Golfers put effort into winning $25,000 prize years ago
By MICHELLE BOSWORTH
Staff writer
Saturday dawned cloudy and a bit breezy at Pine Edge Golf Course, located one mile north and one and a half miles east of Goessel. By 8 a.m., the parking lot was filling up as 30 golfers arrived from Hutchinson, Hesston, Inman, McPherson, Newton, Canton, Hillsboro, and Goessel to participate in the Pine Edge $25,000 Putting Tournament.
The competition was sponsored by Irv Schroeder County Motors and Hillsboro Ford. They split the cost of the premium needed by Hole in One International, an organization that furnishes prize money for special golfing events.
Myron Schmidt, owner of Pine Edge Golf Course and creator of the event, said, "I don't think any other golf course has tackled this. I just made up the rules and we went."
Schmidt's golf course is considered an executive course. At 1,364 yards, his nine-hole course is smaller than most. The advantage is that a golfer learns to play irons and putters well for the close-in games.
"Seventy-five percent of the game is played within a radius of 120 yards of the green," said Schmidt. He loves to share the golfer's motto with his clients: "Drive for show; putt for dough."
Schmidt added, "Controlling your iron so you can putt the ball in with one shot," is of prime importance in the game. He believes a course like his should be the first stop before a golfer goes on to larger courses. That's one of the reasons he organized the tournament.
Hole in One International determined that a golfer had to make a hole-in-one at the 10-, 30-, and 50-foot range to win the prize money. Schmidt wrote the other rules.
There was no registration fee, but golfers could buy up to five mulligans to use during the competition.
If a person missed a putt, they could turn in a mulligan and receive another chance to putt at that level.
Two golfers were confident enough in their skills to forgo the mulligans. The others hedged their bets and bought the wooden pieces.
"You don't want to be the first one to putt," said Schmidt. Alert competitors watch to see how the ball breaks, how the green is sloped, the effectiveness of the ball's speed, and how the wind shifts the ball's course.
Contestants began with a five-foot putt, and worked their way up to 10, then 15 feet. Nine golfers made the 15-foot putt.
Schmidt determined the top five golfers by noting how many mulligans were used by each golfer and at what stage they turned them in.
The final five who went on to compete for the $25,000 were Ron Spillman and Calvin Pond of Hutchinson, Jim Dishman of Canton, Wayne Neufeld of Inman, and Lynn Walker of Hesston.
Of the final five, Ron Spillman was the only one who made the 20-foot putt. No one survived the 50-footer. Although he didn't win the $25,000 cash prize, Spillman received a hunter green vest/windbreaker with the Pine Edge logo on it.
"People said it (tournament) was run very efficiently," said Schmidt. "They enjoyed it and said they want to come back next year."
Men who don't want to wait that long can enter the Pine Edge Men's Open which will be held July 16 and 17. Hustler Turf Equipment is sponsoring that tournament where $25,000 is up for grabs.
Schmidt, who enjoys landscaping and golfing, is in his third season as owner and operator of Pine Edge.
The course is open year-round, and Schmidt can be reached at 620-367-2664 or 620-367-2696.
