Pierce rallies with eagle, birdie to lead Meihofer by three strokes in Men’s Metro
SOUTH BEND – There was no rest for a weary Satchel Pierce after Saturday’s third round at soggy Erskine Park in the 99th Greater South Bend Men’s Metro golf championships.
All the 20-year-old Michigan State left-handed junior and former Edwardsburg High standout wanted to do after his two-under-par 68 was get to the practice green to work on his putting stroke. Yes, practice, practice and more practice with the short stick despite Pierce admitting to a sore back from a fifth straight day of tournament golf and Saturday’s six-hour delay of tee times following overnight rains of more than three inches that made walking hilly Erskine a strain as well.
Yes, Pierce was not happy with his putting stroke despite it producing a 20-foot eagle putt at the 460-yard, par-5 fifth hole and a 35-foot birdie putt at the 142-yard sixth during an inward nine of three-under 32 which helped Pierce finally catch and pull away from second-round co-leader Kyle Meihofer for a three-stroke lead with his even-par 214 total. The 28-year-old Meihofer, a South Bend transplant from Valparaiso, shot a respectable 71 for his 217 total which was four strokes ahead of the 2021 Men’s Metro champion, Granger’s Bazil Furry (70), and Mishawaka’s Austin Christner (73).
Pierce, Meihofer, Christner and Furry were to leave Erskine’s first tee in Sunday’s final round starting at 10:28 a.m.
Second round: Knollwood eagle helps Meihofer soar to share of Men’s Metro lead with Pierce
“I had three three-putts today (because) I had difficulty adjusting to what I’ve been playing on the last couple of days,” said Pierce, who played four rounds at Chesterton’s difficult Sand Creek Country Club in the Northern Amateur, finishing tied for 12th in a field of 90.
Because of rains Friday and into Saturday morning, the Erskine Park crew couldn’t cut the greens, which were slower than those in the first two rounds at Elbel Park and Knollwood East.
“I’m just happy we got to play today,” added Pierce, who was pleased with the post-storms’ work done by Erskine Park’s staff led by superintendent Adam Oltman.
First round: MSU golfer Satchel Pierce tops Men’s Metro leaderboard with opening, four-under 68 at Elbel
Pierce was not a happy camper, though, after a three-putt effort from the fringe at the par-3, 210-yard fourth hole left him with a bogey and tied for the lead with Meihofer, who made double bogey on the hole. As he walked to the fifth tee, Pierce separated from his caddy, father Terry, and gave himself an angry pep talk. The 6-foot, 190-pound Pierce then hit a monstrous drive on the uphill hole and then followed a 7-iron from 190 yards to 20 feet and made the eagle putt. At the sixth, he hit pitching wedge from 148 to the right of the pin and drained the long putt for birdie and a two-shot lead over Meihofer, who would later bogey the 390-yard eighth coming home.
“I was rolling the ball well until then (his double-bogey 5 at the par-3 fourth),” the long-knocking, 5-foot-8 Meihofer said after starting with birdies at Erskine’s 11th, 12th and 15th holes to get to even par for the tournament and two strokes ahead of Pierce. “I just missed on the wrong side of the hole (at No. 4).”
Meihofer’s 4-iron from 215 yards into the wind ended up near the fifth fairway, and he chunked his second shot over the fourth green. His chip to the hole ran by 10 feet and he two-putted for double bogey. He left an eagle putt short at the par-5 fifth hole.
“Aside from that hole, I can live with some missed putts,” Meihofer continued. “That’s golf. I did make a fair amount of birdies (four to match Pierce’s total).”
Christner’s 73 resulted from struggles with his putter. “I hit a lot of greens but missed some birdie putts,” the 27-year-old former Fairfield High standout said. “Out here, there are definitely some holes tough to par. You’re scrambling for pars on the par-3s. They are absolutely tough.”
Furry, a senior-to-be at Dayton, made a double bogey at the 380-yard 18th hole after he couldn’t find his tee shot and had to reload. But he made three birdies on his incoming nine (Nos. 10, 12 and 18), driving the 285-yard last hole with a 3-wood and two-putting from 10 feet.
“I’m proud of the way I bounced back after that double bogey,” Furry said.
