Championship Links:
Andrew Herzog and Kim Titus, both of Fox Island, Wash., teamed up to shoot 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural WSGA Mixed Chapman Championship. The 18-hole championship was held today at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash.
Herzog and Titus had been playing solidly most of the round, making the turn at 3-under par and then making a birdie on the par-5 10th hole. They stood on the 15th tee at 4-under and seemingly in command, but then bogeyed the 403-yard par-4. On the long par-4 18th hole, feeling they needed to make birdie, they did just that, which secured their one-shot lead.
“We came out here just to have fun, with no expectations,” Herzog said. “On the first hole we made a nice 25-footer for birdie to get the day going, and just kind of kept at it.”
Titus nearly aced the par-3 sixth hole, leaving just a tap-in six-inch putt for birdie, and then she dropped the 24-footer for birdie on 18 which would soon prove to be the winning putt.
“We ham-and-egged it pretty well,” Titus said. “We definitely helped each other out.”
Titus is no stranger to the winner’s circle in team events, having twice won the WSGA Women’s Best-Ball Championship (2014 and 2017, with partner Kelly Gardner). “I guess my claim to fame is just picking really good partners,” Titus laughed.
Finishing second, one shot back of Herzog and Titus, was Connor and Michelle Hood of Sammamish, Wash., who combined for a 3-under 69. The Hoods had made the turn at 2-over par, but made a run on the back nine with five birdies, including four in a row on holes 14-17, but ultimately came up one shot short.
Ed and Gretchen Klein of Hoquiam, Wash. were the net champions, with a net 10-under-par 62.
The championship had gross and net champions and was played in a Chapman stroke play format, with two players playing as partners, each playing from the teeing ground and each player playing his or her partner’s ball for the second shot. After the second shot, including par-3 holes, partners select the ball with which they wish to score and then play that ball alternately to complete the hole.
The championship was open to any male/female team, with a USGA Handicap Index issued by a WSGA member club not exceeding 36.4 for males and 40.4 for females. There is no age requirement or limit, and teams were divided into flights based on course handicap.
Opened in 2007, The Home Course is cooperatively owned and operated by the WSGA and Pacific Northwest Golf Association, and along with hosting the 2018 PNGA Men’s Amateur last month has been the site of numerous local, regional and national championships, including being the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the venue for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. The Home Course will also be the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
Click here for a complete listing of championships held at The Home Course.
Founded in 1922, the WSGA is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving over 69,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, the WSGA works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds.
The WSGA also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.