Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Traditions humbles many, elevates Ebel at Met
By Malcolm C. Knox
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Traditions Golf Club is the No. 4-ranked golf course in Kentucky. On Monday, much of the field in the Men's Metropolitan Amateur Championship learned why it has earned that distinction.
Only 13 of the 208 players finished at par 72 or better. Only eight were under par.
Traditions has rough up to three feet deep, and water and trees frequently come into play.
But Jim Ebel of Four Bridges Country Club managed to shoot a 65 on the first day of stroke play, one off the course record. Ebel made par or better on every hole and had four consecutive birdies.
“I got it in a zone and I started hitting the ball really well,” he said. “It wasn't even really a struggle. I was knocking the ball really tight. It was just one of those great rounds.”
Six-time met winner Jim Volpenhein, a Traditions member, owns the course record of 64 from the black tees, more than 300 yards farther in total distance than the blue tees from which the Met is played. Volpenhein shot 73 Monday.
Volpenhein eliminated Ebel from the last two Met tournaments — in the quarterfinal round in 2000 and in the second round in 1999.
The course also took its toll on playing times. Ebel's group took 5 1/2 hours to finish. A group that started at 9:10 a.m. came in at 3:30 p.m. They needed 3 1/2 hours to get through the front nine.
“I could walk 18 holes in 3 1/2 hours” said Scott Simpson, one of the 9:10 players.
Ebel blamed the long day on “very errant golf shots.
“If you hit it off line here and don't hit it in the fairway, they have real high rough out there and you just don't find the ball. If you go in there and start looking and it takes you five minutes, you're going back out there and playing your provisional ball because you're just not going to find it.”
Today the field will be reduced to the top 80 players plus ties and the players will be grouped by threes, speeding up play.
Tim Donovan, a recent Xavier University graduate and last year's runner-up behind UC's Jim Herman, shot 71.
“I'm just trying to approach it pretty much the same way I did last year,” Donovan said. “Play smart the first couple of days and then get into match play and then you never know what could happen.”
Donovan consistently outdrove the other players in his group.
“That's one of my strengths,” he said of his long drives. “That always makes it a little easier.”
Donovan's group took six hours to play the course.
“It took a long time,” he said “You just have to take the attitude that you can't let any of that outside stuff affect you. ... You just have to try to be patient. ... It always takes a while to play the first day or so. Maybe not that long.”
Herman has turned pro and is not defending his title.
Others under par were Carl Tuke, Jr., and Barry Wehrman, Jr. at 70, and former Reds pitcher Tom Browning, Terry Papp, Bill Pilaris and Dan Smith at 71.
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Traditions humbles many, elevates Ebel at Met