Kerper runs away with senior title at FSGA Fox Hollow event
Paul Royak, Richard Kerper, Kim Schwencke (FSGA photo)
Only one player in the three divisions of the Florida Winter Series event at Fox Hollow Golf Club in Trinity, Fla., managed to break par, and for that he earned the victory. That player was Richard Kerper, and a final-round 4-under 67 brought him charging up the leaderboard on Jan. 29 to win his division.
Kerper, of Oldsmar, Fla., started the final round four shots down but came back with a bogey-free round on Tuesday. He made crucial birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, even though the rest of the field was falling in the other direction. In the end, he was 1 over for the event and eight shots ahead of runner-up Baldonick Fernandez of Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Fernandez had started with an even-par 72 that gave him the first-round lead.
In the mid-amateur division, winner Paul Royak used a well-timed final round of even-par 71 to clip runner-up Dave McMeen by three shots.
Royak, of Tampa, Fla., opened with a 1-over 72 that included an eagle at the par-5 15th. McMeen, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., also landed on that number after one round. But Royak took off in the second round, the highlights of which included another eagle at the par-5 fourth. A birdie at No. 17 got him to his 1 under total.
Kim Schwencke of Tampa, Fla., won his first FSGA event of 2019 by claiming the super senior title. Schwencke got off to a strong start with birdies on his two opening holes. He was hard to catch from there, logging rounds of 75-71 to finish at 4 over. Doug LaCrosse, also of Tampa, tried, but came up one shot short.