BY ROBB LUEHR
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, July 19, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - Bendt Bendtsen III and Tony Romo played trading places Saturday in the second round of the Racine Tri-Course Amateur Championship.
Bendtsen went on a birdie binge and Romo got on the so-called "bogey train" at Meadowbrook Country Club, resulting in a six-shot swing. That put Bendtsen, the two-time defending champion, in the same position Romo was after Friday's first round - three shots ahead.
After a difficult start to his round Saturday, Bendtsen finished with a 2-under par 69, his best Tri-Course round at Meadowbrook, and has a two-day total of 4-under 137. Romo had five straight bogeys on holes 13 through 17 and finished at 4-over 75 for a two-day total of 1-under 140. The third member of Saturday's final group, Paul Zarek of Burlington, stayed in the hunt with eight 3s on his card and bookend birdies for a 73 and a total of even-par 141.
The same three play together again at Racine Country Club today in the final group that tees off at 12:16 p.m.
Bendtsen was 3-over par after the first four holes, including a double-bogey 5 on the 183-yard, par-3 second hole. After hitting his tee shot over the green, he fluffed his second shot out of the deep rough and moved the ball just a few feet. He left his third shot above the flag - a recipe for trouble at Meadowbrook - and missed the putt.
"I thought I had a perfect shot in there," Bendtsen said. "I just hit it too far. You can't hit it long there or you're done."
He had a bogey on the 192-yard, par-3 fourth after putting his tee shot in the rough.
Romo opened with a bogey on the 410-yard, par-4 first hole, but made three straight pars to take a five-shot lead over Bendtsen after the sixth hole. The lead remained there until the 336-yard, par-4 seventh hole, where Bendtsen began to heat up.
Coming off a birdie on the 381-yard, par-4 fifth hole and a par on the 143-yard, par-3 sixth, Bendtsen began to find the flag. He made a four-foot birdie putt on No. 7 and two-putted from 12 feet for birdie on the 470-yard, par-5 eighth to get within three shots of Romo. After narrowly missing a birdie on No. 9, Bendtsen started the back nine with back-to-back birdies for five in a seven-hole stretch.
After a pair of pars, Bendtsen got his final birdie on a 10-foot putt on the 360-yard, par-4 14th hole. That birdie, combined with the second of Romo's five straight bogeys, put Bendtsen in the lead.
"Never give up," Bendtsen said. "You can always make birdies coming in."
Romo wasn't able to do after the 10th hole. The problem for him was that the greens at Meadowbrook, which are normally firm, were softened by the light rain and mist that fell during the day. On nearly every hole, Romo had enough backspin on his ball that it rolled off the front of the greens.
"I got frustrated because I hit a lot of good shots that spun back," Romo said. "I was hitting the ball well, but that hurt me today. I missed seven of the first eight greens in regulation because the ball spun off.
"I was scared to be aggressive and the two or three times I did, it spun back 30 feet."
Romo also struggled with his putting on those holes. He had one three-putt and missed par putts of 12 feet or less on the other four holes, including a three-footer.
Zarek did his best to stay in the running. He birdied the first hole and was 1-under for the day through No. 5, but had four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch to put him 1-over. But he held steady and capped his round with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 429-yard, par-4 18th.
"Short (hitting) guys can still play the game," said Zarek, who was consistently 40 to 50 yards behind his playing partners off the tee. "I only hit two or three really bad shots. I had a lot of fun and I was just enjoying the moment."
Bendtsen will be tough to beat today at Racine Country Club.
"I'm going to my home course and that's always good," Bendtsen said.
"I think the front nine will say a lot," Romo said. "It will be a tough battle. If I can hit the ball well, we'll see."
Notes
BORZYNSKI CLOSES IN: Steve Borzynski had the second-best round of the day, a 1-over par 72, and moved into fourth place at 144.
The 2001 Case High School graduate moved from Racine after high school, but returned a couple years ago. He hasn't played much tournament golf and kiddingly refers back to his Mike Bencriscutto Junior Masters title in 2001, the last for a Racine player.
"That's what I joke around with everyone - I'm the only one with a Junior Masters trophy," Borzynski said. "They say 'oh, that was 40 years ago,' But I was the last Racine champion and it's my call to glory."
RACINE C.C. CATCHES PUBLIC LINKS: Thanks to five rounds of 78 or better, Racine Country Club has taken a four-shot lead over Public Links in the team competition. Bendtsen's 69 and Borzynski's 72 led the way, with Paul Jacobsen adding 73, Joe O'Brien 75 and Fred Petersen 78 for 367 and a two-day total of 728.
Public Links was led by Zarek's 73, Kai Kamakian's 74 and Romo's 75, but John Bechard had an 82 and Nate Schroeder had 85 for 389 and a total of 732.
Meadowbrook had a 74 from Andy DeKeuster, but the team (Mike Masik Jr., Bill Winkler, Greg Romano, Troy McReynolds) had 406 for a total of 766. Meadowbrook hasn't won the team title since 1997.