Equal to the challenge: Glick holds off ex-teammate, former champ

KENNY Chavis doesn’t enjoy doing math on the golf course, but Sunday’s scenario in the Columbus Men’s City Golf Championship at Otter Creek called for some numbers crunching.

After a birdie at No. 17 pulled him within two shots of the lead with one hole remaining, Chavis figured he needed an eagle to pull off a victory.

“I just couldn’t pull it off,” Chavis said.

It wouldn’t have mattered. Glick, a former Columbus North and current Tusculum College golfer, birdied No. 18 to win the three-day city tournament, holding off Chavis’ charge by three shots. Michael VanDeventer placed third, six shots behind the lead.

Glick followed last weekend’s rounds of 68 and 69, respectively, to finish with a 2-under 70 Sunday and a total of 207.

“I don’t have to sleep on it for another week now,” Glick said. “I woke up Monday, just kind of really wanted (the final day of the tourney) to be that day, instead of six days away.”

Whatever anxiousness Glick felt throughout the week was gone by Sunday. He opened the final 18 holes with two birdies and managed to keep Chavis and VanDeventer off his back throughout.

“When he started birdie-birdie, I was just like ‘Man,’” said the 39-year-old Chavis, a two-time city champ. “He had just enough lead on me all day, where I couldn’t put the amount of pressure on him I wanted.”

Chavis knew he was a long shot. He entered Sunday in third place, six shots behind Glick and three shots behind VanDeventer, a soon-to-be junior at North. But Chavis’ final round of 5-under 67 (six birdies, one bogey) was the low round of the three-day event.

“The kids these days are so good,” Chavis said. “They are so much more advanced than I was. I mean, Coleman is 20 years younger than I am, and Michael is 24 years younger than I am. So I go out there and do the best I can. For me to come up with a number like that today, after really struggling hitting the ball last weekend, to even have a chance coming into today was really good.”

VanDeventer’s Sunday score of 72 came in an up-and-down way. He had two birdies, three bogeys, a double bogey and — most impressively — a double eagle on No. 14. He used a three-wood to skip the ball off the back of the bunker, into the cup of the par-5 hole.

“Once I made the double eagle, that got me to 1-under on the day,” VanDeventer said. “I figured I was back in it.”

But VanDeventer went bogey-bogey on the next two holes, and by No. 17, his chances of winning were gone. By 18, VanDeventer was congratulating Glick, his former North teammate.

Glick played 18 holes of golf Monday through Saturday to prepare for Sunday’s finale. Even after starting birdie-birdie, Glick resisted the temptation of adding up his scores, choosing to play the course instead of mind games. And it worked.

“I wasn’t even trying to pay attention (to the score) in the end,” Glick said. “You can’t think like that. You’ve just got to play each shot one at a time.”

Behind the top three, Ross Pushor placed fourth with a three-day total of 319, while 2010 champ Ryan Myers was two shots behind in the championship flight, and Darren Hinton, Danny Holcomb and University of Indianapolis student Brandon Knapp tied for sixth.

Bethel College’s Drew Day shot 1-under Sunday to win the first flight. Other flight winners were Mike Engelstad, Zack Lee, Eli Harmon, Adam Cecil and Steve Allman.

Lee had a hole-in-one on the 160-yard 13th hole.

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