Ian Coffey and Holly Anderson did not have to hit a shot Sunday before being crowned city golf champions for the first time.
The former Columbus North standouts were leading the tournament going into the final round. When heavy rains rendered Otter Creek Golf Course unplayable, Coffey and Anderson were declared the men’s and women’s winners.
“It feels great to win, but it’s unfortunate that it ended the way it did,” Coffey said. “It would have been great to play today. But in the end, it was good enough to get the job done.”
Coffey shot 73 July 15 at Greenbelt and 69 July 16 at Harrison Lake Country Club. His 142 total for 36 holes was one better than his brother Jake, who went 73-70.
Jake Coffey was the two-time defending city champion and had won three of the past four titles.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Jake Coffey said. “Since I was only one back, it would have been nice to have another 18 holes.”
Anderson won the women’s title with a 2-over-par 72 Saturday at Greenbelt. The reigning Indiana high school state champion, who will be a freshman at Ball State, won by 16 shots over Autumn Fateley, who will be a senior at Columbus East.
Anderson was playing in only her second tournament since the state finals last October. She finished 29th in the Indiana Women’s Golf Association tourney last weekend at Otter Creek.
“I was happy to go out there and play with my sister and with Autumn, and it turned out well,” Anderson said. “I was happy to have a win this summer and be able to play with some of my close friends and do better than I did last weekend.”
Otter Creek experienced about an inch of rain overnight. Four groups were able to begin their final rounds Sunday morning before rain hit again around 8:45 a.m. and caused a delay.
Finally, around 11 a.m., the final round was canceled. Otter Creek pro Chad Cockerham said at that time, four holes were almost completely under water.
“We just had so much surface water that, even though the course probably would have drained, we would have had so much casual water that there would be areas that you couldn’t take relief,” Cockerham said. “It would be unfair to try to host a tournament on the conditions that it is.”
