City tourney gets golfers out on links

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For The Tribune

When Brady Marshall birdied three straight holes on the back nine Sunday at Shadowood Golf Course, Ben Wisler said he knew he had to finish strong in order to win the third annual Seymour City Tournament.

That helped Wisler get refocused, he said.

“I was actually able to hit five of the last six greens, so that helped me a lot there,” he said. “I started making some putts on the back. I birdied three of the last four, and that is what got me back into it.”

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Wisler shot 71 for a one-shot lead over Brian Tidd and Jason Drummond and a five-shot lead over Marshall after Saturday’s first round at Seymour Country Club.

“I was up and down,” Wisler said. “I hit nine greens. I made four birdies on the back, and that is what got me in contention there.”

The next day at Shadowood, Marshall shot the low round of 73 and Wisler was one stroke behind.

Wisler wound up with a winning two-day total of 145 to Marshall’s 149.

“I had the lead all day, no more than three strokes, but it was usually one stroke at the beginning,” Wisler said. “Drummond and Tidd both started off one back, and then Marshall came up one back, so it was someone different all the time, so there was always someone right there.”

Throughout the final round, Wisler said he was able to keep out of trouble on the course.

“I was under a few trees and saved bogey a few times,” he said. “I could have very easily made a couple doubles that ended up in bogeys.”

Wisler said he used his length to his advantage at Shadowood.

“I hit my hybrid off a lot of tees and took advantage of the par 5s and played the par 5s 2 or 3 under,” he said.

Wisler is the third different champion in the three years of the tournament. Neither of the previous two champions entered this year.

Marshall, who will be a senior at Seymour High School in the fall, was second in the championship flight with his 149, and Drummond was third at 152.

Devin Schiller won the first flight by scoring 167, and Hiroshi Taguchi placed second at 174.

Melvin Barnes won the senior championship flight at 151, and Danny Durham was next at 158. Richard Beatty edged Ben Brown 180-181 in the senior first flight.

Wisler, who played high school golf in Fairfield, has been club champion at Seymour Country Club the past three years.

“I play a lot of (Indiana Golf Association) section events across the state,” he said. “I usually get top 15 or 20 in one or two a year.”

He said it felt good to capture his first city tournament title.

“I just hope we have a few more out next year,” he said. “There are a few people around here that I would like to have seen out here.”

The tournament was sponsored by Fitness 1440, which Wisler owns. He said he enjoys sponsoring and coaching junior golfers.

“Golf is where I got started,” he said. “I was in the golf industry before moving here and getting into the fitness industry. I still have my Class A through the PGA, and that is how I am able to coach PGA junior league teams. I’ve got two 13U teams and one 16U team. I’ve got kids from North Vernon, Brownstown, Crothersville and Seymour. I’ve got 22 on two teams and seven on the other team, and three of my four kids play.”

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Seymour City Tournament

(First round at Seymour Country Club, second round at Shadowood Golf Course)

Championship flight: Ben Wisler 71-74-145, Brady Marshall 76-73-149, Jason Drummond 72-80-152, Brian Tidd 72-83-155, Travis Thompson 81-75-156

First flight: Devin Schiller 78-89-167, Hiroshi Taguchi 90-84-174

Senior championship flight: Melvin Barnes 77-74-151, Danny Durham 81-77-158, Buddy Tidd 85-84-169

Senior first flight: Richard Beatty 90-90-180, Ben Brown 93-88-181

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