City tourney July 11-12

By STU SWARTZ
Goshen News Sports Editor

June 25, 2009 09:54 am

— A Goshen golfing tradition, the “City Tourney,” is nearing a half century of history.
The 48th annual event, now labeled the Goshen Men’s Golf Championship, is scheduled for the weekend of July 11-12 at Maplecrest Country Club on Hackett Road.
For the first time in 18 years, the entire 36-hole tournament will be conducted at Maplecrest with Black Squirrel no longer in the mix.
Michael Koronkiewicz is defending champion. He posted rounds last year of 69 at Maplecrest and 74 at Black Squirrel for a five-stroke victory over Kyle Miller. Chase King was third.
The city tournament was inaugurated in 1962 with The Goshen News involved in sponsorship, spearhead by the late publisher F.L. “Budd” Hascall. Maplecrest was then a budding course, having opened nine holes on July 4, 1961.
R.W. Kintigh won the 1962 championship flight by three shots over Gene Stoffel. Other flight winners were Jay Holaway in A, Bob Conrad in B, Jim McConnell in C and Hal Doriot in D.
The late Clint Kilmer was the “King of Golf” in Goshen with eight city tournament crowns, the first in 1963 and his last in 1982 at the age of 63.
Neil Graves and Roy Bergman both own five city championships, Tom Stark four and Doug Freeman three.
There were 90 entrants in the initial city tournament 47 years ago and the peak field was 178 golfers in 1990.
The event was 54 holes for 23 years before being reduced to a 36-hole special in 1985.
Bergman set the 54-hole scoring record of 212 in 1979 with rounds of 69, 71 and 72.
Brad Webb set the 36-hole mark of 141 in 2004 with scores of 69 and 72. Bergman matched that with rounds of 69 and 72 in 2007.
Kilmer’s first championship in 1963 was by five strokes over Jay Holaway and Stoffel. Among flight winners that summer was the late teacher and coach Ralph Peterson in A flight.
Former Goshen High School football coach Joe Springer, now deceased, became a city champion in 1968 with scores of 76, 70 and 78 for a two-shot triumph over Jim Johnston. Stoffel was third and Jim Pumroy fourth that year.
The first championship flight playoff was in 1969 with Johnston winning over Jay Holaway after both had posted 54-hole scores of 222.
Then Maplecrest greenskeeper Ben Hogan, sharing a name with a legendary pro golfer, captured a city title in 1972 with scores of 74 and 71 to win by one over Doug Zimmerman.
Stark captured his first Goshen golf title in 1973 and was then the youngest to win at the age of 25. He topped Bill Wade and Kilmer by five strokes.
Kilmer’s sixth championship in 1974 came in dramatic fashion in 1974 as he made a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 18 for a one-stroke victory over 18-year-old sensation Jeff Kime.
Kime, playing barefooted, won the crown a year later by three shots over Hogan and Bob Weiland.
A Goshen Golf Association, headed by the late Dick Swartz, assumed sponsorship of the tournament from The Goshen News in 1976 and there were 157 entrants with Kilmer winning by one stroke over Stark.
In 1977, Stark rallied from a five-stroke deficit in the last round and nipped Kime by one by sinking a 35-foot chip shot on No. 18.
Bergman notched back-to-back championships in 1979 and 1980, winning by a whopping 16 strokes over John Conrad and Tom Fields in 1979 and by two over Conrad the following summer.
Kilmer’s last title in 1982 at the age of 63 was punctuated with a magnificent 130-yard iron shot to within 18 inches of the cup for a tap-in birdie and a two-stroke triumph over Stark, Kime, Dick Edwards and Scott Gross.