Jon Woods beats best friend Taylor Kanute for St. Charles crown
Jon Woods saved his best for last Sunday afternoon at Pottawatomie Golf Course in what was not his normal casual golf round with best friend Taylor Kanute.
Woods, a St. Charles East graduate who will be heading to Penn State in a couple of weeks, won the final two holes of the St. Charles Men’s City Golf Championship title match against Marmion High School graduate Kanute for a 2-up victory.
In a championship flight match that could be titled “Young Guns,” the victory by Woods marked the first time since Rich Balla topped Brad VanLaningham in 1991 that two players fresh out of high school were in the title match. But it was surely the first time best friends have been pitted against each other in the tournament’s final match.
“It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be,” Woods said of playing a friend of 10 years from his Majestic Oaks subdivision neighborhood and the St. Charles Country Club. “We both wanted to win, and it was hard to keep things in check.”
Woods broke an even match by taking advantage of Kanute’s problems on the 17th hole (No. 8 on the nine-hole course), where Kanute scored bogies both times through because of skulled chip shots from about 60 yards out that went to the steep hill on the back of the green.
“It was like a mental block there with my sand wedge, so I was a little shaky and probably should have hit a different club,” said Kanute, who will attend Indiana University in the fall, but has not decided if he will try to play golf there. “I had a bad lie the second time. The ball was in a divot, so I had to hit down on it and that’s why I skulled it.”
In the meantime, Woods negotiated a terrific shot out of a fairway bunker about 80 yards away to about 40 feet away from the hole. He was able to 2-putt for his par, while Kanute’s chip from the back hill rolled 30 feet past the hole and he settled for a bogey.
With a one-hole lead, Woods, who hit only six of 14 fairways in his round, blasted one of his best drives on No. 18, giving him a clear shot from the dogleg to the green on the difficult 420-yard, par-4 hole.
Kanute played the hole well to get a par. But Woods’ approach shot nestled three feet from the pin, where he calmly sank it for the victory knowing he had the title secure even with a 2-putt.
“The fact that I closed with a birdie on 18 was solid,” Woods said. “This was the hardest match, it was very close and it was a lot more stressful situation than just playing Taylor for $5 or $10, like we usually do.”
Neither player could get a comfortable lead in the match, with both enjoying one-hole leads on the front nine before making the turn dead-even. Woods won the first hole on both sides by carding birdies to Kanute’s pars. Woods escaped trouble on the eighth hole when his approach shot struck a tree, but he still managed a bogey while Kanute’s first skulled chip shot to the backside hill resulted in a bogey on a hole on which he should have taken advantage.
Kanute enjoyed his only lead of the day when he parred the No. 5 hole, while Woods carded a bogey after his fairway bunker shot clipped a tree and his third shot went well past the hole.
Trailing by one hole most of the back nine, Kanute evened things up on the strength of a 50-foot lag putt that nestled near the hole on No. 15 that saved him a par while Woods had a bogey.
Kanute was hoping to bring the city title back to his family for the first time since his uncle, Chris Kanute, won it in 1988 over John Kelker.
On the strength of having 3 birdies in the round, Woods was able to claim this year’s prize.
“This was important for me to win because I know everyone here and it was a friendly, but difficult, competition,” said Woods, who played in the recent state amateur tournament, but has not decided whether he will play golf at Penn State. “We both came out here with aggressiveness, and we were going to hit the ball far and play that way the entire time.”
Other city tournament results:A flight: Greg Shoger won 7-6 over Jim Tang.B flight: Steve Karney topped Russ Davis 3-2.C flight: Brandon Orlando beat Ken Harris 6-5 in C flight.D flight: John Pearson carded a 3-2 win over Brian Schmidt.E flight: Tom Dieckman rolled to an 8-7 win over Tom Granias.F flight: Patrick DeVito scored a 1-up victory over Tom Frost.