In the 13-year history of the Greater Cedar Rapids Open, only one golfer has ever won the Waterloo Open and the GCRO in the same year. PGA Tour player Derek Lamely won the Waterloo in 2008 and then moseyed down I-380 to Marion and Hunters Ridge Golf Course to add the GCRO title. It was Lamely’s second GCRO title after wining in 2005.

Defending GCRO champ Andy Winings won in Waterloo in 2009, then came down to the GCRO and almost won that, finishing two shots in back of Solon’s Sean McCarty. McCarty also has a Waterloo title to his credit, winning in 1998 to edge Zach Johnson by a stroke.

Every golfer who plays and does well at the Waterloo Open – Iowa’s largest and oldest pro golf tournament – doesn’t always fare well at the GCRO, but you have to look for a trend somewhere.

So here are a few of the top finishers at Waterloo last weekend, who also will be teeing it up Friday in the opening round of the GCRO. Chris Thompson – you read about him here before – tied for third and was handed a nice $5,800 check. Well, not as nice as winner Nathan Lashley’s $50,000, but it was something. Judd Cornell of Omaha was one shot behind Thompson and tied for fourth.

Winings tied for ninth and you can expect him to be in the hunt here again. Tom Bliefnick of Decatur, Ill., and Chris McCartin of Arlington, Va., also finished ninth, all at 9-under 135 for the two-day tournament. They got some spending money with checks of $1,720.

Coralville’s Jonathan Feldick and Jerry Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., were in a bunch at 136 to share 14th place. Smith tied for fourth here last year.

So what does that all mean? Well, considering Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were among the prohibitive favorites going into last week’s British Open and neither made the cut, I guess maybe a lot of “let’s wait and see.”

Hey, here’s one more name. Rodney Hamblin of St. Paul, Minn., was the opening day leader at Waterloo, firing an 8-under 64. He collapsed Sunday, ballooning to a 76. Which guy will show up this week?

Don Wojciechowski resides in the Hunters Ridge Golf Course community and plays the course on a regular basis. He’s a former sports editor for a suburban Chicago daily newspaper and an avid golf fan.