Wild finish in 5th Flight caps day

It took Mike Drugan very little time to recover from a rough start Sunday at the TRGA Trempealeau Mountain Open.    Drugan made a bogey on the par-5 first hole.  Then he just missed a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole.   After tapping in for birdie, Drugan was on his way to a two-under-par 69 and a first place finish.   Drugan Made five birdies, 3 bogeys and 10 pars on his way to his first win of the season.  

However,  it wasn't necessarily easy.   All 15 players in the championship flight broke 80 and all but two players shot 75 or better.   Jeff Dunnum and Kris Graewin tied for second place with 72.   Paul Williamson and Connor Frawley finished with 73.   Ben Socha, Jon Wilson, Randy Olson and John Anderson were next with 74.  "It was a lot of fun out there today" said Drugan, who was coming off a solid finish in the LaCrosse County Amateur Senior Championship the previous day.   

It was "a career round" for Kevin Groth in the first flight.   Groth shot a mistake-free even-par 71 for the win.   Groth needed his best effort to hold of Tim Darwin, who battled back after a double bogey on the first hole to shoot a 73.  Bruce Lindseth and Jeff Howland tied for third at 77.

Troy Schmitz fired his best round of the season in second flight.  Schmitz took the lead with a front-nine 37, and played steady down the stretch on the difficult back nine.   Jeremiah Shimshak continue his solid play this season, finishing in second place with a 79

What would a TRGA event be without a playoff?  In the third flight Bob Burns went one extra hole to beat Roger Jasperson.   Both players finished regulation with 79.   Michael Lewis broke out of his slump with an 80 which was good for solo third place.

Joe Jacques was very good, even with a bad back, in the fourth flight.  "I never dreamed of winning this one" said Jacques.   But win he did.   His 80 was three strokes better than Jeff Osgood.  Tim  Peterson and Dan Breeden tied for third at 84.  

And the wildest finish of the day belonged to fifth flight.  Tim Smieja made an unfortunate quadruple bogey on the 18th hole.  That allowed David Sanchez and Keith Seidel to tie Smieja at 88.   Then Sanchez won the three-man playoff on the second hole.   It was Sanchez' first win of the season.   

In women's flighted competion, Tracey Frank was the winner with a net 66.   Terry Ziegelbauer finished in second place.

The TRGA regular season comes to an end on Saturday, August 8th at River Run Golf Club in Sparta, WI.  The TRGA Championship will be held on August 22-23 at the Bridges Golf Club and the La Crosse Country Club.