Submitted Article
Tucker Knaak won the Plainview Open Golf Tournament over the weekend by shooting 137, (seven under par for 36 holes) with previous two time winner, Sam Meuret, close behind, finishing at 139.
The Players enjoyed good weather over the weekend even though Sunday was a bit breezy at times.
This all started on April 15th when about a dozen guys got up before the chickens to get in line to sign up groups to play six weeks later. You have to believe this Course and this Tourney is unique in Nebraska Golf year after year. We have many Pros entered and very rarely do they “tear the Course up.”
They probably have thoughts they should be able to go low, low, but it rarely happens. Five of the six low scorers in Championship Flight and two of the four money winners in the President’s were everyday players without any diplomas designating Professional.
Golf Stories: The Greens were slick and fast meaning no one wanted to leave a downhill putt. Tucker showed patience and brains to keep the lead.
As a viewer of the players in the final round Sunday evening, the reporter watched Tucker move his putter maybe two inches on a downhill four footer. Maybe three inches on a 10-footer. No such thing as a “gimmee.” 12 inch putts were missed more than once.
All 24 Championship players could be long off the tee but finesse close to and on the Greens made the difference between first and 15th. Over the years different families have had a few or many members playing in the Open. Largens, Meurets, Knaaks, to name some which makes the Tourney feel like reunions.
Board Member Tom Ostronic has had his Father and two Brothers playing together in recent years however one Brother missed this year.
Starting in the Sixties, Jim Bonge, Bob Bonge, Jim Brunke, and Rick Reikofski, (winner in ’77 ) played in the Open. High School friends from the Class of ’61 at Plainview. Brunke and Rick played a year ago for the last time. There are other Buddies or Family Members will continue to play for forty or fifty years, another reason this is a great weekend.
A great reason this weekend is a success for the Club is Volunteers who work the weekend. There are the Old Pros who have been out there for a good many years and some of the younger members have finally started to show up to have some fun and work a little bit.
Awards by flight included:
Championship Flight
1st: Tucker Knaak, 137
2nd: Sam Meuret, 139
3rd: Ben Dubois, 142
4th: Tim Knaak, 143
5th: Sean O’Neill, 144
6th: Andrew Robertson, 146
President’s Flight
1st: Tom Johnson, 156
2nd: Jay Fedde 156
3rd: Thomas Harmon, 158
4th: Kevin Drew, 158
Shane Burns 161
Marke Luebe, 162
First Flight
1st: Connor Hammer, 157
2nd: Cody Wintz, 160
3rd: Steve Peterson 161
4th: Kyle Finke, 161
Michael Stevens, 162
Kent Patterson, 162
Second Flight
1st: Tim Johnson, 161
2nd: Mike Bellmore, 162
3rd: Jay Knaak, 162
4th: Curtis Osborne, 165
Ryan Asmussen, 166
Brett Korth, 167; Travis Berglund, 167
Third Flight
1st: Blaine Meyer, 169
2nd: Philip Hamilton, 169
3rd: Derek Coulter, 169
4th: Brett Ostronic, 169
Colin Wright, 170; Randy Wilson, 170; Tate Heiss, 170; Adam Yilk, 170
Fourth Flight
1st: Josh Kounovsky, 177
2nd: Ryan Vesley, 179
3rd: Jason Norris, 180
4th: Josh Tague, 181
Caden Alexander, 182
Nick Murdock 183
Fifth Flight
1st: Jim Larsen, 190
2nd: Daren Seip, 192
3rd: Dave Sankey, 193
4th: Luke Reimers, 197
Dave Wragge, 200
Gabe Larsen, 202
President’s Flight winners included (l to r): Tom Johnson, Norfolk, first-place; Thomas Harmon, Chicago, third-place; Kevin Drew, Omaha, fourth-place. Not pictured: Jay Fedde, Omaha, second-place.
Knaaks: Left to Right, Tucker, Tim, Larry.