Published: September 02, 2008 11:29 am      

Crown them

RUSSELL, ADAMS COME BACK FROM THREE DOWN TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

DUNCAN — Needing a little help from his friend, J.J. Russell made a phone call to fellow Cameron golf team alumni Bryan Adams two months ago. It was worth the long-distance bill.

The former Aggies shot 13 under on the last day of the 80th Duncan Golf & Country Club Labor Day Tournament to claim first place in the championship flight. The duo had entered the day three behind first place, but found their putter to win by one stroke over Donovan Grahm and Mitch Boles.

“We just tried to put ourselves in good position off of the tee,” Adams said. “We just tried to keep the pressure on them today. We didn’t have anything to lose.”

In other flight action, Dan Hammond and Micah Russell took first place in A flight while Mike Latham and Derek Jones won B flight. Dale and Kevin Whipple were the champions of C flight and the team of Ron Crook and Wayne Bardsher won D flight. Corey and Monty Howell won E flight and Gene Hendricks and Claud Morris were in the money in F flight. Steve and Dustin Paramore took E flight in a dominating win.

For Duncan Golf & Country Club member J.J. Russell, the win in the championship flight of the Labor Day Tournament was a feather in the cap after having won a couple of Memorial Day events. Russell and his teammate Adams birdied the last seven holes to capture the title and take home first-place money.

“We thought it would take 15-under to win the tournament and we went 14-under,” Russell said. “After we eagled the nine hole, we knew we were in it.

“We’ve never played together a round of golf together, but I had heard about the way he played and I knew he was solid.”

When Russell contacted Adams about playing in the tournament, he had told him that if they shot 10-under each day they could win the tournament. The pair finished 35-under in the three-day event.

The shot of the day came out of B flight, where Mike Latham hit his first hole in one on hole No. 4 with an eight-iron.

Latham and his partner Derek Jones entered the day in four strokes down but shot a 62 to win the flight by three strokes.

“We were playing real well,” Latham said. “We made some putts today.

“The hole-in-one was in the whole way, it landed six inches from the hole.”

In E flight, it was the father-son duo of Cory Howell and Monte Howell who captured the championship with a two-stroke edge.

“It was the first time for me and dad to play together,” Cory Howell said. “We just played a solid game, smart second shots and good chips and putts.”

The 80th Duncan Golf and Country Club Labor Day Tournament is the oldest consecutive running golf tournament in the state of Oklahoma. The tournament was deemed a success, playing under a scramble format for the entire three days, a different format from recent years.

Even with a full field of competitors, tournament committee chairman Ken Shaw was taking notes and looking on ways to make improve the tournament in upcoming years.

“With this being a different format, I think we did a good job,” Shaw said. “But there are some loose ends to tie up. Our goal is to put together the best tournament in the state.”