99th GREATER SOUTH BEND MEN’S METRO GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
SOUTH BEND – Results after Saturday’s third round at the par-70 Erskine Park Golf Course. The first two rounds were played Saturday, July 22 at the par-72 Elbel Park Golf Course and Sunday, July 23 at the par-72 Knollwood Country Club East Course. Par for three rounds is 214:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT (5,940 yards)
214 (E): Satchel Pierce 68-78-68
217 (+3): Kyle Meihofer 73-73-71
221 (+7): Bazil Furry 74-77-70, Austin Christner 71-77-73
224 (+10): Brandon Thomas 77-76-71, Jonah Kumfer 76-78-70
225 (+11): John Stack 79-76-70
226 (+12): Dan Tobin 75-78-73, Zach Hale 77-78-71
230 (+16): Doug Fedore 77-75-78
231 (+17): Tyler Ham 77-79-75, Ryan Hahaj 84-79-68
232 (+18): Brandon Gerlach 79-75-78, Khris Merrill 74-79-79
233 (+19): Ryan Szklarek 75-77-81, Chris Shaw 77-79-77
236 (+22): Justin Crook 81-76-79
238 (+24): Ben Szklarek 81-83-74
244 (+30): David Counsellor 78-80-86, Carter Goodson 83-79-82
250 (+36): Zach Toul 82-86-82
259 (+45): Stan Gebo 88-91-80
281 (+67): Tom Butler 95-98-88
Others: Matthew Levine 96-91-WD
A FLIGHT (5,667 yards)
235 (+21): Jim Shaw 80-80-75
236 (+22): Evan Smith 76-83-77
239 (+25): Kevin Kowalski 80-84-75, Andrew Katona 81-82-76, Andrew Kowalewski 78-80-81
241 (+27): Jeff Oltmanns 79-84-78
243 (+29): Mark Colpaert 84-78-81
244 (+30): Andy Vavul 82-83-79, Alan Smith 81-85-78
247 (+33): Ryley Fitzsimmons 78-90-79, Robert Rogers 85-82-80
253 (+39): Nick Przygoda 82-90-81
259 (+45): Roger Sarasin Karr 86-86-87
265 (+51): Taylor Urbanski 93-90-82
266 (+52): Tyler Huyvaert 84-90-92
B FLIGHT (5,667 yards)
245 (+31): Kevin Swartz 82-83-80
247 (+33): Todd Plonski 86-81-80
249 (+35): Andy Williams 81-86-82
251 (+37): Mike Robinson 85-87-79
252 (+38): Nick Bishop 91-85-76
255 (+41): Nicholas Mark 86-88-81
256 (+42): Craig Eggers 83-89-84
257 (+43): Carlos Loaiza 86-87-84
258 (+44): Matt Schiele 89-90-79, Jacob Padrnos 85-87-86
260 (+46): Eric Swaim 84-93-83
264 (+50): Don Bedock 92-91-81
265 (+51): Carl Daniels 90-91-84, David Krizman 90-87-88
266 (+52): Matt Potter 87-89-90
269 (+55): Michael Schricker 93-97-79
275 (+61): Pete Vavul 90-94-91
281 (+67): Kenny Bishop 92-101-88
282 (+68): Jason Quimby 96-93-93
284 (+70): Matt McGraw 98-94-92
Others: Perry Richards 92-97-WD
C FLIGHT (5,289 yards)
259 (+45): Walt Kroll 89-84-86
265 (+51): Gary May 89-87-89
267 (+53): James Parker 90-89-88
268 (+54): Ricky Entzian 87-90-81
269 (+55): Rich Walag 91-85-93
270 (+56): Jeffrey Barouska 86-96-88, David Fulcher 90-93-87
271 (+57): Joe Bradley 88-90-93
275 (+61): Mark Swaim 89-94-92
276 (+62): Scott Tafelski 87-89-100
277 (+63): Brian Carver 92-92-93
279 (+65): Kevin Barry 94-95-90, Roger Moreno 95-98-86
283 (+69): Alexander Walters 96-94-93, John Howard 93-94-96
286 (+72): Geoffrey Davidson 100-95-91
287 (+73): Bartolo Marquez 92-94-101
290 (+76): Keith Hodgson 93-96-101
296 (+82): Joseph Watters 99-105-92
297 (+83) Justin Budzinski 105-102-90
300 (+86): Donald Coddens 102-101-97
310 (+96): Tim Buczynski 99-101-110
312 (+98): Jerry Barnette 106-92-114
314 (+100): John Parakowski 106-108-100
327 (+113): Alex Sexton 113-108-106
SUNDAY’S TEE TIMES
The starting times for the final round at Erskine Park:
NO. 1 TEE
A flight
9 a.m.: Roger Sarasin Karr, Taylor Urbanski, Tyler Huyvaert
9:08: Ryley Fitzsimmons, Robert Rogers, Nick Przygoda
9:16: Mark Colpaert, Andy Vavul, Alan Smith
9:24: Andrew Katona, Andrew Kowalewski, Jeff Oltmanns
9:32: Jim Shaw, Evan Smith, Kevin Kowalski
Championship flight
9:40 a.m.: Zach Toul, Stan Gebo, Tom Butler
9:48: Ben Szklarek, David Counsellor, Carter Goodson
9:56: Chris Shaw, Ryan Szklarek, Justin Crook
10:04: Tyler Ham, Brandon Gerlach, Khris Merrill
10:12: Zach Hale, Doug Fedore, Ryan Hahaj
10:20: Brandon Thomas, Jonah Kumfer, John Stack, Dan Tobin
10:28: Satchel Pierce, Kyle Meihofer, Bazil Furry, Austin Christner
NO. 10 TEE
C flight
9 a.m.: Jerry Barnette, John Parakowski, Alex Sexton
9:08: Justin Budzinski, Donald Coddens, Tim Buczynski
9:16: Bartolo Marquez, Keith Hodgson, Joseph Watters
9:24: Alexander Walters, John Howard, Geoffrey Davidson
9:32: Brian Carver, Kevin Barry, Roger Moreno
9:40: Joe Bradley, Mark Swaim, Scott Tafelski
9:48: Rich Walag, Jeffrey Barouska, David Fulcher
9:56: Walt Kroll, Gary May, James Parker, Rick Entzian
B flight
10:04 a.m.: Kenny Bishop, Jason Quimby, Matt McGraw
10:12: Matt Potter, Michael Schicker, Pete Vavul
10:20: Don Bedock, Carl Daniels, David Krizman
10:28: Matt Schiele, Jacob Padrnos, Eric Swaim
10:36: Nick Bishop, Nicholas Mark, Craig Eggers, Carlos Loaiza
10:44: Kevin Swartz, Todd Plonski, Andy Williams, Michael Robinson
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Pierce leads going into final round of SB Men's Metro golf championship
