Puffenberger Record Setter at Par 54
Helen Puffenberger birdied the tough 17th hole to get to a record 5 under Par 49 and hold off former champ Kevin Gregoire at the Par 54. Puff has dominated the decade of the ’20’s in the event, this giving her 3 of the last 4 titles. Kevin Gregoire held the early lead with 3 birdies and an eagle on the first 5 holes but cooled off and finished in 2nd place at 4-under 50, a score good enough to win 18 of the previous 20 Par-54 contests.
Jeff Pasz (52) finished 3rd and Eric Kiekbusch (53) and Tim Markel (53) tied for fourth. Showing the quality of the field, fully 1/2 the field hit more than 10 greens, led by Gregoire and David Martin at 14. Corey McCue led the field with 30 putts. Chris Stalo recorded a milestone 50th start on Tour.
Puffenberger was nearly flawless over the Strategic Fox layout recording 6 birdies against a lone bogey and became the first to break 50 at the Par-54. She joins Barb Hoelze and Jeff Klipa as 3-time winners of the tournament. Puff moves up 5 spots into the top 16 in the World Rankings at 13th. She also moves to 4th in all-time Par 54 winnings, trailing Jeff Klipa, Martin and Barb Hoelzle. This was Puffenberger’s 9th career win in 251 starts.
