Daly defends St. Charles title
Matt Daly was the human version of a piranha.
The defending champion of the St. Charles City Golf Tournament, Daly took a commanding lead over Chris Thomas at the turn of the match-play final at Pottawatomie Golf Course and eased to a 5-and-3 victory Sunday morning at the par-35, nine-hole venue.
Thomas, a St. Charles North alum, needed to win the final four holes to force sudden death, but Daly, who was a standout player for St. Charles East a decade ago, used precision off the tee and never trailed.
Thomas conceded the match when his bogey putt on the sixth hole misfired; Daly was on the green in regulation on the 15th hole of the match.
“It’s all about not compounding your mistakes (in match play),” said Daly, the top seed of the Championship Flight in the three-weekend tournament. “You have to lull your opponent to sleep. (Winning last year) made it easier (to defend). You know what the pressure is like and know what you have to do.”
Daly did not lose a hole until Thomas staved off elimination by winning the fifth hole the second time it was contested.
“Matt was really consistent off the tee,” Thomas said. “I was a little more sporadic and grinding. That was the difference in the match was his consistency and my inconsistency off the tee.”
It capped a dominant weekend for the 2004 St. Charles East graduate as he steamrolled David Lanciotti 7-and-5 in the semifinals Saturday.
“I smelled blood in the water,” Daly said of his mindset.
Thomas, the No. 6 seed, advanced to the championship match with a hard-fought 2-and-1 win over Sean Lenchner.
But the former North Star could not get any momentum on the outward nine against Daly.
“I either lost or halved every hole,” Thomas said about being 4 down at the turn.
타In “A” Flight, Clint Van Laningham, the sixth seed, made quick work of Jim Dierks with a 5-and-4 victory at the venerable St. Charles layout.
타“B” Flight was a battle between second-seeded Wally Plwaczewski and No. 4 Shawn Furrie.
“We were going back and forth until the very end,” Furrie said after clinching the victory on the 16th with the 3-and-2 win. “It was a close match. We both made some nice putts.”
타In “C” Flight, Rich Artz was the most improbable of the five city champions as the ninth seed. Artz had Dave Davis down three with an equal number of holes remaining; he won the 16th hole outright to seal the 4-and-2 win.
타“D” Flight was the lone division without a qualifying stroke-play round, and top-seeded Patrick DeVito cruised to a 6-and-4 win over Bob Wulff.