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Wendy’s Invitational Golf Tournament sees APSU’s Dustin Korte rally for the win Sunday

Greg Guinn takes Senior Division Title

Clarksville Sports NetworkClarksville, TN – Entering Sunday’s final round at the Wendy’s Invitational at Swan Lake Golf Course, Austin Peay State University junior Dustin Korte knew he’d need to turn in a near flawless round to have a shot at winning Clarksville’s first major amateur golf  tournament of the year.

18 holes later, Korte not only had a shot at winning the tournament, he had a shot at making history.

Greg Guinn receives his trophy after winning the 2012 Wendy's Invitational Senior Division title.
Greg Guinn receives his trophy after winning the 2012 Wendy's Invitational Senior Division title.

After firing an opening-round 70 Saturday, Korte turned in the lowest round in Wendy’s Invitational history Sunday, stringing together eight birdies to finish with a two-day 133 and a one-strike win over his former APSU teammate Brian Balthrop.

Despite trailing for virtually the entire tournament, the 20-year-old Korte seemed to get stronger as Sunday went on, posting birdie after birdie as he continued to climb up the leaderboard.

“After 11 or 12 holes I was four under for the tournament and said to myself that if I could get within two shots of (Balthrop) with three holes to go I could tie or win,” Korte said. “That’s when it just clicked. I played about as solid as I could have today.”

Playing in the next-to-last group, Korte said he tried to stay focused on his game while also keeping tabs on Balthrop’s round.

“I kept asking the guys to find out where Brian was and what he was shooting. Some guys don’t like to know (the scores of their opponent) but I kind of like to know.”

Wendy's Invitational Golf Tournament final round.
Wendy's Invitational Golf Tournament final round.

After sinking a birdie putt on No. 18 to get to 9-under, Korte put the pressure on Balthrop, who turned in a great 5-under Sunday round of his own that included four birdies on the front nine.

With Korte already in as the leader in the clubhouse, Balthrop just missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff for the tournament championship.

“It means a lot, especially to beat someone as good as Brian,” Korte said. “I played against him my first year or two years in college. Once he gets in that mindset and gets his confidence going, it’s hard to beat him.”

Perhaps more importantly, the win also ensured Korte an automatic berth into September’s Mann Smith and Cummings Tournament of Champions, which adds to an already packed summer schedule for the upcoming Govs senior.

“I’m going to be playing a lot of events here over the next few weeks,” Korte said. “I’ll be playing the Waterloo Open in Iowa as well as the US Amateur qualifier in Iowa City. Hopefully I qualify for that but if not, we’ll just start getting ready for next year’s season.”

Korte’s APSU teammate Tucker Wallace finished in third place, posting back-to-back rounds of 69.

Rossview High School senior and UT-Martin signee Tyler Guy posted a Sunday 67 to move into fourth place with a two-day 138.

Todd Greene, who took a share of the lead after a birdie on No. 1 fired an even 71 on Sunday to finish with a two-day 140 and sole possession of fifth place.

Clarksville High School standout Hunter Richardson, who entered the day one shot back of Balthrop for the tournament lead, struggled on the back nine and finished three over on Sunday.

2011 Wendy’s winner Greg Guinn won this year’s Senior Division title with a two-day total of 134 that included a blistering Sunday 65.

“It was a lot of fun,” Guinn said of the two-day tournament. “I wasn’t 100 percent entering this weekend so I decided not to defend the Open title that I won last year and the Senior Division title was one of the tournaments I hadn’t yet to win in town. That was fun to get off of the list.”

The Clarksville Golf Association will now take a one-week break before resuming play at the Commanding General’s Tournament at Cole Park June 2nd-3rd.

Details for all upcoming tournaments can be found at www.clarksvillegolfassociation.org.

