Dynamic golf duo remains on a roll
The dynamic duo of Glenview's John Ramsey and Deer Park's Chadd Slutzky won their third Chicago District Golf Association Amateur Four-Ball title on Aug. 10 in Chicago.
It pushed the links partners ahead of Northfield's Steve Sawtell and Burr Ridge's Michael Natale, who won in 2016 and 2018, for the most titles in the CDGA Four-Ball championship's seven years.
The Ramsey/Slutzky pairing previously won in 2017 and 2020.
"This is one of the events that we look forward to all year," Ramsey told the CDGA. "It's fun to come out on top of it, and to be the first three-time champ is fantastic."
Coming out of stroke play Monday with a No. 4 seed at Ridgemoor Country Club in Chicago, Ramsey and Slutzky won two matches Tuesday to reach Wednesday's semifinals.
There, they dispatched a pair of fellow mid-amateurs from Wheeling and Waukegan to reach the finals against the No. 2 seed and 2019 champions, the Naperville brothers Tommy and Scott Dunsire Jr.
Even after nine holes, Ramsey/Slutzky took advantage of a Slutzky 3-foot eagle putt at Ridgemoor's No. 10, and the Dunsires' lone bogey at No. 12 to go up 2.
On No. 11, the winners birdied it somehow when, after Slutzky "chunked it in the water," he said, Ramsey sank his wedge from about 60 yards. It was among the six under-par holes the duo carded.
"That's just how this works," said Slutzky, who later drained a downhill, 20-foot putt before the team clinched the win with a par on No. 17.
"It was a great match, a lot of birdies going on, and we were just lucky to come out on top," Slutzky said.
"I think that one of the things that we do very well together is that, if one guy is out of the hole, the other one is there to pick it up," said Ramsey, whose home course is Glenview Park Golf Club.
"We've done that for a decade, and we haven't stopped, so it's fun," he told the CDGA.
The duo move on to another tournament where they've excelled. Ramsey and Slutzky have won three Illinois State Mid-Amateur titles and will compete for a fourth championship at Evanston Golf Club on Aug. 22-23.