Strong finish carries Collin Haag to medalist honors at Lafayette Men's City Golf Championships
WEST LAFAYETTE – Has Collin Haag birdied the last three holes on Purdue’s Kampen Course before?
“I don’t think I’ve ever done it,” Haag said.
And then he quickly corrected himself.
“I know I haven’t since I’ve never birdied 17,” he said.
An officer with the Lafayette Police Department, Haag becomes part of a group who can proudly proclaim they’ve birdied Nos. 16, 17 and 18 during a competitive event. His stretch over the three holes allowed Haag to claim medalist honors at the Men's City Golf Championships and finish the two-day qualifying rounds with a 3-under-par 141.
When Pete Dye designed the course, which is part of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, he labeled the final three holes as the toughest in college golf. Sunday wasn’t a college tournament, but it doesn’t change the difficulty of posting birdies on the last three holes.
Haag earns the No. 2 seed when match play begins next weekend in the tournament, which is presented by the Bob Rohrman Auto Group.
As the defending champion, Brent Hofman holds the No. 1 seed, although the seven-time winner didn’t compete in the qualifying rounds due to attending a family wedding in New Orleans.
In last year’s final, Hofman defeated Haag to win another title.
Haag’s round Sunday fell apart in a hurry on the back nine. After shooting an even-par 36 on the front side, he bogeyed four straight holes – Nos. 12-15 – to allow the rest of the field to cut into his lead.
But starting with a birdie on No. 16, a 524-yard par 5, Haag pieced together an impressive finish. His plan on the par 3, 17th – the toughest hole on the course Sunday – wasn’t to hit his tee shot to the right of the pin near the water.
“I didn’t mean to hit it there,” Haag said. “I did not mean to be right of that pin, but it was good.”
Good enough to give Haag enough of a cushion heading into the final hole. Only two players - Haag and Larry Schafer - birdied No. 17 on Sunday.
Haag fired a 4-under-par 68 in Saturday’s first round at Ackerman-Allen, but the much-needed steady drizzle and the difficulty of Kampen overall pushed the scores higher.
Haag was the only player to finish under par during the two rounds.
“Today was a lot of grind," Haag said. "It ended up on the front nine at even but didn’t feel like it. Same thing on the back. A few little mistakes here and there but a good finish with those three birdies was something to build on for next week.”
He outlasted Scott Busch by three shots and Matt Toney by four. Haag, Busch and Jon Speaker posted Sunday’s top scores with 1-over 73s.
And now the focus turns to match play.
Haag made a strong run to the finals in his first year in the tournament but the former standout at Allegany College near Pittsburgh ran into Hofman and his steady play in the championship match.
He’ll lean on the experience from last year’s run to navigate another possible push to the finals.
“It was such a positive to have a good experience last year, I know what to expect going into it,” Haag said. “It had been so long since I played match play that I didn’t know what to expect.
“This year, I know what to expect, I know the course rotations, I know roughly who I’m going to be playing. Anytime you have experience you can build on, you’re going to be better prepared.”
MEN'S CITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Presented by the Bob Rohrman Auto Group)
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex
Stroke Play (two rounds)
141: Collin Haag; 144: Sean Busch; 145: Matt Toney; 146: Colin McNeely; 147; Kelly Greene, Ajani Johnson; 148: Austin Conroy; 151: Mike Rivas; 152: Keegan Wilson; 153: Shane Fry; 154: Earl Emerick, Nathan Allen; 155: Dan Boocher, Jon Speaker; 156: Kevin Riley; Tom Newton; 157: Ben Mattingly, Mitchell Swan; 158: Doug Miller, Josh Curry, Moaaz Ali, John Herron; 159: Tim Adams, Randy Rupp, Alex Hipsher, Joe Crouch Jr., Luke Riley; Tom Decker, Gavin Dunbar; 160: Tom Cavanaugh, Troy Greene, Tanner Hieatt, Tyler Jackson; 161: Joshua Kisfalusi, Tom Caldwell, Andy Oaks, Larry Schafer, John Thompson, Grant Bauman, Charlie Seaburg
163: Nick Thomas, Jeff Cook, Ash Puri, Jack Ross, Ben Larson, Cameron Greene; 164: Spencer Coverdale, Michael Linnes; 165: Mark Richardson; 167: Grant Leroux, Erik Skadberg; 168: Kris Paul, Mark Larson; 169: Glenn Cassida, Mitchell Keane, Aden Beaver; 170: Randy Bond, Phil Sharp, Dustin Allred, Noah Gaeta; 171: Joseph Yeaman, Blaire Westfall, Lester Williams, Kenneth Campbell; 172: Hayden Ritchie, Juan Gaeta; 173: Joseph Couch Sr., Bill King, Jesse Kuzmaul; 174: Paul Sadler, Tyler McNeely; 175: Nels Bergmark, Cole Wetli, Kyle Banter, Jackson Williams; 176: Pete Newton; 177: Kevin Moore; 178: Christian Vukas; 179: Brian Pennell, Jentry Spear; 180: William Croto, Evan Acher; 181: Brian Fine; 182: Patrick Edwards; 185: Jon Chapin, Enrique Langford; 188: Steven Sanders; 190: Michael Odom, Alvaro Gullien, Andres Meyer; 195: Alex White; 200: Greg Kendall; 203: Matt Vought; 205: Tony Ostrom; 208: Dherrus Churchill.
Stroke Play Champion: Collin Haag
Senior Stroke Play Champion: Dan Boocher
Junior Stroke Play Champion: Grant Bauman
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette Men's City Golf Championship: Collin Haag nets medalist honors
