Olathe ? During his march to victories at the Kansas Golf Assn. Fourball Championship and the Missouri Amateur in June, Kevin Ward’s philosophy remained the same: play his game, and nobody could stop him.
Ward maintained that mentality all this week at the Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship, and the result was the same.
Ward, a senior on Kansas University’s golf team, captured the Kansas Amateur title in dominating fashion Sunday at Shadow Glen Golf Club. He drilled KU teammate Pete Krsnich, 9 and 7, for his third summer championship.
“I wasn’t going to change my approach at all,” Ward said. “I was still shooting at the flagstick. I still played exactly how I played the other matches. I hit the same clubs. I kept doing what I was doing and gave myself the best chance to make birdies on each hole.
“He was going to do something special to beat me, and he hadn’t done that all day, so I knew I was fine.”
The finals format originally was slated for 36 holes. Saturday’s rainout forced the semifinal round to be played in the morning.
Ward beat Tyler Shelton, 3 and 1, in their semifinal, and Krsnich beat Chris Mabry in 21 holes to advance to the final.
Tournament officials opted to let the players decide if they wanted to play 18 or 36 holes in the final, and they chose 36.
Ward needed only 29, building an early two-hole lead, weathering a Krsnich challenge on No. 8 and No. 9 and then crushing Krsnich’s hopes by taking a five-hole lead during the next nine holes.
After Ward bogeyed No. 8 and No. 9 to allow Krsnich to pull even, Krsnich shanked two shots out of play on No. 10 and forfeited the hole to Ward. Ward drove to within three feet on No. 12 and birdied, made par on No. 15 and won No. 17 and No. 18 to open a five-hole lead.
“That was really key, that second nine,” Ward said. “I told my caddie (KU teammate Gary Woodland) that was the nine I was going to have to do good on.”
By the time the second 18 began, Ward thoroughly was relaxed and continued to hit sizzling shots. About 20 carts full of spectators followed the round closely, and Ward wowed the crowd with clutch chips from the sand trap and powerful drives off the tee. When Krsnich would drive the green, Ward would place his shot right next to it. When Ward hit a bad shot, he answered with chips within inches of the hole.
Ward won’t have much time to celebrate. He tees off today in the United States Amateur qualifier at Milburn and will play in the Western Amateur later in the week.
For Krsnich, the defeat ended what otherwise was a fantastic week. The Wichita native put together solid round after solid round. He struggled with his putting Sunday, which was damaging given the way Ward played.
“I think the difference was I wasn’t playing quite as well as I did earlier in the week and he obviously played well enough to win it,” Krsnich said. “I didn’t hit my best shots this week, but I hit pretty big shots when I needed to. That’s the reason I advanced to the finals.”
As much as Ward and Krsnich enjoyed squaring off in the finals, the championship match equally was satisfying for KU golf coach Ross Randall. Randall followed most of the match and observed from a distance as two of his standouts clashed.
“I try not to pick sides, but it’s always fun to watch your guys when they’re playing that late in the tournament,” Randall said. “It was fun to watch (Krsnich) have such a solid week of golf. I told him today that he really had a good week, and I think that will build him some confidence to carry into the fall.
“And Kevin just played excellent. It’s tough to beat anyone who only has one bogey.”