Dave Oates played his way into the record book on Sunday when he shot a 1-under 70 to win the David K. Barnes Summit County Amateur golf championship at J. Edward Good Park with a 36-hole total of 3-under 139. It marked the fourth time Oates has won the event, tying him with Barry Terjesen for the most titles in the 36-year history of the tournament.
LOCAL GOLF
AKRON, Ohio -- The fourth time was just as charming as the third.
Or the second. Or the first. Maybe more so.
Dave Oates played his way into the record book on Sunday when he shot a 1-under 70 to win the David K. Barnes Summit County Amateur golf championship at J. Edward Good Park with a 36-hole total of 3-under 139.
It marked the fourth time Oates has won the event, tying him with Barry Terjesen for the most titles in the 36-year history of the tournament.
"It's certainly nice to win this a fourth time," said Oates, a history teacher and golf coach at Canton Central Catholic. "A lot of good players have been in it over the years. I'm happy to have won, and I'd like to get at least one more."
Compared to his two most recent victories, which required playoffs, this one was less stressful as Oates survived consecutive bogeys on the final two holes to win by two shots over fellow Cantonite Kurt Peterson (70-71) and two shots over Orrville's Brian Lisic and former Walsh Jesuit standout Ross Beal of Uniontown.
There were two key holes in Oates' victory. Playing the nines in reverse order, he protected his first-round lead by making the turn in 2-under 34. After a bogey on the first hole -- Oates' 10th of the day -- he blocked his second shot on the 472-yard, par-5 second hole and ended up about 15 yards to the right of the green. He chipped in for eagle.
"That was really big, especially after the bogey on the first hole and the bad second shot on two," he said.
Oates followed with four straight pars, while Peterson nipped at his heels until they reached the 441-yard seventh. After Peterson stuck his approach to five feet and eventually made birdie, Oates trumped that by rolling in a 50-foot putt, also for birdie, that broke about 10 feet to the right.
"When it got to about 10 feet, I knew it was dead center," said Oates, who showed a rare sign of emotion by lifting his putter in the air as the ball approached the hole.