Dexter junior captures HTCC stroke play title

Jerry Jarrell file photo CHANCE HOLDEN Hidden Trails Country Club 2008 Club Champion

Holden carded an opening-day round of 1-over-par 73, then backed it up with an even par round of 72 on Sunday to win the title by eight stokes over his nearest competitor.

Kyle Christian finished second with a score of 153 (74-79), as the race for the remaining top five places was very competitive among the 22 golfers competing in the championship division. Tim Holden finished third at 154 (76-78), Andy Riley (76-80) and Jeff Corlew (82-74) finished tied for fourth at 156, and Jerry Jarrell (81-76) took sixth with a two-day total of 157.

In the handicap division, Janice Hoffman and Jerry Jaeger finished tied for first with net scores of 139. Hoffman cared an opening rounds of 77 and 72, and with her five-stroke handicap, netted scores of 72-67. Jaeger, with a handicap of 12, carded a 81 (net 69) on Saturday, then followed it up with a 82 (net 70). Nineteen golfers competed in the handicap division.

Third place in the handicap division went to Steve Holden (12 handicap) with a 140 total, Eric Paris (15 handicap) took fourth at 141, Dale Stites (14 handicap) finished fifth at 142, and there was a four-way tie for sixth between Mike Gaylord (10 handicap), Dean Bennett (19 handicap), Yewell Lawrence (9 handicap) and Bill Holden (5 handicap), as each player finished with a net score of 143.

Chance Holden's title chase started off with a bang as he birdied with first two holes on Saturday on his way to a 2-under par round of 34 on the front nine. His back down was an up-and-down effort coming home, starting with a birdie on the par 5 10th, only to card two bogies and a double bogy over the next five hole. A birdie on the par-3 17th stopped the bleeding, but a bogy on the final hole for a round of 73 left him just one shot in front of Christian with a round of 74.

Holden played a solid front nine on Sunday with a 1-under-par effort of 35, which included a birdie on the par-5 2nd. The back nine started with four pars before he carded his first bogy of the day on the par-3 14th. He bounced back with a birdie on the short par-4 16th to get back to even for the day. A bogey on the last hole was more than enough to secure the 8-stroke victory.

Chance's older brother Tyler, had won the club championship title the past two years. Tyler defended his title and opend with a 77 on Saturday only to fade from contention with an 84 on Sunday.