Mauch outlasts Burkholder

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP - This was the match of the day, and it might turn out to be the match of the tournament. Defending Lima Men's City Golf champion Doug Mauch against former champ Todd Burkholder, who rolled through the first two days of the Championship and held the first seed.

With an army of golf carts tailing the match, Mauch and Burkholder were all square after 18 holes and headed off to sudden death. Replaying No. 1 at Shawnee Country Club, the golfers bombed their drives down the left side.

Mauch made an up-and-down while Burkholder struggled with his chip, giving the defending champ a 1-up victory in the Championship flight.

"Both of us were in jail. I was lucky enough to be closest to the hole, so he had to go first. I was going to hit a miracle shot if he somehow got his on the green, but he didn't, so I just laid up to the side," Mauch said. "(Wednesday and Thursday) were two of the hardest matches I could have possibly drawn."

That the match went extra holes was of little surprise to anyone. Mauch was 3-up after 10 holes, only to see Burkholder battle back.

"When you play a guy like Burk-y, you have to continuously try to win every hole because he's going to come back," Mauch said. "When he started gaining on me, if fired me up. I made me nervous, obviously, but I was lucky enough to pull it off."

In a match so closely contested, the difference was bound to be mistakes. And overall, Burkholder made more.

"He got up because I made a couple of mistakes," Burkholder said. "I was expecting a tough match today, which I got.

"I didn't play as well as I had the last two days, but I'm not going to play like that every day, or I wouldn't be playing out here."

Mauch now faces Randy Stocke, a 2-and-1 winner over Jason Klaus, in the quarterfinals today at Shawnee.

Joe Whittaker beat Brett Eley 5-and-3. Kevin Kitchen faces Whittaker in the quarters after beating Dan Kohl 7-and-6. This is Whittaker's first Championship since 2003, when he won the First flight.

"When you change courses, certain people play better at different types of courses," Whittaker said. "I like fast greens and short fairways."

Eric Schaaf came from behind to take out Tim Windau 1-up in 19 holes. Schaaf trailed 3-down after five holes, came back to all square, and again was 3-down after 11.

Schaaf is the lowest seeded player alive, at No. 30, while Windau made the finals last year before losing to Mauch.

"I feel I play better in match play because I tend to have some bad holes. I think my short attention span allows me to play better in match play because I'm concentrating on each individual hole instead of worrying about the entire round," Schaaf said.

The Senior flight also took to Shawnee, with Paul Masters continuing his dominating play. Masters beat Jeff Ducey 8-and-7. That wasn't the only lopsided score among the Seniors, with Jim Troyer winning 8-and-7 over Tom Swem and John Allen upsetting John Gronas 7-and-6.

In the Super Senior flight, top-seeded Ted Keysor continued in the tournament with a 5-and-4 win over Dan Jones. Butch Leffler beat Bob Hollar 1-up through 20 holes.

The Open flights join the Championship flights today at Shawnee.