Amateur Golf: Act of sportsmanship helps decide 74th Pine Hills Invitational

OTTAWA – Golf is a sport that relies heavily on sportsmanship and etiquette, and it was never more evident than during Sunday’s final round of the 74th annual Pine Hills Invitational.

Ottawa’s Baley Lehr capped a crazy, back-and-forth four-man race to the finish by sinking a tough 12-foot downhill putt on the final hole to edge Jason Buffone of New Lenox by one stroke for the championship.

But it was an act of sportsmanship by Buffone that gave Lehr the chance at the winning putt.

Lehr’s second shot on No. 18 appeared to the foursome to have gone into the water. However, Buffone took the time to look for the ball, found it and pointed it out to Lehr just in time to prevent him from having to take a penalty stroke.

Lehr hit the shot from there to the high side of the sloping green but coolly drilled the putt straight in to claim his second PHI crown. He previously won the event in 2018 by making a birdie on the final hole to win by one stroke.

“I thought [the putt] might be for the championship, but I wasn’t sure. I knew it might be among our group, but I wasn’t sure of anyone in front of us,” Lehr said. “The whole tournament, I’d over-read every single putt, trying to read a break into it when there wasn’t one, so this time I decided to try and hit it straight, and it went straight, right into the hole. … It was a lucky par.

“There was a lot of difficulty on that last hole. I hit a good tee shot, but I overdrew it and got into the long rough. I was sitting down, tried a shot that I shouldn’t have and thought I was in the water. Fortunately, Jason went down there and found it just as I was about to hit a third shot, so not having to take that [penalty] pretty much saved me right there.

“There are some people who wouldn’t have done that. He’s a good dude. I’m very thankful for him.”

Buffone, who shook off a rocky start to climb back to even and contention with Lehr (-1) and Streator’s Austin Gass (E) by the middle of the 18-hole day, knew to look because just the day before, his father, Aldo Buffone of Schererville, Indiana, had done the same thing on the same hole.

His son found it then and repeated the act Sunday to give the one man he was chasing entering No. 18, Lehr, the chance at the title.

“Because it happened to my dad, I knew to look, and we found it,” Buffone said. “Today we found it about a foot [away from the water]. I asked him what ball he was playing and told him, ‘Hey, it’s right here.’ … No one wants to win a tournament on something like that. You want to play the right way and see what happens.

“I should have had an up-and-down on that hole to force a playoff. That would have been nice, but he deserved it.”

Other winners on the day included J.D. Joanis of Ottawa, who won the A Flight with a score of 155, three strokes better than runners-up Ron Noel of Ottawa and Jim Gulbranson of Manteca, California.

Lehr’s father, Brian Lehr, was the Seniors champion after shooting the best single round of the day, a 69, to finish at 145, three shots better than runner-up John Wright of Aurora.

The Super Senior champion was Mokena’s John Finnin with a 150 to edge Mount Prospect’s Dan Caporusso by two.

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74th Pine Hills Invitational

Pine Hills Golf Course

Par: 70

Final scores

Baley Lehr 70-70 140

Jason Buffone 69-72 141

Austin Gass 72-70 142

Michael Fastert 72-71 143

Jesse Cavanaugh 72-71 143

Brian Lehr 76-69 145

Jeremy DeBernardi 74-72 146

Tres Steffey 71-75 146

Lloyd Roth 75-72 147

Mason Kimberley 73-74 147

Henry Quinn 71-76 147

Josh Gass 69-78 147

Alex Blumenshine 71-77 148

Dylan Mattson 74-75 149

John Wright 73-76 149

Matt Dwyer 75-75 150

John Finnin 74-76 150

Scott Atkins 75-75 150

Andrew Stineman 75-76 151

Brian Silvers 79-72 151

Gabe Aprati 75-76 151

Steven Embree 76-75 151

Jim Mounce 79-73 152

Ryan Cuitino 75-77 152

Dan Caporusso 79-73 152

Andrew Blackburn 75-77 152

Tony Muscato 77-77 154

Mick Resser 77-77 154

Drake Kaufman 72-82 154

JD Joanis 77-78 155

Parker Govern 74-81 155

Todd Manning 80-76 156

Baxter Teal 77-79 156

Ron Noel 80-78 158

Paul Snook 80-78 158

James Gulbronson 78-80 158

Rick Lehr 82-77 159

Greg Underwood 83-77 160

TJ Konvalinka 80-80 160

Ed Moltzan 79-81 160

Patrick Guilfoyle 79-81 160

Clay Wells 79-81 160

Tom Govern 82-79 161

Micah Mattingly 81-81 162

Trevor Cushard 83-80 163

Patrick Cesario 84-79 163

Landen Plym 81-82 163

Dane Lehr 79-84 163

Kim Dong 86-79 165

Christopher Beyer 84-82 166

John (Juan) Hernandez 84-82 166

Blase Heusner 86-81 167

David Newland 86-81 167

John Fisher 84-83 167

Drake Stoudt 82-86 168

Brian Riffel 83-85 168

Jim Foutch 87-83 170

Curt Trizzino Sr. 87-83 170

David Lee 86-84 170

Kyle Kolka 84-87 171

Brian Fordon 90-81 171

Matt Cook 81-91 172

Scott Lilly 81-91 172

Grant Plym 87-86 173

Jake Seaver 84-89 173

Cater Piercy 85-88 173

Steven Bettenhausen 82-91 173

Jake Strabala 82-91 173

Bill Sipula 89-85 174

Patrick Washington 86-88 174

Bob Randall 90-85 175

Jim Zartman 92-84 176

Michael Sipula III 89-87 176

Moises Martinez 90-86 176

Aldo Buffone 88-89 177

John Gulbronson 90-88 178

Jim Kintz 91-89 180

Bill Mattingly 91-90 181

Dave Gray 90-94 184

Matt Lindenbaum 92-93 185

Joe Inman 96-91 187

Adam Spencer 93-97 190

Jack Davorak 100-97 197

Ted Stone 99-101 200

Matt Bushman 98-103 201

Charlie Dunkel 91-45 136