Peters wins Q-C Amateur
Ben Peters is someone who is used to moving.
The Muscatine, Iowa, amateur golfer moved to Davenport in the mid-90s to attend St. Ambrose University. He then moved to Milwaukee after graduating in 1995 before returning to Bettendorf two years ago for his job in industrial sales with ITW Franklyn, which keeps Peters moving around nine states.
On Sunday, the 33-year-old made another move at the 6,463-yard, par-72 Emeis Golf Course to win the 2007 rain-shortened Quad-City Amateur Golf Tournament.
Peters was two strokes behind Davenport’s Chris Wilkins, who shot a morning round of 4-under-par 68 for a first-round lead. Peters used five birdies — including three in a row to close his round — to post a blistering final nine-hole score of 31 and take his third title with a 27-hole total of 7-under 101.
“It feels really good to come back here and win,” said Peters, who last played at Emeis in 1995 when he won his second straight amateur title.
Peters said golf isn’t as high of a priority now that he’s married and has a 2-year-old daughter.
“I’m pretty busy now and moving around a lot because of my job,” Peters said. “But the game does seem easier when I do play, and I seem to play more relaxed. And it’s fun having Maura, my daughter, out here.”
Because of the rain Saturday, the normally two-day
tournament was shortened to 27 holes for Sunday’s championship and senior flight.
“It was the only thing we could do to try to get in enough holes to crown a winner this year,” said Ron Thrapp, the PGA Professional at Emeis. “It wasn’t nice Saturday but it sure turned out to be perfect today.”
The shortened tournament didn’t matter to Peters, who used strong and accurate drives to come back Sunday.
“I kept the ball in the fairway off the tee and hit a lot of greens in regulation,” Peters said. “My putting wasn’t really sharp (Saturday) but we went to Palmer Hills, and I figured some things out. I was really happy when the rain delayed the match and it shortened to 27 holes.”
Wilkins finished at 2-over 108 to tie for fifth. Clinton’s Dean Cavanaugh finished second with a 2-under 106, while Steve Schwabe of Rock Island and Brian Soucinek of Moline finished tied for third with 1-under 107 rounds.
In the senior flight, Dan Dalziel of Burlington held on to his morning 1-stroke lead to finish with a 2-under 106, four strokes ahead of Mike Long.
Joe Wolfe, 63, of Davenport, won the super senior flight with an 86 to beat Davenport’s Joe Tilton (87), Jack Dittmer (87) and Tom Sunderbruch (89).
Patricia Lee of East Moline took the women’s title with an 82 over Megan Bewley (86) of Davenport and Eldridge’s Paula Dean, who finished third with a 87.