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Kordupel qualifies: Boardman junior had to wait out foe’s putt
Boardman’s Bryan Kordupel had to sweat foe’s putt before securing spot in Greatest finals
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
Bryan Kordupel had already shot a great round of 73 on Friday at Mill Creek in the fourth round of the Flynn Automotive Group Juniors Greatest Golfer of the Valley tournament, but his first-place spot hung in the balance on Joey Vitali’s putt on hole No. 18.
Vitali needed to sink a 10-footer for par and a 73 — and Kordupel anxiously watched.
“My heart was beating. I was very scared,” he said. “This was my first time ever being in the lead — I really wanted to win this one.”
Vitali’s putt just missed, keeping Kordupel in the lead and propelling him to a first-place finish in the boys 17-U division.
With the win, the Boardman High junior qualified for the championship round on July 22-23. He tied atop the leaderboard with Anthony Graziano, who also shot a 73 but was already qualified for the finals after winning the Pine Lakes round on May 22.
“It’s very exciting and I’m very happy,” Kordupel said. “You can always play better, but I’m satisfied with it.
“I played very well around greens. Putting, I only had about 16 putts on the front and back. And then I put my drives on the fairway and gave myself chances to get up and down and made the putts.”
Vitali finished second and earned five points for the second time this season. He was aware of the pressure that was riding on his 10-foot putt.
“I read more break than there was,” Vitali said. “You make some, you miss some — it happens.
“But I played well overall. I made a putter switch and that seemed to work well today. It helped me out a lot. And then my drives were pretty consistent.”
Rounding out the boys top finishers, Rebell Strollo and Bobby Jonda each shot a 77, Jimmy Graham shot a 78, Michael Butch and Zach Jacobson each notched 79s and Dean Austalosh and Dylan Todd each took 80s.
Emily Koehler was victorious in the girls 17-U, shooting a 77 to qualify for the championship round. The Mathews High senior’s first-place finish comes after she was ousted in a playoff on Friday at Tam O’Shanter.
“It feels great because I worked very hard these past couple days,” Koehler said. “To come here, I really wanted to qualify after going to Tam O’Shanter and losing by one. And I was just coming off of a win at another tournament two days ago, so I’m on a roll and wanted to keep this roll going.”
She edged Sydney Heinbaugh, who shot a 79 for second place. Britney Jonda and Erika Hoover also each shot 83s, while Jenna Jacobson took an 85 and Emily Marcavish shot an 88.
Koehler birdied two holes on the day.
“Just a little bit of everything [was working],” she said. “I made some mistakes here and there, but putting was very consistent today. My chipping started off rough, but I got it back to where it usually is. Then I was hitting very well off the tee and hitting my irons well. It just put me in some great positions and, for not knowing the course, it was really nice.”
Jayne Bernard placed first with a 90 in the girls 14-U.
Michael Porter was the qualifier in the boys 14-U. He shot an 89 — good for second place — but qualified since Luke Nord, who finished first with an 85, already qualified at Tam O’Shanter.
The next junior qualifier is July 7 at Salem Hills for the fifth round of the tournament. There will be one more round (at Trumbull Country Club on July 14) before the finals at Avalon Lakes.
This is the seventh season for Greatest Golfer, and it has grown from an event serving 90 golfers to now impacting 3,000 golfers, 12 golf courses and 24 charities.