Published: August 24, 2008 11:00 pm            

GOLF: Brittain claims tourney title

Todd Brittain finally got the victory he wanted in the Men’s Howard County Golf Tournament, pulling away from the field Sunday at Chippendale Golf Club for a two-day, 1-over par total of 142.

He just didn’t want the championship to come at the expense of good friend Mark Bowser.

Paired with Brittain, the first-round leader by a stroke, and Ryan Newell, with whom he was tied for second, Bowser birdied the 10th hole at Chippendale and found himself leading Brittain and the tournament by three strokes.

But fate can be fickle, especially on the extremely tight back nine of the Championship 18 at Chippendale. Over the next four holes, Bowser would go out of bounds three times and find a fairway bunker with his drive on No. 13 to shoot seven strokes over par, while Brittain seized control with birdies on 11, 13 and 14.

Brittain, just for good measure, chunked his pitch shot toward the 18th green but coolly chipped in from 25 yards away for another birdie. He was three-under par on the treacherous back nine, one over for the day.

“I knew what I had to do,” Brittain said after Bowser made his birdie on No. 10. “I had to catch him, and I didn’t want him to come back to me. He made a couple bad swings and I made a couple good swings.

“Mark had it going [on the front nine] and probably could have [shot] lower than what he was. I had one bad swing on No. 4. Mark makes birdie and I end up making triple and that’s a four-shot swing.”

Brittain never missed a fairway on the back nine, which features hazards of every kind at each twist and turn. He missed only two greens in regulation — once resulting in a bogey on No. 15 and once before chipping in on 18.

“I know this golf course,” said Brittain, who was an assistant club pro at Chippendale for three years. “I know where you can miss it and I know where you can hit it. If you don’t play it very often it’s kind of like hit-it-and-hope. I don’t know that I really made one bad swing on the back.”

Bowser was at a loss to explain why he couldn’t stop the train wreck that started on No. 11. After shooting 37 on the front nine, he limped in with a 45 and wound up in fifth place for the tournament.

“Starting on 11, I hit a bad shot and it just multiplied from there,” Bowser said. “I was hitting it good today, unlike [Saturday]. After the birdie on 10, it all went downhill.

“[Todd] just took advantage of a good situation. He played well.”

Newell didn’t fare any better. He had nines of 40-44 to finish seventh.

Andrew Roe, who was tied for fourth after Saturday’s round at the American Legion, shot 76 at Chippendale for a two-day total of 147. He was second, ahead of Jeff Rudolph and Mark Waldron. They tied for third with 150s.

“I just played steady. I didn’t go for too much,” Roe said. “I just wanted to make sure I saved my par on a lot of holes. This course played a lot better than [Saturday]. It was pretty much a breath of fresh air.

“I left some [strokes] out there, but all in all, I’m pretty happy about it.”

Charlie Eytcheson shot 80 Sunday and finished with a two-day total of 150 to win the open first flight. Mike Parker was low net with 139. Jay Davis was second flight low gross with 164 and Bill Eldridge was low net with 149.

John Hodson won the senior first flight with a total of 146, including a 76 Sunday. Ron Swan was low net with 133. Stephen Wisehart won the second flight with a gross total of 157, while Charlie Webb was low net with 132.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.