2012 Wendy’s Invitational Results

OPEN DIVISION

Championship Flight

DUSTIN KORTE                         70      63      133

BRIAN BALTHROP                     68      66      134

TUCKER WALLACE                   69      69      138

TYLER GUY                              71      67      138

TODD GREENE                         69      71      140

BILL SITES                                73      69      142

HUNTER RICHARDSON             69      74      143

JUSTIN BURNEY                       71      72      143

JEFF CHANDLER                      72      72      144

KOREY SMITH                          70      75      145

TYLER PHILLIPS                       72      74      146

JAMIE SCHACHT                       73      74      147

JONATHAN SEWELL                 72      81      153

1st Flight

GRAHAM SLEIGH                      74      66      140

DON PARSONS                        80      66      146

BOBBY YINGLING                     75      73      148

DOUG GOLDEN                        74      75      149

JAMIE WEBB                            75      75      150

ROB CLOUSER                         74      76      150

HUNTER RYE                            78      72      150

STEVE BLACKWELL                 75      76      151

PAYTON WILLIAMS                   76      77      153

KELLY HOLLIDAY                     74      80      154

JAKE PETERSON                     78      76      154

MARK BLACK                           78      76      154

CLEVE GUINN                           76      79      155

WESTON SARTAIN                    77      85      162

CHUCK WALLACE                     78      87      165

2nd Flight

WES PARSONS                        79      72      151

CHIP TURNER                           81      75      156

COLIN WELKER                        80      77      157

HOLLY BATEY                          82      80      162

ROBERT LANGFORD                90      74      164

TYLER BALL                             81      83      164

JUSTIN PAN                              84      80      164

FARRELL SWINDELL                 83      87      170

PERRY SCACHETTI                   83      89      172

MATTHEW RUCKER                  84      90      174

RICKY BRISKEY                        83      97      180

3rd Flight

ALAN VAILLENCOURT               86      80      166

CHRISTIAN MOORE                   87      80      167

HASKELL FINK                          88      79      167

JOSH MCWHIRTER                   89      82      171

MIKE HYAMS JR                       87      86      173

TY KOELKER                            85      88      173

JUSTIN SEAY                            85      89      174

TIM FITTING                               87      89      176

TYLER BRITT                             89      90      179

TIM JARRETT                            89      90      179

NICK EMERSON                        94      88      182

SEAN O’MALLEY                      94      91      185

KEVIN KAUFFMAN                    100    93      193

JOHN ROMERO                        105    92      197

MATTHEW HINTON                    116    115    231

SENIOR DIVISION

Championship Flight

GREG GUINN                            69      65      134

BRAD VANKIRK                        70      69      139

MARCUS SARTAIN                    73      71      144

MIKE TAYLOR                           71      74      145

MIKE WELKER                          75      71      146

RICK RICHARDSON                   74      72      146

TOM HARTZ                              74      73      147

BOB CARTWRIGHT                    77      70      147

BRUCE WALKER                       75      73      148

TOMMY SHEARON                    73      76      149

JIM BRANNEN                           77      73      150

JOHN TOWELL                          75      77      152

AARON RYE                             77      78      155

TED CROZIER JR                      72      84      156

JIM MASHBURN                        77      83      160

JEFF CAMPEAU                       77      84      161

1st Flight

JOHN IGNACIO                          78      73      151

RICHARD ASHBROOK               78      74      152

JEFF WHITLOW                         79      74      153

DANNY BARNES                       79      75      154

FIERCE OLIVER                        80      74      154

HAROLD HENSLEY                   78      77      155

RON JACKSON                         78      77      155

RONNIE SEAY                          80      76      156

TOM EDWARDS                        78      80      158

LARRY MCLEOD                       79      79      158

BILL WILKINSON                       83      77      160

WALTON SMITH JR                   82      79      161

DICKY SEAY                             84      80      164

RON GRAY                               85      79      164

DENNIS KOLB                           86      80      166

MIKE O’MALLEY                       88      84      172

BOBBY PROCTOR                    84      90      174

RON SLEIGH                             89      85      174

ERNIE BRIGGS                         92      84      176

SAMUEL MAXWELL                  89      89      178

WILLIS BRYANT                        96      86      182

FRANK FACHILLA                     97      98      195

Wade Neely
Wade Neelyhttp://www.twitter.com/WadeNeely
Wade Neely comes to Clarksville after beginning his sports media career in March 2010 as the Sports Director at WKSR AM-FM in Pulaski, Tenn. During his time at WKSR, Neely created, produced and hosted "The Wade Neely Morning Show", Pulaski's only live and local wakeup program on WKSR-AM. Neely also served as the "Voice of the Bobcats", providing play-by-play for all Giles County football, basketball and select baseball contests. Neely also served as Director of Broadcasting at Martin Methodist College beginning in January 2011, providing play-by-play for all RedHawks home contests as well as the team's trip to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City. Originally from Pulaski, Neely earned his B.S. in Electronic Media Communication from Middle Tennessee State University's famed College of Mass Communications. Neely also minored in Economics during undergraduate career.
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