Aaron Eldridge, assistant professional at Traditions Golf Club, defended his crown on the home course at the 2X2 Pro-Am Championship at Traditions in Hebron. Four-man teams composed of two Kentucky Professional Golf Association pros and two amateurs in a two-best-ball format competed over 18 holes in gross and net divisions. Scores from each hole counted toward each division.
Eldridge, 37, teamed with Northern Kentucky Senior Amateur champion Jim Sweeney and veterans Rob Petrey and Derrick DeHart, all of whom relied on course knowledge to win the gross division title with a team total of 8-under-par 136. Eldridge successfully defended with a score of 1-over-par 73, including three birdies for the team. Eldridge ranked fourth in the KPGA Assistant/Associate player of the year standings with 1,091 points through June 6. Petrey put together the best amateur round at 3-under-par 69, thanks to four birdies. DeHart, the hosting pro, drilled the shot of the day, an eagle chip shot on par-5 No. 6, the round’s lone eagle.
Winning the net division with a score of 11-under 133 was the team of Tom Walters, Dan Utley, Chris Dayton and Bill Holocher. Walters, the Summit Hills Country Club pro, was low KPGA professional at 1-under 71. It was his first individual low KPGA professional win. Utley had the low KPGA senior pro round at 3-over 73, good for a two-shot advantage over second-place Bruce Oldendick of Florence.
Elsewhere around the links:
WOMEN’S METROPOLITAN: Patty Bracken from Triple Crown Country Club won the Carol Johnson Flight of the Women’s Senior Amateur at Blue Ash Golf Course. Bracken had a two-round total net score of 158, good for a seven-shot advantage.
U.S. OPEN LOCAL QUALIFIER: Among the eight qualifiers at Coldstream Country Club were three Kentuckians, including Union’s Austin Squires, a former Ryle High School golfer and one-time Northern Kentucky Amateur champion. Squires, who golfed at the University of Cincinnati and turned pro in 2019, tied for third with a score of even-par 71.
METROPOLITAN FOUR-BALL: Former Covington Catholic High School golfer Brad Wilder from Summitt Hills Country Club teamed with Bill Williamson from Coldstream and finish tied for second at the 21st Cincinnati Metropolitan Four-Ball Championship at Stillmeadow Country Club. Wilder and Williamson combined for a total gross score of 64, one shot behind the winners. Wilder was tied for second in the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association player of the year standings with 100 points through June 6.
A pair of local tandems placed in the top 10 of the Met Senior Four-Ball event. Tying for eighth were the team of Charlie Nieman from Traditions and Don Niehaus from Summit Hills, and the team of Dave Macke and Jim Volpenhein from Traditions. Both teams shot 2-under-par 68.
FAIRFIELD JUNIOR OPEN: Bishop Brossart High School golfer Emma Laker placed eighth in the girls 18-under 36-hole stroke-play competition at Fairfield Greens South Trace. She had a total gross score of 169, 16 shots behind the winner. Reese Anthony, representing Traditions, took the girls 12-under event with a total gross score of 87. It’s her fourth win of the year in six events. Nora Anthony from Traditions won the girls 9-under event.
HICKORY JUNIOR CUP: Villa Madonna Academy’s Adam Brandstetter placed second in the boys 18-under stroke-play event at Hickory Sticks. He put together a total gross score of 76, four shots behind the winner. Bishop Brossart’s Cody Simon was fifth with 81. Luka Bertsch of Bishop Brossart was eighth at 86. Caleb Dreier from Covington Catholic finished fifth in the boys 15-under event with a score of 88. Villa Madonna’s Tyler Brandstetter (91) tied for seventh in boys 15-under. Notre Dame Academy’s Natalie Lovell won the girls 18-under competition, carding a total gross score of 80.
CARL RETURNS TO NOTRE DAME: Former Pandas golf coach Janet Carl is heading back to Notre Dame Academy as the new athletic director. Carl returns after a 22-year absence. She guided Panda golfers from 1999-2001 before eventually becoming the women’s golf coach at the University of Cincinnati, where she coached for 19 years. Carl, who ran the junior golf program for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission from 1993-96, gives private lessons at Stephens Golf in Burlington. She is an LPGA class A member specializing in instruction.
THOMAS MORE UNIVERSITY: A pair of former area high school standouts were recognized as 2023 NAIA men’s golf scholar-athletes at Thomas More. Former Bishop Brossart golfer, senior Jerod Baynum, and junior Bo Stoll from Covington Catholic met the nomination criteria of a 3.5 grade-point average or higher. Baynum, a business administration major holding a 3.56 cumulative GPA, was honored for the third time. Stoll, a biology major with a 3.97 cumulative GPA, is a first-time honoree.