Trees plague golfers at championship

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By KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

The trees at the Country Club of Lincoln must have been auditioning for the role of the angry apple trees in the next “The Wizard of Oz.”

On Wednesday the trees took over.

One large cottonwood grabbed John Hurley’s tee shot on the ninth hole for the third day in a row.

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Austin Zimmerman of Lincoln tees off during the first round of the 100th Nebraska State Amateur Golf Championship at the Country Club of Lincoln Tuesday afternoon. (Heidi Hoffman)

Austin Zimmerman of Lincoln tees off during the first round of the 100th Nebraska State Amateur Golf Championship at the Country Club of Lincoln Tuesday afternoon. (Heidi Hoffman)

A maple forced Jayson Brueggemann into a bogey on No. 7, but another maple saved his errant second shot on No. 15 from leaving the course.

A couple of trees on the right of the ninth hole played a key role in Scott Willman’s double-bogey.

The grove of trees to the right of the No. 17 green might have smirked when Knox Jones uncharacteristically shanked an approach shot on his way to a bogey.

As a result, Jones, Brueggemann, Hurley and Willman are tied for the lead at 2-under 214 heading into the fourth and final round of the 100th Nebraska Amateur Championship at the country club.

Hurley, an O’Neill native who plays at Texas A&M, shot a 2-under-par 70, while Brueggemann and Jones carded 2-over 74s and Willman, a Nebraska recruit, slipped to a 75.

Kevin Stanek, who recently graduated from Bellevue East, had the best round of the day with a 4-under 68 to jump into sixth place, one stroke behind Blake Giroux, a freshman at Kansas, who shot 74 to take fifth place.

Husker Mike Coatman and Husker coach Bill Spangler are in contention at  219 and 220, respectively.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but there is a low number out there to shoot, but none of us got it done today,” said Jones, 49-year-old president of Schwartz Paper and a former state champ. “It seemed like we kind of backed up and let a few more people into the race.”

Willman, who led Jones and Brueggemann by one stroke after two rounds,  missed plenty of fairways and played the trees often when he scored bogey on Nos. 4, 5 and 6, then 16 and 17.

“I played well enough to shoot 69, just like yesterday, but it wasn’t there  because I missed so many fairways,” he said.

Jones said he was just a foot off the fairway so many times he didn’t want to count.

“On 16, I quit on a tee shot and went left into the trees,” he said. “On 18, I hit a good tee shot, was a foot off the fairway and sitting in salad and could hardly see the ball.

“On 17, I hit the shank off the hosel, something I haven’t done in  so many years, I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

Hurley seemed a little better off.

The long bomber birdied the first three holes after teeing off with a 4-iron, 6-iron and 7-iron on the par-4 holes.

He just missed a birdie putt on No. 4, made birdie on No. 5 and seemed ready to run away from the pack.

“I never figured out the reads on a couple of greens and, except for a four-foot sidehill bender on No. 18 (which he birdied) didn’t make any putts of note,” he said. “It could have easily been a much better score. But it wasn’t and I kept telling myself, there’s plenty of golf left to play.”

For Brueggemann, a 37-year-old athletic trainer for Nebraska Orthopaedic, his eight consecutive pars to finish was adequate.

“No long putts went in, but I hit the ball OK and hung in there to battle to the end,” he said. “I would have taken a 2-under total for three rounds before the tournament.”

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.