Corporon has two-shot lead after first round of City tournament
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, August 17, 2008
On his way to a third straight Tri-State Masters title this spring, Ayron Corporon struggled down the stretch. Such was not the case in the opening round of the 95th Men's City Championship sponsored by Rick Collins Toyota-Scion on Saturday.
Corporon fired a 3-under-par 69 at Green Valley Golf Club, taking a two-shot lead over Todd Sapp and Chris Rager. Corporon, the 2001 city champion, Sapp, who won back-to-back titles in 1984 and '85, and Rager were the only players to break par in perfect conditions.
"I played the par 3s in even par and to me that's pretty good," said Corporon, an East High grad and former Creighton University golfer. "Then, in the stretch between 14 and 17, I went birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie.
"During the Masters, I think I bogeyed 15, 16, 17 and 18, so those two things were pretty key for me."
Sapp, the newly appointed Morningside College golf coach, and former Mustang linkster Rager each shaved a stroke off par with 71. Tyson Bodlak and Jeff Donaldson, the 2004 champion, matched par with 72.
Corporon toured the first nine holes in even par 36 before firing a 3-under 33 on the back.
"I left myself in some really good spots, didn't get into any trouble and made a few putts," said Corporon, who finished seventh in last month's River-Cade tournament. "This is really only my third tournament of the year. I haven't been playing as much as I usually do, but when I have, I've played pretty well."
Another stroke in back of Corporon at 73 was Mark Brown while two-time defending champion Dan Freed left himself within striking distance witha 2-over 74. Steve Van Ginkel, Vern Van Peursem and Josh Wendling also carded 74.
The entire field of 89 players tours another 18 holes today and the top half of the championship flight will play an additional nine. Players were asked to declare championship or regular flights before the start of the tournament.
Rager, a former South Sioux City prep standout who graduated from Morningside last spring, shot 35-36 after getting off to a fast start with birdies on the first two holes. He did, however, make double bogey on the par-4 fourth hole before scoring another birdie on the par-5 sixth. On the back nine, Rager hit his tee shot in the water on the par-5 11th and made bogey, but got that stroke back with a birdie on No. 15, another par-5.
"I hit the ball pretty close all day, but didn't really make anything," said Rager. "I had longer putts to save par on 12 and 16, but I couldn't get the birdie putts to go in.
"I think not playing with the lead will be a little easier. Maybe I can put a little pressure on Ayron, but he's tough to chase because he's so steady and doesn't miss many greens. We'll see what happens."
Sapp, who had identical nine-hole splits of 35 and 36, also got out of the gate quickly, making birdie on the par-5 No. 2 and on No. 4, but bogeyed the par-4 ninth. After making bogey on No. 12, he got two strokes back with birdies in 13 and 15, but made another bogey on the par-4 16th, a difficult dogleg right.
"I got off to a fast start, 2-under after four holes," said Sapp. "They had the course tipped out, but it was a fair test. I birdied 13, missed a short one on 14 and then hit one in tight and tapped in for birdie on 15. "Chris Rager beat me in a match on Friday and I'm going to make a prediction that he'll be hard to beat tomorrow."
Corporon would like nothing better than to add another city title to his already impressive resume.
"I would be nice to win another one and it's been 10 years since I've won the Jividen Cup, so I plan on playing in that one, too," he said. "If I do as well as I did today, it will put me in a good spot. I just have to go out there and play the course and see what happens."
The Jividen Cup, by the way, will be played at Whispering Creek in October.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
69: Ayron Corporon
71: Chris Rager, Todd Sapp
72: Tyson Bodlak, Jeff Donaldson
73: Mark Brown
74: Dan Freed, Steve Van Ginkel, Vern Van Peursem, Josh Wendling
75: Jim Anderson, Adam Fields, Cam Jacobs, Ben Keane, Mike Kelley, Brad Newton, M.L. Petersen, Sam Prue, Cory Westphal
76: Brian Barto, Bill Mathers, Brandon Morehead, Steve Petersen, Gary Stieneke, Jeff Warden
77: Mark Albert, Billy Keane, Pat O'Brien, David Young
78: Larry Franzen, Josh Solma
79: Tim Bauer, Tom Berglund, Jason Pease, Jim Tritz
80: Collin Breyfogle, Bill Hornbeck, J.D. Thacker, Ray Van Buskirk IV
81: Eric Bricker, Mark Hilts, Scott Knowles, Craig Manker, Pat Schiltz
82: Kevin Lacey, Jamie Marksbury, Zach Mathers
83: Dan Gates, Troy Rodecker
84: Brandon Swift, Tom Ward
85: Derek Benson, Jared Kvidera
87: Rick Admire, Adam Freed, Jim LeMoine
89: Trent Allen, Keith Pease
98: Kelly Schmidt
FIRST FLIGHT
74: Kurt Bonstead
75: Ron Van Buskirk, Kirk Walker
77: Greg Thousand
79: John Lacey, Barry Poe, Kevin Schwaderer
SECOND FLIGHT
81: Jeff Jansen, Rory Jansen, Bill Maxon, Bill McKenna
82: Mike Matthey, Alex Walker, Kevin Welte
83: Sam Doerr, Duane Herbst
THIRD FLIGHT
84: Ian Banks, Tom Pylelo
85: Jim Buttermore
86: Brian Sands, John Shuck, Tim Van Peursem, Brent Weitzel
87: Steve Bales, Tyson Banks
FOURTH FLIGHT
89: Dave Clark, Charles Tarvin
90: Scott Briggs
91: Rick Nearman, R. Doc Zortman
94: Brad Frost, Jim Zortman
97: Josh O'Neill
Corporon fired a 3-under-par 69 at Green Valley Golf Club, taking a two-shot lead over Todd Sapp and Chris Rager. Corporon, the 2001 city champion, Sapp, who won back-to-back titles in 1984 and '85, and Rager were the only players to break par in perfect conditions.
