Golf: Eric Crost wins Dundee Township Park District Open
By Scott Miller For Sun-Times Media September 23, 2012 9:18PM
Updated: September 24, 2012 7:48PM
It would be hard to tell that Eric Crost of Palatine hasn’t had much time for competitive golf the past couple years by the scores he put up on Saturday and Sunday at the Dundee Township Park District Open.
Crost fought through the strong winds to fire a par 69 on Saturday at Bonnie Dundee and came back with a strong 1-under-par 70 at Randall Oaks on Sunday to hold off a furious charge by Dan Bova of Algonquin to win the title with a 139 in the championship flight.
“It was a grind,” said Crost. “I didn’t know quite what to expect since I haven’t played in a two-day tournament for a long time. But I’m proud of the way I played especially when things got tight. I wasn’t very sharp at hitting greens all weekend, but I was getting it up and down from everywhere. To win it was awesome.”
Crost had a three-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s action and Bova was four back. However, after Crost got off to a slow start, shooting three over on the first six holes, Bova was able to pull to within one stroke.
A long winding birdie putt on the ninth hole got Crost back on track. He went on to birdie 13,14, and 16 on the back nine to pull away for a five-stroke victory over Bova (144).
“Once I hit that birdie putt on nine I felt my confidence come back,” said Crost. “Dan was pushing me so it was up to me turn it around. I hit the ball much better on the back nine. I didn’t really do anything differently. My in-laws showed up about that time, so I suppose I should give them some of the credit. Really I think it was just a matter of getting my confidence back.
After Bova made his move to pull to within a stroke he gave the gains back with consecutive bogeys on 9,10 and 11.
“I had a window of opportunity there when I got to within one, but I just couldn’t finish it,” said Bova. “I got myself in trouble with some bunkers. Eric played a great round. Any time you can get under par on a Sunday you deserve to win. He had a great tournament.”
Craig Martin finished third with a 150. Last year’s defending champion Don Langland finished in fourth with a 154 — 10 strokes off the pace.
In the A flight Michael Fanselow of Huntley overcame a three-stroke deficit heading into Sunday, to shoot a 76 and win by two strokes over Jeff Blessman with a 154 for the tournament. After double-bogeys on his first two holes, Fanselow, who finished second in the A flight last year, recovered with long birdie puts on 11 and 17 to take the lead.
“I had my son Nick caddying for me today and he gave me a lot of the same advise I usually give him,” said Fanselow. “He kept telling me after those first two holes that there was a long way to go and to just think about the next shot. It goes to show you never know what can happen if you just stick with it. I just seem to get more relaxed after those first two holes and just had fun.”
Mike Gavigan of Algonquin won the B flight with a 163, including an impressive 79 on Sunday. Larry Paquer also of Algonquin won the C flight with a 170. And in dramatic fashion Bob Jorgensen of Sleepy Hollow overcame a five-stroke deficit to edge out Jeff Stephens 184-185 to win the D flight.
