Kautz reigns supreme

Rick Kautz poses with his championship trophy after winning the 2018 Saipan Golfers Association Ace of Aces Tournament last weekend. (Contributed Photo)

Rick Kautz ended a more than a decade drought after earning the 2018 Saipan Golfers Association Ace of Aces honors last Sunday.

“I’ve been competing in SGA for 15 years and it’s only my first time to win the SGA Ace of Aces,” said Kautz, who shot a two-day total of 149 (net) and beat Joe H. Aldan on a scorecard playoff to rule the club championship held at the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort over the weekend.

The veteran golfer banked on a strong first round and hung tough against the challenging weather condition in the second to top the season-ending competition. The 9-handicapper fired a 39 on the front nine and 40 on the back for a gross 79 and net 70 in the opening round played on the east course. Kautz was just one stroke behind Nick Sablan after the first round, as the latter and 6-handicapper carded a 36 and 39 on the front and back nines, respectively, for a gross 75 and net 69. Aldan, the January Ace winner and holds a 13 handicap, also remained within the striking distance of Sablan after shooting a 42 in the first nine holes and 41 in the last to match Kautz’s scores.

Sablan and Kautz remained in a deadlock after the second round with the former registering a 48 and 44 for a gross 92 and net 79 and the latter posting a 42 and 46 for a gross 88. Kautz went on to win the standoff after recording a 1-over against Sablan’s 2-over in the tiebreak hole No. 7 in the second round.

The final round was played on the west course, which should have been easier for the golfers, but not that Sunday, no thanks to the rain and windy condition.

“We were thinking we will have better scores in the second round because we are playing on the west course. But, the weather was terrible, it was so windy,” said Kautz.

The weather and course condition was so unforgiving that some of the players did not complete the final round and the competition finished later in the afternoon.

When asked how he survived the harsh condition and finally won the SGA Ace of Aces, Kautz said he just played without thinking of winning.

“No expectations. I just go out there and hit the ball the way I normally do,” said Kautz, who qualified for the yearend event after topping the May Ace tournament.

Meanwhile, after losing in the tiebreak, Aldan settled for the first place honors and was joined in the Top 5 by Sablan (net 150), December Ace winner and CNMI Attorney General Edward Manibusan (151), Frank Castro (153), and April Ace Alex Tudela (159).

Aldan also had a closest to the pin shot on the west’s No. 13, while Manibusan did the same on No. 17 and made longest drives on the east’s No. 1 and west’s No. 2 and No. 18 holes. Sablan earned the other longest drive honors, doing it on east’s No. 10, while Larry A. Deleon Guerrero had closest to the pin shots on the east’s No. 6 and 11. Jung Eun Teack and Kautz were the other closest to the pin winners on the east course—No. 4 and No. 6 holes, respectively.

January Ace tournament
Meanwhile, the second round of the SGA Ace of Aces event doubled as the January Ace tournament with Larry I. Deleon Guerrero securing the club’s first monthly award.

The 17-handicapper fired a 49 on the front and 42 on the back for a gross 91 and net 74, giving him a one-stroke win over Manibusan. The 5-handicapper Manibusan had a pair of 40s for a net 75 and runner-up honors, while Steve Balakrishna was at close third with his net 76. Holding a 7-handicap, Balakrishna logged a 43 in the first nine holes and 44 in the last for a gross 87.