haugh, Eagle Point, d. John Kruesi, RVCC, 6 and 4; Harvey Myers, Monterey, d. Richard Mitchell, Roseburg, 2 and 1. 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. 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