Chasing A Dream

Anyone who has ever addressed a golf ball has dreamed that one day they might figure this darn game out. That golf won’t always be just ten more yards off the tee. Or twenty. Or fifty. That the bunker won’t be in play, but if it is, no problem. That three-foot putts will one day be automatic.

Certainly, some have figured it out. There are a lot of good golfers out there. We see it all the time. A guy who can hit a 300-yard drive, with a gorgeous draw, no less. A girl who can shape a wedge into the wind and drop it on the dance floor like a cat on a carpet.

Yeah, they’re good, but how come they still have day jobs?  How come they’re not adorned with free logo wear from head to toe?

How come no one has ever asked them for an autograph?

Well, maybe someday somebody will.

And if that’s their dream, there’s the WSGA - The Wisconsin State Golf Association. Formed in 1901, the WSGA is there for the golfer who’s just a little bit better than the rest of us. For the golfer who wants to take his or her game to the next level.

To test their mettle every once in a while, the WSGA annually conducts tournaments and championships throughout the state including the most prestigious, the Wisconsin State Amateur Championship.

The 121st edition of the event, sponsored by West Bend Mutual Insurance, was held this past week at two of the top courses in the state - Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes at the Sand Valley Resort in Rome, Wisconsin.

Sand Valley, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, features massive and exposed sand dunes, firm and fast fairways, and a multitude of strategic playing options. Whereas David McLay Kidd’s Mammoth Dunes introduces enormous, meandering fairways with big accessible greens, in one of the most majestic settings you’ll find anywhere. That’s anywhere!  

More than 150 linksman (Including Tony Romo. Yeah, that Tony Romo.) teed it up this year in the hopes of having their name etched onto the same trophy that has traveled the state since the beginning – joining the likes of Skip Kendall, Steve Stricker, and Andy North to name drop a few. The champion also receives a lifetime exemption to the Wisconsin State Amateur Championship, if he remains an amateur.

Going into the final round on Thursday, the weather was perfect. The course was pristine. The leaderboard was tight. The final group had two guys tied at two under, Blake Wisdom and Tyler Obermueller, with local favorite, Adam Miller just one stroke back. 

Wisdom, the 21-year-old Bucknell senior, put himself into contention with what some consider to be one of the finest rounds in tournament history on Wednesday. Battling the howling winds and sudden downpour that at one point forced the WSGA to dismantle its tent, Wisdom posted one of only two sub-par rounds of the day. His great play faded a little in the final round, however, and he fell down the leaderboard as other players finished strong.

A trio of players ultimately tied for third place at one over par, Zach Place from Roselle, Illinois, Travis Pronschinske from Hartland, and Jack Schultz of Whitefish Bay who carded a nearly blemish-free  final-round 69 to climb 11 spots to join the other two.

Nekoosa’s own Adam Miller, leveraging his home course experience, made it interesting with an eagle on the final hole of the tournament, but it was Obermueller’s three birdies on the back nine that secured his second Wisconsin State Amateur Championship victory. The first coming in 2009 – a span of 13 years!

Obermueller, 35, a former University of Wisconsin golfer who lives in Hudson and competes mostly in Minnesota, described himself as more of a "weekend warrior" golfer.

But we know better. This guy’s good. Really, really good. No way he got this good on the weekend. There’s no way he shoots under par, while under pressure, when all he knows is “teeing it up with some friends on Thursdays and once in a while on Sundays."

Or maybe it’s true. Maybe he’s just a natural.  Either way, Tyler Obermueller has figured it out.

So, maybe there’s hope for the rest of us. Maybe we too will one day figure it out. You think?

Nah.

Written by: Lydell Capritta