Despite late start, Seber-Bradley has record 7 WyCo Golf Titles

By ALAN HOSKINS

KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- For many, life may begin at 40 but it started in earnest at just 36 years of age for Pat Seber-Bradley.

That’s when she first picked up a golf club. Now, a quarter of a century later, Seber-Bradley is one of Kansas City’s best women’s amateurs (senior or otherwise) and living proof you’re never too old to learn how to play the game.

“My husband (Dennis Bradley) taught me how to play in 1990,” say Seber-Bradley, a Basehor resident. “I had never played golf before and when he helped me as much as he could, I started taking lessons from Wayne Montgomery at Tomahawk Hills and I was hooked.”

Currently a three to four times a week golfer, Seber-Bradley plays in two leagues – the State Line Amateur run by the Kansas City Golf Association and a Tuesday league at St. Andrews Golf Club. She’s also the captain of an undefeated Kansas City Cup golf team at Sunflower Hills and a record seven-time winner of the Wyandotte County Open.

The oldest tournament of its kind in the Kansas City area, Seber-Bradley’s win in the 38th annual tournament at Sunflower Hills Aug. 9-10 was her third in a row – and her most challenging test. Trailing first time entrant Chris Baird by three strokes at the halfway point of the 36-hole stroke play tournament, Seber-Bradley rallied for a one-shot win (187-188).

“Every year it gets tougher, especially when you’re a repeat champion,” she says. “There’s a little more pressure.”

Tied with four holes to go, Seber-Bradley birdied Sunflower’s demanding 432-yard uphill par 5 15th hole.

“I had a very good drive and second shot and then an A wedge to the green and made a right-to-left breaking putt from about 10 feet,” she said of the pivotal birdie that put her ahead to stay.  “I played it safe on No. 18. I didn’t want to push or pull a drive into the hazards so I hit a 4 hybrid off the tee and then laid up with the same club, came up short and chipped on.”

“She’s certainly the best woman golfer right now,” says Sunflower Hills master head professional Jeff Johnson. “She’s a fanatic about playing, loves to compete and will play about anytime she has a chance.”

Seber-Bradley’s winning is not confined to Sunflower Hills, where she plays every Thursday morning. Earlier this season, she won a State Line Amateur event at Ironhorse, “That’s a harder league because there’s really a lot of good young golfers including some college players who can really hit the ball a long ways,” she says.

Her finest moment, however, came in last year’s club championship at St. Andrews.

“I shot even par (71). It was exciting. I had never shot par before. I was playing a 5-handicapper who was expected to win and I shot 71-76 and won by eight shots.”

Seber-Bradley credits her success to a “lot of lessons” and the fact that she walks while pushing a motorized pull cart. “I walk if they allow me to walk,” she says. “I feel I play better when I walk.”

That Seber-Bradley has excelled on the golf course despite getting a late start should come as no surprise. It’s not often you find a woman who for 26 years drove a semi-trailer truck hauling a BP Amoco tanker to locations with a radius of 200 miles of Kansas City. “I retired after 26 years and never had an accident,” she says with justifiable pride.

Growing up in Leavenworth County, Seber-Bradley attended a country school, which of course did not offer golf. “They didn’t have anything for girls in those days,” she remembers.

With her record seventh WyCo championship safely tucked away, Seber-Bradley’s next goal is the Kansas City Cup, where she and her partner are 5-1 in match play and the team is 6-0. “We’re in the quarterfinals,” she’s quick to point out

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PHOTO: For 26 years the driver of a semi-trailer truck hauling a gasoline tanker, Pat Seber-Bradley of Basehor pushes a pull cart as one of Kansas City’s best amateur golfers. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)

Stan Wiehe WyCo Champion with record tying Par 144

By ALAN HOSKINS

Former Piper star Stan Wiehe reigns as the 2012 Wyandotte County Open champion. But it was not his ultimate goal.

“I wanted to break the tournament record,” said Wiehe. “That’s what I wanted from the start. What better way to win my first tournament than with the record? I wanted to be the first to break par.”

And the record was within reach – a par would have done it but an errant drive on the 484-yard 18th led to a bogey and Wiehe finished with a 70-74-144 that matched the tournament record held by Bob Chatterton and Rich Laing.

But more important it was one shot better than Aaron Uzelac.

Uzelac had a chance to force a playoff but his 20-foot birdie putt came up inches short on the final hole.

“It was closer than most of my putts,” said Uzelac, who also finished with a 2-over par 74 Sunday. “I left putts short all day.” Needing only two putts for the win, Wiehe had his 15-footer for par and the record slide just past the hole before tapping in for the winner.

The 18-hole leader at 2-under-par 70 at Sunflower Hills, Wiehe never trailed Sunday but did not know how he stood against the rest of the field until the 17th tee box when Uzelac told him he had a three-shot lead.

“I knew about the record all along but I didn’t have a clue,” said Wiehe.

A hole earlier, the lead had stood at one.  A superb 6-iron from 192 yards from the middle of the 11th fairway had enabled Uzelac to par the 480-yard monster 15th but he had no such luck on the 229-yard par 3 16th. Playing into a blustery wind, his tee shot landed 45 yards to the right of the green.

