Great weather lasting for weeks finally came to an end, bringing long-awaited rain onto dried-up fields of Bavarian farmers, yet for AK 14, 16 and 18 golfers contending the 2nd qualifier of the 2011 BAVARIAN Championship, the official practice round on Friday, May 27, was pretty much washed out. Grabbing their putters, many youngsters though, including Reichswald's team-mates Marc-André Gehr, Keanu Jahns and Tim Rauth still walked the pictureous course at Golfclub Pleiskirchen and put together their game-plan in pouring rain.
GC Pleiskirchen in Niederbayern - www.golfclub-pleiskirchen.de - once again hosted the event.
But although conditions were difficult during practice and on day 1, the tournament was dominated by Dominik Pietzsch of GC Muenchen Riedhof with flawless golf. Pietzsch tore the course apart with one GIR after another as well as excellent long-range putting. His scorecard tallied at 4-under par 68 on day 1 and 6-under par 66 on day 2!
The cool and totally focused Pietzsch fired 6 birdies to erase 2 bogeys on the first day of competition, followed by another 6 birdies plus an eagle on 10 on day 2, and walked away with the winner's trophy in the AK18 division, best round of the tournament at 6-under, and most number of birdies at 12, plus eagle! Great show, Dominik!
2n place in AK18 was secured by Florian Benkhalifa of GC Olching with 1-under par 143 (69, 74) and 3rd went to Julian Hilbertz of GC Muenchen-Eichenried with 3-over par 147 (74, 73).
The AK16 division likewise yielded respectable results.
Alexander Herrmann fired 5 birdies on day 2 to take the winner's spot with 2-under par 142 (74, 68), while Sebastian Schroedel of GC Holledau submitted a final score of 143 (73, 70) to book 2nd place. 3rd went to giant Mike Szlufcik at 145 (73, 72).
Keanu had his chances on day 2, being 3-under par after 11 holes, but made several uncharacteristic 3-putts from close range on 12, 13 and 14, wiping out his advantage. He finished at 1-over par 73, while his day 1 result included an unfortunate OB from a washed-out green bunker on the par-5 hole #1, resulting in double-bogey. An overall 7th place had to suffice.
In the AK14 division, Reichswald's Moritz Spindler again underlined his consistency with a 2-over par 146 (73. 73), securing him a respectable 2nd place overall. 1st place went to Michael Hirmer of GC St. Eurach with an even-par total of 144 (74, 70), while Julian Rippert of GC Olching finished 3rd with 147 (75, 72).
Congratulations to all winners, and particularly to Dominik Pietzsch for some outstanding golf!
Some participants now move on to the AK Open BAVARIAN Championship at fabulous GC Augsburg - www.golfclub-augsburg.de - the home course of German golf legend Bernhard Langer.