"I played the par 3s in even par and to me that's pretty good," said Corporon, an East High grad and former Creighton University golfer. "Then, in the stretch between 14 and 17, I went birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie.
"During the Masters, I think I bogeyed 15, 16, 17 and 18, so those two things were pretty key for me."
Sapp, the newly appointed Morningside College golf coach, and former Mustang linkster Rager each shaved a stroke off par with 71. Tyson Bodlak and Jeff Donaldson, the 2004 champion, matched par with 72.
Corporon toured the first nine holes in even par 36 before firing a 3-under 33 on the back.
"I left myself in some really good spots, didn't get into any trouble and made a few putts," said Corporon, who finished seventh in last month's River-Cade tournament. "This is really only my third tournament of the year. I haven't been playing as much as I usually do, but when I have, I've played pretty well."
Another stroke in back of Corporon at 73 was Mark Brown while two-time defending champion Dan Freed left himself within striking distance witha 2-over 74. Steve Van Ginkel, Vern Van Peursem and Josh Wendling also carded 74.
The entire field of 89 players tours another 18 holes today and the top half of the championship flight will play an additional nine. Players were asked to declare championship or regular flights before the start of the tournament.
Rager, a former South Sioux City prep standout who graduated from Morningside last spring, shot 35-36 after getting off to a fast start with birdies on the first two holes. He did, however, make double bogey on the par-4 fourth hole before scoring another birdie on the par-5 sixth. On the back nine, Rager hit his tee shot in the water on the par-5 11th and made bogey, but got that stroke back with a birdie on No. 15, another par-5.
"I hit the ball pretty close all day, but didn't really make anything," said Rager. "I had longer putts to save par on 12 and 16, but I couldn't get the birdie putts to go in.
"I think not playing with the lead will be a little easier. Maybe I can put a little pressure on Ayron, but he's tough to chase because he's so steady and doesn't miss many greens. We'll see what happens."
Sapp, who had identical nine-hole splits of 35 and 36, also got out of the gate quickly, making birdie on the par-5 No. 2 and on No. 4, but bogeyed the par-4 ninth. After making bogey on No. 12, he got two strokes back with birdies in 13 and 15, but made another bogey on the par-4 16th, a difficult dogleg right.
"I got off to a fast start, 2-under after four holes," said Sapp. "They had the course tipped out, but it was a fair test. I birdied 13, missed a short one on 14 and then hit one in tight and tapped in for birdie on 15. "Chris Rager beat me in a match on Friday and I'm going to make a prediction that he'll be hard to beat tomorrow."
Corporon would like nothing better than to add another city title to his already impressive resume.
"I would be nice to win another one and it's been 10 years since I've won the Jividen Cup, so I plan on playing in that one, too," he said. "If I do as well as I did today, it will put me in a good spot. I just have to go out there and play the course and see what happens."
The Jividen Cup, by the way, will be played at Whispering Creek in October.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
69: Ayron Corporon
71: Chris Rager, Todd Sapp
72: Tyson Bodlak, Jeff Donaldson
73: Mark Brown
74: Dan Freed, Steve Van Ginkel, Vern Van Peursem, Josh Wendling
75: Jim Anderson, Adam Fields, Cam Jacobs, Ben Keane, Mike Kelley, Brad Newton, M.L. Petersen, Sam Prue, Cory Westphal
76: Brian Barto, Bill Mathers, Brandon Morehead, Steve Petersen, Gary Stieneke, Jeff Warden
77: Mark Albert, Billy Keane, Pat O'Brien, David Young
78: Larry Franzen, Josh Solma
79: Tim Bauer, Tom Berglund, Jason Pease, Jim Tritz
80: Collin Breyfogle, Bill Hornbeck, J.D. Thacker, Ray Van Buskirk IV
81: Eric Bricker, Mark Hilts, Scott Knowles, Craig Manker, Pat Schiltz
82: Kevin Lacey, Jamie Marksbury, Zach Mathers
83: Dan Gates, Troy Rodecker
84: Brandon Swift, Tom Ward
85: Derek Benson, Jared Kvidera
87: Rick Admire, Adam Freed, Jim LeMoine
89: Trent Allen, Keith Pease
98: Kelly Schmidt
FIRST FLIGHT
74: Kurt Bonstead
75: Ron Van Buskirk, Kirk Walker
77: Greg Thousand
79: John Lacey, Barry Poe, Kevin Schwaderer
SECOND FLIGHT
81: Jeff Jansen, Rory Jansen, Bill Maxon, Bill McKenna
82: Mike Matthey, Alex Walker, Kevin Welte
83: Sam Doerr, Duane Herbst
THIRD FLIGHT
84: Ian Banks, Tom Pylelo
85: Jim Buttermore
86: Brian Sands, John Shuck, Tim Van Peursem, Brent Weitzel
87: Steve Bales, Tyson Banks
FOURTH FLIGHT
89: Dave Clark, Charles Tarvin
90: Scott Briggs
91: Rick Nearman, R. Doc Zortman
94: Brad Frost, Jim Zortman
97: Josh O'Neill
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