Schilens shunned off the fact that she forgot to grab the course scorecard and fired a tournament-best 84 in the first round of the Middletown Women’s Open Golf Championship. She capped off Sunday’s final round with a 93 for a two-day total 177 on the way to winning her first golf title.
“I figured I’d go out and get the feel for the course on day one, then pick things back up and do even better on day two,” Schilens said. “I had the actual tournament scorecard, but I didn’t have the one that gave me the pars and course description. That changed my mindset a little bit.
“I was kind of playing blind. I was playing without knowing how long the holes were. I had to rely on my range finder to see how far things are.”
It didn’t take long for Schilens to get rolling on Saturday. She thought she made par the second hole, but one of the competitors she was golfing against informed her she birdied it.
“I figured it was a par 4, but come to find out, it was a par 5,” Schilens laughed. “I said, ‘Oh, OK. That was not what I expected to do.’ I had a couple of surprises along the way.”
Schilens said she’s familiar with Brown’s Run because she competes against Fenwick, which plays its home matches there during the high school golf season.
It was Brown’s Run director of golf operations and Falcons girls golf coach Scott Dalton who persuaded Schilens to play in the Middletown Women’s Open Golf Championship.
“I was like, ‘Sure. Why not?’” Schilens said. “I’ve played on this course since I was in grade school. Day one I felt I did better because I had been practicing. Day two, I think I just felt a little tired from day one and it was a little earlier in the day.”
Peggy Kelley and Pamela Johnson each shot a 94 in the first round behind Schilens, but Kelley (94-92—186) edged Johnson (94-93—187) by a stroke in the final round to grab second. Abby Kraft fired a 104-93—197 to finish in fourth.
In the men’s championship flight, Bo Lizarraga shot a three-day total 77-71-76—224 to win the title. Erik Gregory (71-82-74—227), Ryan Jacques (78-72-77—227) and Tim Sorrows (77-73-77—227) shared second place.
Blake Green came in first in the men’s first flight with an 86-79-79—244, while Gary Cobb (83-83-82—248) finished second and Evan Whitley (79-87-83—249) third.
Jim Miller (84-85-81—250) edged out Corey Smith (90-84-77—251) to capture the men’s second flight trophy.
In the men’s third flight, Joe Gallina (85-88-85—258) beat Scott Sloneker (87-87-88—262) by four strokes.
Middletown’s city golf championship returned this year after a seven-year hiatus.
This year the tournament introduced a different site, shifting from Weatherwax to Brown’s Run, and was played under less restrictions. Wetherwax closed in 2016.
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