Dick Cole

Cole, the senior club champion from Conewango Valley Country Club, bounced back from a 10-over-par 82 on Monday with a 3-over 75 Tuesday that put him in a three-way tie for the title.
In the playoff, Cole claimed the championship with a par on the first hole. Bill Brooks had a bogey to finish second and Nick Cole had double-bogey to finish third.

Cole's 75 on Tuesday was the second-lowest round. The best round was an even-par 72 by Bill McBride, who won the Adams Senior Championship by seven shots.

that Adams Senior Championship, Cole tied for fourth with his 157 total.

"I never played in a national tournament. I thought it would be fun," Cole said was the reason he entered the event.

And he had never played a top-grade national tournament course.

"It was the most intimidating golf course I've ever seen," he said about Kiawah, which was the site of the 1993 Ryder Cup.

So he wasn't surprised he got off to a rough start.

"I dug myself a hole the first day," said Cole, who is the defending champion of The Post-Journal Champions tournament.

A triple-bogey, thanks to a lost ball, on No. 10, helped lead to the opening-round 82.

However, on Tuesday the Jamestown native opened with a birdie and was 1 under for the next two holes before he three-putted Nos. 4 through 6. However, Cole still finished even on the front side, but he noted, "The backside is three strokes tougher than the front."

Cole started with a bogey on 10, but erased it with a birdie at No. 11.

The turning point on the backside was a bogey at the par 5 16th hole.

"I made a 6 that could have been an 8," Cole said about putting his fifth shot from the waste area less than 2 feet from the cup.

Then he parred out for a 75 and a tie for the lead.

"I parred the famous 17th hole both days," Cole said.