Competitors at The Open Championship in England would have been envious of the glorious summer conditions through the first two rounds of stroke play at the St. Louis District Golf Association Men’s Championship at Meadowbrook Country Club in Ballwin, Mo., Thursday and Friday, July 18-19. As professionals worldwide battled chilly weather, rain and 30 mph winds across the pond, 73 St. Louis golfers enjoyed sunny temps that barely touched 80 as Joe Migdal (Persimmon Woods Golf Club) claimed medalist honors with a 4-under par 138 for 36 holes.
A Ballwin native and University of Central Missouri alumnus, Migdal said Meadowbrook is a great layout, “If you hit the fairway, you can attack the pin, which I did. Just finding the fairways off the tee was huge for me, I think I only missed three fairways today. Just don’t short-side yourself around the greens, because the greens are rolling good right now, so just give yourself some looks … I made a couple 15-footers today for birdie.”
The course had recovered excellently from the torrential rains and 100 degree heat index that tormented the St. Louis region earlier in the week and probably had competitors humming Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “We’re Having a Heat Wave.”
“It was a little bit wet, but still rolled out,” noted Migdal “The greens were soft, so you could take advantage of that, but they were still quick.”
Can Migdal carry the momentum through match play on Saturday and Sunday? “I’ll stick to the same routine … hit fairways and give yourself looks,” he stated. “I’m putting the ball great right now, so just keep giving myself looks, and we’ll see where it goes.”
The highlight of the first two rounds came from yet another Persimmon Woods member when Ryan McNeil recorded a hole-in-one on Thursday. The Fenton native, who played collegiately at Southeast Missouri State University, used a six-iron to ace the 187-yard 13th hole. “I was just trying to hit the middle of the green,” McNeil claimed. “When we walked up to the green, I thought it was over the green, because I didn’t see the ball. My playing partner, Nathan Holt, said, ‘It’s in the hole.’ I was very excited, obviously!”
Amazingly, it’s McNeil’s eighth career hole-in-one. “I think I’m very lucky,” he said, trying to explain his good fortune. “I know my yardages very well, maybe better than most … lotta luck in a hole-in-one.” McNeil qualified for match play with a 148.
Wirth two days of stroke-play to determine the low 16 scores to qualify for weekend match play, the drama came down to late Friday afternoon as five golfers vied for the final three slots in a playoff on Hole No. 10. Zach Decker (Sunset Country Club), Bryan Bohme (Meadowbrook), AJ Porter (Winghaven Country Club), Brett Benyo (Glen Echo Country Club) and lefty Carson Silliman (Dalhousie Golf Club) all finished with two-day totals of 149.
Decker and Benyo each bogeyed the playoff hole, while Bohme, Porter and Silliman all recorded pars to join the match play field.
Others qualifying for match play included:
– Blake Skornia (Algonquin Golf Club), who was was four strokes back of Migdal at 142
– Drew Panger (Glen Echo Country Club) at 143
– Chad Niezing (Meadowbrook Country Club), Ryan Walsh (Forest Hills County Club) and David Schilp Jr. (Bogey Hills Country Club), were all at 144
– Chris Kovach (Old Hickory Golf Club) and Jimmy Siegfried (Norwood Hills Country Club) tied at 145
– Alex Cusumano (Norwood Hills Country Club), Brian Lovett (Bellerive Country Club) all posted 146s
– Sean Brennan (Westborough Country Club)and Zach Walsh (Forest Hills Country Club) rounded out the weekend field at 147
All match play qualifiers will compete in The Jim Jackson Invitational at Algonquin Golf Club in October.
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