Bass, Chuchacz win Kiwanis All-American Tournament
Aug. 23—LUMBERTON — A month after finishing first and third in the Robeson County Golf Championship, Ryan Bass and Mike Chuchacz entered the Kiwanis All-American Golf Tournament as an obvious team to watch.
As the pair played the 36-hole tournament Saturday and Sunday, there was never a doubt in the tournament's outcome.
Bass and Chuchacz shot rounds of 61 and 64, finishing at 19-under-par 125 in the best-ball format to win by six strokes over Scott Benton and Trey Martin. They were bogey-free for all 36 holes.
"I've been playing for years and I've always wanted to win," Chuchacz said. "As far as golf-wise, my putter was the best club in my bag, by far."
Bass became the first player to win the Robeson County Golf Championship and the Kiwanis All-American Golf Tournament in the same year twice; he also accomplished the feat in 2019. Dyrck Fanning, in 1994, and Mark Kinlaw, in 1995, each did this once.
"Mike played really good, I have to give it to him," Bass said. "I definitely picked the right partner this weekend. It means a lot; winning the county (championship) and Kiwanis in the same year, it means a lot. Hopefully we can do it again sometime."
The pairing came together relatively late, just a couple of weeks before the tournament; it's the first time they've played the Kiwanis together, though they've played other two-man events together in the past.
"The big thing with two-man tournaments, you've got to have a partner with chemistry, you've got to vibe well," Chuchacz said. "I think that's what we do well."
Saturday's 11-under-par 61 was sparked by two eagles by Chuchacz, at the par-5 sixth and 15th holes.
"The first day, we didn't really get off to a slow start, but the eagle Mike made on (No.) 6 just kind of boosted us," Bass said. "I didn't even have a birdie in the hole and he putted from probably 20 feet, made an eagle, and kind of got us where we needed to go. ... Any time you can skip over a birdie and make eagle, that's always a big hole."
Sunday, Chuchacz chipped in for birdie at the par-3 seventh hole before Bass made eagle at the par-5 eighth.
"(On No. 7), Ryan was on the green just a little bit long, and I said 'I'm going to try to chip it in,' I wanted to chip it in. So I chipped it and it went in," Chuchacz said. "That was a big booster going into eight, and then Ryan eagled eight, so it was just go from there."
Benton and Martin's runner-up finish came after rounds of 65 and 66 to total 13-under 131; Luke Gooden and Blake Baysden took third at 132 after consecutive 66s. Defending champions Mark Kinlaw and Jeff Wishart finished fourth at a 133 total after rounds of 65 and 68.
Andy Andrews and Chris Hawk shot 69-68 to win the first flight in a scorecard playoff over Justin Britt and Amanda Levy.
Austin Locklear and Gavin Locklear won the second flight, shooting 73-69 and winning a scorecard playoff over Adrian Lowery/Doug Baker and Logan Locklear/Daniel Zeng.
Knocky Thorndyke and Billy Bullock shot 75-75 to win the third flight by two strokes over Ricky Hardin and Randy Chavis.
Carey Read and Joe Butler shot 81-74 and won the fourth flight by two storkes over Daryl McKiver and Richard Lowry.
Gary Locklear and Greg Harris won the fifth flight with rounds of 84-82, finishing three strokes ahead of Jeff Collins and Troy Pittman.
The tournament reached its goal of raising $50,000 for the Kiwanis Club of Robeson-Lumberton to help the community's youth in a variety of programs.
"I want to thank those who supported us, from a sponsorship standpoint, from a donating goods standpoint and Kiwanians serving," tournament chair Owen Thomas said. "All of this is done to help serve the children in our community. We couldn't do what we do if it wasn't for this golf tournament."
After an ominous-looking weather forecast for the weekend throughout the week preceding the tournament, the event went off with no weather interruptions; the only rain came briefly on Sunday afternoon, as the leaders played the seventh and 18th holes.
"The Lord blessed us with weather that allowed us to continue play both days," Thomas said. "What looked at being questionable on Friday ended up being beautiful for the most part on Saturday and Sunday, so that was huge."
The 66 teams of golfers and the many others on-site, helping in various capacities, each enjoyed the event.
"In my opinion, it's definitely the best tournament of the year that's held at Pinecrest," Bass said. "Kiwanis always does a very good job putting it on. It's always a pleasure to play in it."
Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.
