BEVERLY - The 315-foot No. 17 hole at Lakeside Golf Course proved pivotal for Parkersburg's Matthew Hess, the defending champion in the 16-to-18 age division in the Mid-Ohio Valley Junior Golf Association.
Hess sank a lengthy birdie putt on No. 17 and finished with a par on No. 18, carding a 3-over-par 36-37-73 as the MOVJGA summer golf series continued Wednesday.
"I was glad to roll in a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 17," the 18-year-old Hess said. "That helped. I thought I needed to make it (to win). I was just trying to make par and then give myself a chance on No. 18."
Instead, the recent Parkersburg South High School graduate nailed the longest putt he's ever converted in five rounds at Lakeside.
"It was almost dead straight," Hess said of the incredible birdie putt.
"That was crazy," said Bryan Neader after witnessing the putt drop. "He said he lost it straight right, but he got lucky and made it."
It was Hess's poker face that confounded Neader the most.
"(Matt) was mad earlier and he wouldn't tell me what he was for a long time, Neader said. "He ends up three-over, and you're mad... Why?"
The round didn't start off too well for Hess as he scored a double bogey on the 145-foot No. 3 hole and took another bogey on No. 6. He recovered with a birdie on No. 7 and made the turn with a 2-over-par 36.
Hess scored six pars on the back nine along with a pair of bogeys on No. 11 and No. 14, but the birdie putt on No. 17 clinched the win against a field of 16 players in the 16-to-18 age division.
"I knew going into No. 18 that I needed a birdie to win or a par to tie," Hess said. "I got lucky and won with a par putt. I had a little 10-foot birdie putt, but I didn't give it much of a chance because I got nervous."
Hess recovered with a par putt to seal the win.
The field also had to contend with a steady downpour for roughly nine holes.
"It made the course longer," Hess said. "It started when we were on No. 6 and it stopped when we were on No. 15."
Zach Warren, a 16-year-old student at Fort Frye, was hoping to make the most of his familiarity with the Lakeside layout. He finished with a solid round of 36-38-74, which included birdies on No. 6, No. 13 and No. 16. He had a hiccup on No. 17 with a stray shot and ended up taking a double bogey. The slip enabled Hess to take a one-stroke lead.
Warren's grandparents, Tony and Tillie Sequite, of Butler, Pa., kept close tabs as they trailed the action in a golf cart and were nearly treated with a win.
"I broke him in here," Tony Sequite said. "I'd have him out here with nothing but a 5 iron."
Josh Webb, the individual 16-to-18 division winner last week at Arrowhead Pines Golf Course, finished third with a round of 36-40-76.
In the 13-to-15 division, Marietta High School incoming freshman Jared Hammons scored another strong showing as he matched 38s for a 76 and a four-stroke win over Nathan Matheny. It was Hammons' second MOVJGA victory within a span of six days. Last Friday, Hammons fashioned a 69 from the white tees at Arrowhead Pines Golf Course to post the low score of the day.
"I've been pretty consistent all year, especially in this," Hammons said, referring to the MOVJGA series. "I mis-hit the driver a couple of times, but I hit some decent wedges into the greens and made a couple of putts here and there. I didn't putt especially well, but I did enough to shoot a 76, so that was all right."
Hammon's grandfather, 73-year-old Larry Slater, of Devola, kept a keen eye on the scores as the foursomes came in.
"If I break 90, I'm happy," he said. "Jared started when he was young and he's had some lesson. He loves it. Anybody who is out in the rain by himself, pitching and putting and practicing and walking the country club loves golf."
In the 12-&-under division, Parkersburg's Adam Keadle scored his third straight win in the series in a rout. Keadle fired a 37 over nine holes, while Trevor Gorrell and Adeena Shears each shot 53 to finish second and third, respectively.
The MOVJGA series shifts to the Golf Club of West Virginia today with four other events scheduled throughout the month of July at area courses.
