Two months ago Paul Apyan was considering quitting golf as a profession. He had an infant son and a great job offer from an old college friend and he certainly wasn’t making any money chasing the little white ball around. However, his wife Leah, herself a good golfer who might have had a chance to play professionally, told her husband to go for it. “Chase your dream,” Leah said. Like every good husband should, Paul listened to his wife. A smart man. Eight weeks later, he is the champion of the 17th annual TrueNorth Greater Cedar Rapids Open.
Apyan went wire-to-wire in winning the GCRO record $22,000 winner’s check, which was his biggest ever by close to $18,000. His final-round 2-under-par 70 Saturday at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion kept those who were chasing him at bay and will send the genuinely likeable Aypan back home to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to have further discussions about his career path. But there will be smiles on both sides of the table.
“I’ve missed a lot of cuts by one stroke,” said Apyan, speaking to the modest gathering at the awards ceremony. “I was really close to hanging it up two months ago.”
Instead of hanging it up, Apyan kept on and finished T15 at Waterloo a week ago. His play inspired him and he carried that into the GCRO. Apyan, who held a six-stroke lead heading into the final round, played well enough to secure his first mini-tour title since a Hooters event two years ago. He had five birdies and three bogeys, once getting to 19-under. He settled for winning by four shots over both Adam Schenk (Vincennes, Ind.) and Sam Osborne (Sarasota, Florida). Both of them shot sparkling 7-under-par 65s in making a run at Apyan, but it wasn’t quite enough. Schenk, who went to Purdue, has three top-6 finishes in the PGA LatinoAmerica Tour this year and has won $27,000. Osborne played in the 2012 U. S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Aypan was paired with friend and fishing-tackle provider Mark Blakefield (Maysville, Kentucky) and Joseph Juszczyk (Dearborn Heights, Michigan) for the final round, but neither really mounted a challenge. Blakefield, who went wire-to-wire to win the GCRO last year, never got the putter going and finished with an even par 72 and tied for seventh with Brandon Cauldwell (Ozark, Missouri) at 10-under 206.
Juszczyk equaled Aypan with a 70 and finished fifth at 12-under.
GCRO veteran Justin Hueber, formerly of Fort Wayne, Indiana, but now of Jacksonville, Florida, shot a 10-under-par 62 Saturday, one off the course record. He finished solo fourth at 13-under par and now has three top-10s in his four starts here.
Eric Steger (Fishers, Ind.) continued his solid play with a 4-under 68 and finished sixth at 11 under.
Former University of Iowa standout Steven Ihm improved on his T24 from a year ago with a 6-under 66 Saturday for a 9-under total and a T9.
“I just kind of grinded away,” said Apyan. “I knew there were a lot of good golfers behind me. I just kept my head down and kept plugging along.”
J.D. Schlotterbock of Marion won the Amateur title, coming back from a five-shot second-round deficit to overcome Steve Koepke (Cedar Rapids) by four shots. Schlotterbock shot a solid 3-under 69 on Saturday for a 2-under total of 202. Koepke couldn’t duplicate his outstanding Friday round of 67 and posted a 4-over 76 Saturday. Kevin Ault, a former GCRO Am champ, was third, two strokes further back.
Javier Sanchez of West Des Moines, Iowa, fired his third-straight sub-par round and won the Senior Division by 10 strokes, Sanchez had a 1-under 71 in the final round and a 10-under 206 for the tournament. Sanchez couldn’t stick around for the awards ceremony because he was headed up to Minnesota for a Champions Tour qualifier.
Chuck Moran (Grinnell, Iowa) took second at 216, but that score was good enough to win the Super Senior Division by three strokes over Marshall Gavre.