Greg Sanders puts on a clinic to cruise to 6th state golf tournament

Greg Sanders wrapped up a splendid run at the Alaska state amateur golf tournament Sunday by firing his fourth straight par-breaking round at Anchorage Golf Course.

His mastery was so complete he didn't three-putt until the very last hole of the tournament.

Boosted by eagles in each of his first two rounds, Sanders finished 13 strokes under par and 14 strokes ahead of runner-up Jordan Miller, the winner of the last two state championships.

One of his only missteps on his way to his sixth state title came on the par-4 18th hole Sunday. With a big, boisterous crowd watching, Sanders' five-foot putt for par lipped out, leaving Sanders with his sixth bogey in 72 holes.

"I missed a par putt on the last hole, but who's to complain? I won by 14 strokes," said Sanders, 54.

While Sanders eliminated the suspense practically from the start by shooting a five-under 67 on the first day, the women's competition provided plenty of final-day drama.

Kelly Hollister claimed her first state amateur championship with a torrid back nine Sunday that allowed her to break loose from a tie with runner-up Toyoko Hawkins.

Hollister, 59, entered the day with a five-stroke lead over Hawkins. Hollister struggled and Hawkins was steady over the first nine holes, and by the time they made the turn they were tied.

Not that Hollister was aware of that fact.

"When I made the turn, I didn't add my score and I didn't add any of my opponents' scores," she said. "I didn't want to know."

Ignorance proved bliss. Hollister seized the lead on the 10th hole and never looked back, stretching her lead to as many as five strokes before finishing with a four-stroke victory over Hawkins.

Hollister was five-over on the front nine but got some confidence — and a share of the lead — when she birdied the ninth hole after a triple bogey on the eighth.

She gained strokes on each of the first three holes of the back nine, going par-par-birdie while Hawkins went bogey-bogey-par.

"It could've gone either way," Hollister said.

Hollister took the tournament lead on Saturday with a one-over-par 73, the best round in the 54-hole women's tournament.

Sanders took charge of the men's tournament on the first day. He shot rounds of 67, 69, 70 and 69 for a 275 total.

"It was weird playing with such a big lead," he said. "I wasn't sure how to do it."

Sanders' play during the tournament was exceptional even by his standards. The last time he won the state amateur, he shot an 8-under-par 276 at Settlers Bay Golf Course.

With their wins Sunday, Sanders and Hollister completed a sweep of this summer's state championships. Sanders, a retired petroleum engineer, and Hollister, who works at AGC in the pro shop, won match-play championships earlier this year.

More than 100 players competed in the stroke-play tournament, which produced some excellent golf. Hollister, Tonette Jackson and Halcyon Swisher all scored eagles on the women's side, while the men's play include a hole-in-one by Nick Brawner on the par-3 No. 13 and an albatross by Max Escobedo on the par-5 No. 6.

"It was a special, special four days," tournament director Jeff Barnhardt said by email. "Anchorage Golf Course was in the best condition I've ever seen it in, (and) that might have helped with a lot of scoring conditions."

Men's results

Championship flight

1) Greg Sanders 275,

2) Jordan Miller 289,

3) Adam Baxter 296,

4) Michael Oldenkamp 306,

5) Mark Adams 311,

5) Maximilian Escobedo 311,

7) Mark McMahan 312,

8) Aaron Roth 313,

9) Larry Furstenberg 314,

10) Tyler Young 315,

10) Richard Teders 315,

12) Craig Burnham 316,

13) John Schmitz 317,

14) Jung Han 318,

15) Rick Boyles 319,

16) Kristopher Wood 321,

17) Kyle Reading 328,

18) Christopher Morin 333.

First Flight (top 10)

1) Dave Bosshart 318,

2) Brad Bosshart 319,

3) Bill Arnold 321,

4) Josh Ellis 324,

5) Dean McVey 325,

6) Kevin Daniels 327,

7) Kurt Kollmann 328,

7) Nathan Carr 328,

7) Scott Woodland 328,

10) Ian Bruchhauser 332,

10) Jeremy Peters 332,

12) Casey Bieber 336,

13) Nicholas Brawner 337,

13) Brody Vecera 337,

15) Dustin Day 338,

15) Brent Haugen 338,

17) Kirk Warren 339,

17) Rene' Alvarez 339,

17) Ryan Kowal 339,

20) Grant Dornan 340,

21) Joseph Orley 341,

22) Martin Kwon 342,

23)  David Geer 342,

24) Gary Cox 343,

25)  Matt Desalernos 344,

25) Trey Miller 344,

27) Matt Meszaros 345,

28) Alan Fisher 346,

29)  Garret Stortz 347,

30) Bert Verrall 348,

31) Bill Preston 349,

31) Wes Masters 349,

33) Gary Petros 355,

33) Nik McMahan 355,

35) Maxwell Blankenship 356,

36) Harry Weigle 359.

Second Flight

1) Sullivan Menard 351,

2) Daron Underwood 353,

3) Dave Kester 357,

4) Christopher West 359,

5) David Cosgrave 361,

5) Michael Gardner 361,

7) Justin McGhee 363,

8) Bender Eric 366,

8) Jim Waugaman 366,

8) Nicholas Barnes 366,

8) Juan Botero 366,

12) Charles Rehder 367,

13) James Lefavor 371,

14) Jeffrey Greenwood 372,

14) Timothy Boudreau 372,

16) Tim Wesenberg 374,

17)  David Mathison 375,

18) Tony Bickert 377,

19) Torgeir Robertson 381,

20) Michael Anderson 382,

21) Richard Haller 384,

22) Chad Campoamor 390,

23) Andrew Jackson 391,

23) Paul Dube 391,

25) Carlos Gomez 394,

26) Ronald Perry 399,

27) Gerald Lafollette 401,

28) Gary George 405,

28) Daniel Andrews 405,

30) Greg Magee 409,

31) Teddy Thorstad 416,

32) Frederick Stevens 419,

33) Kyle Garrity 421,

34) Dennis Bickford 423,

35) Jeff Pifer 425,

36) Michael Stevens 429,

37) Michael Dellinger 450,

Women's results

Championship Flight

1) Kelly Hollister 230

2) Toyoko Hawkins 234

3) Halcyon Swisher 245

4) Darci Trimmer 248

First Flight

1) Tonnette Jackson 258

2) Kim Everett 270

3) Pamela Chesla 271

4) Susan Gatewood 275