“I almost whiffed,” said Uzelac. “I hit it off the toe and then bladed my chip shot and three-putted.”

Wiehe, meanwhile, chipped to within a foot for the three-shot margin.

That was reduced to two when Uzelac ran in a difficult curling 9-footer for birdie on the par 5 17th and Wiehe opened the door for a playoff when his drive on No. 18 settled among a stand of trees.

“I could only take a three-quarter swing,” said Wiehe, who  came up just short of the bunker on his second shot and then left his approach 15 feet short. “That was a bad shot.”

The win was a welcome back to tournament golf for the 27-year-old Wiehe. A state runnerup his senior year at Piper and a WyCo Open entrant, Wiehe stepped away from tournament golf.

“I  kept playing but just got away from tournaments and just got back in last year,” said Wiehe, who now farms in the Piper area and southern Leavenworth County.

Playing in his third WyCo Open, Uzelac was 2-under par for the back nine for the two days but four over for the front nine.

“That didn’t make any sense,” said Uzelac, 32, a former SM Northwest and Johnson County Community College player now employed in heating and air conditioning in Overland Park.

Former WyCo senior champion Jerry Reid was the closest challenger to Wiehe and Uzelac.

Three shots back after an opening 73, he was one-under par after the first nine but was five over par on the first four holes of the back nine and finished third at 148.

Defending champion Brad Ansley also opened with a 73 but a triple bogey on the par 5 6th took him out of contention.

“The way these guys (Wiehe and Uzelac) played, it would have been very difficult to catch them,” said Ansley. “They won it.”

Pat Seber-Bradley wins record  5th women’s title

Pat Seber-Bradley overcame her biggest 18-hole deficit to claim a record fifth championship in the WyCo women’s tournament at Sunflower Hills.

Four shots down to 16-year-old Piper student Emily Pennington after an opening round 92, Seber-Bradley needed but five holes to get even, then went two up at the turn and opened the lead to a comfortable five shots by rolling in a 20-foot downhill birdie putt on the par 3 16th.

Her closing 86 gave her a 178 total that was two shots better than Pennington and three ahead of defending champion and a four-time WyCo champion, Donna Reid.

“Four strokes down I said ‘Oh, oh’ but I got off to a real good start Sunday,” said Seber-Bradley, who had a 3-over par 39 on the front nine. “Putting was what did it. I couldn’t putt Saturday. I three-putted four holes and today I had none. Winning a fifth championship means a lot. I was really excited about it. I had to call my husband and my niece and grand niece came to the trophy presentation.”

2012 Wyandotte County Open At Sunflower Hills

MEN

CHAMPIONSHIP – 1. Stan Wiehe, 144; 2. Aaron Uzelac, 145; 3. Jerry Reid, 148; 4. Colby Yates, 149; 5. (tie) Brad Ansley, Chuck Vallejo, 150.

A flight – 1. Tim Nick, 159; 2. Dan Crabtree, 160; 3. (tie) Brett Ricky, Steve Pope, Marke Browne, 161.

B – 1. Bill Campbell, 156; 2. Travis Sartain, 159; 3. Terry Maskil, 161; 4. Stuart Hunt, 163; 5. Roger DeLong, 164;  6. Jim Thompson, 165; 7. (tie) Dick Hanson, Gerald Baker, Dave Hunt, 166.

C – 1. Jim Damlo, 163; 2. Jim Long, 168; 3. Bob McNellis, 171; 4. (tie) Easton Nigh, Joe Bolen; 6. John Hooser, 175; 7. (tie) Dan Maskil, Dan Brooks, David Upton.

D – 1. Jerry Berbeck, 171 (won scorecard playoff); 2. Dennis Baska, 171; 3. (tie) Zak Kolich, Jay Sutera, 174; 5. (tie) Jim Fox, Dave Klein, 175; 7. Paul Baker, 177; 8. Gene Reynolds, 180.

E – 1. Bob Potter, 183; 2. Nathan Brown 185; 3. (tie) Jesse Smith, Willie Foster; 5. Daniel Chaffin, 188.

WOMEN

A – 1. Pat Seber-Bradley, 178; 2. Emily Pennington, 180; 3. Donna Reid, 181.

B – 1. Melba Gerber, 182; 2. Chris Baird, 194; 3. (tie) Billie Aulthouse, Billie Easterberg, 197.

PROXIMITY PRIZES

SATURDAY – Closest to the pin: LeRoy Wahaus, No. 4; Rich Laing, No. 8; Don McCann, No, 13; Dick Hansen, No. 16. Longest putt, No. 9, Dab Nasjuk; Longest drive, No. 10, Chuck Vallejo; Kansas City’s longest putt, Chuck Vallejo.

SUNDAY – Closest to the pin: Colby Yates, No. 4; Jerry Reid, No. 8; Marlowe Wertjes, No. 13; Doug Winkelbauer, No. 16; Longest putt No. 9, Keith Capps; Longest drive, No. 10, Sam Blake.

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PHOTO 1: Stan Wiehe (right) earned his first Wyandotte County Open championship trophy presented by Sunflower Hills master professional Jeff Johnson Sunday by firing a record-tying 144. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)

PHOTO 2: Pat Seber-Bradley