Saturday, August 28, 2010
Denver Pro Gets Hot, Takes Five Shot Lead in Utah Open

By Martin Renzhofer

The Salt Lake Tribune

August 28, 2010 09:01PM

Farmington • Three weeks ago, Nicholas Mason was striking the ball so poorly he seriously considered another job other than golf. His last big victory was two years ago at the Nebraska Open.

“I told my buddies, ‘I’ll go work for Subway,’” said the pro from Denver.

Instead, Mason went back to basics and a swing coach. The result can be seen in his two-day total of 11-under par, good enough for a five-stroke lead entering today’s final round of the Utah Open Championship at Oakridge Country Club.

Mason, despite stiff and gusty winds Saturday that caused problems even on the greens, birdied four of the five final holes. At stake is the $20,000 first-place check.

“I’ll play the exact same way,” said Mason of his plan for today. “I’m not going to back off.”

Chasing Mason are a host of golfers at 6- and 5-under par, including the lone amateur in the top 10, Cameron Crawford of Sandy. Crawford, the first-round leader, managed even-par 72 on Saturday. Derek Tolan, of Centennial, Colo., also finished 6-under par.

Three more players were a shot back at 4 under. Only three golfers managed a score of 70. The leaders tee off at noon today.

“[The wind] made club selection a lot more difficult,” said Crawford, who qualified earlier this month for the U.S. Amateur Golf Tournament. “It was hard to get it close. It made putting a little testy.”

Getting close wasn’t a problem for Mason. Down the stretch he successfully dropped putts of eight feet at 14, six feet at 15, three feet at 16 and a tap-in on 17 when a wedge lipped out of the cup.

“Oh my God, it was a war,” said Mason.

Even Mason’s caddie was shocked at the powerful finish.

“He said, ‘I didn’t think you could make that kind of run,’” Mason said. “It was shocking to me. We just hung in there [early]. You had to hit it flush to cut through the wind.”

Utah Open Scores

After Two Rounds

 

133- Nicholas Mason, 66-67

138- Cameron Crawford, 66-72 (a); Derek Tolan, 67-71

139- Richard Lee, 70-69; Jimmy Blair, 68-71; Tim McKenney, 69-70; Patrick Grady, 67-72

140- Mark Owen, 67-73; Vincent Johnson, 68-72

141- Jarrett Hamamota, 68-73; Chris Moody, 68-73; Nathan Lashley, 68-73; Jake Ellison, 70-71

142- Zac Blair 69-73 (a); Clay Ogden, 67-75; Dustin Pimm,68-74; Chris Gresh, 72-70; Milo Lines, 70-72

143- Boyd Summerhays, 69-74; Jerry Sneve, 70-73; Dean Vomacka, 71-72; Andrew Hoffer, 69-74; Zach Johnson, 70-73; Nickolas Carter, 71-72; Colby Myers, 70-73; Brett Kanda, 70-73

144- Kurt Owen, 70-73 (a); Adrian Wadey, 70-74; Blake Moore, 72-72; Robert Kalinowski, 70-74

145- Troy Watkins, 73-72; Chad Cocco, 69-76; Steve Runge, 68-77; Keith Lacome, 73-72; Bob Casper, 71-74

146- Dustin Volk, 71-75; Todd Tanner, 72-74; Luke Swilor, 70-76; Anthony Aquilar, 71-75; Brandon Kida, 66-80 (a); Nick Killpack, 71-75; Casey Fowles, 74-72; Jared Shears, 71-75

147- Kane Webber,73-74; Gipper Finau, 75-72; Jeff Thomsen, 70-77; Brandon Bair, 74-73; Brett Wayment, 74-73; Steve Schneiter, 73-74; Keaton Woodland, 73-74 (a), Dan Horner, 74-73 (a), Joshua Kelley, 76-71; Dave DeSantis, 74-73; Steven Friesen, 73-74; Darren Fletcher, 72-75; Robert Sauer,71-76;  Brad Martin, 71-76

148- Joseph Deluca, 74-74; Patrick Fishburn, 71-77 (a); Curtis Cook, 71-77  (a); Joseph Summerhays, 75-73; Kirk Siddens, 74-74 (a); Marcus Meloan, 75-73; Scott Brandt, 74-74.

 

Did not make cut

149- Mike Malaska, Theodore Slivinski, Brad Stone, Ryan Rhees, Barry Schenk, Nicholas Van Vuuren, Kurt Watkins, Roy Christensen, Mike Bicker, Jon Paupore

150- Greg Stimpson, Tony Finau, Kim Thompson, Jeff Franks, Colby Cowan, Chris Griffin

151- Josh Williams, Ron Branca, Chris Stover, Tommy Chipman, Brian Nosler

152- Kevan Todd, Ryan Ellis

153- Trevor Salzman, Joe Parkinson (a), Pete Stone, Doug Manchester, Jacob Low

154- Rod Zundel, Eric Nielsen, Marco Stevanoni, Bruce Summerhays, Jed Hilton, Don Branca, Brett Black, Tony McQuivey

155- Ben Lange, Kean Ridd, Craig Sarlo

156- J.Z. Davis, Quentin Sasser, Kevin Morrison, Brett Paquet

157- Ryan Colemere, Jon Fister, Jeff Green, Nick Travers

158- Kyler Dearden (a) Mark Boggs, Chris Marx

159- Brian Pointelin, Adam Johnson, Henry White, Reed McArthur, Michael Smith, Clint Melling

160- Patrick Murphy (a), Jeremy Green, Ryan Kartchner, Vaughn Robinson, Dave Loughton, Todd Meyer, Corey Badger, Tyler Swensen

161- Jeff Lyman (a)

162- Allen Enochson, Wade Olsen, John Miles, Dorian Morgan

163- Ryan Sarlo, Carl Sarahs, Charles Class

164- Rob Branca, Jared Barnes, Rick Allison, Doug Brown

165- Jeff John, Phillip King, Eron Demming

166- Bill Probst, James Hood, Brandon Morgan

167- Luke Martin

170- Tory Gatrell

172- Ned Seigfried

173- Arman Ben-Jacob

174- Chris Monson

179- Matthew High

WD- Tom Costello, Robert McRae, Paul Lorentzen, Kyle Chappell, Paul Hearld, Kury Reynolds, Lynn Landgren, Gary Schneiter, Nick Waters

 

 

martyr@sltrib.com

—

Highlights

P Nicholas Mason of Denver birdies four of the five final holes to open a 5-shot lead in the Utah Open.

• Cameron Crawford of Sandy is the lone amateur in the top 10.

• James Blair (Ogden), Jerry Sneve (San Marcos, Calif.) and Bob Casper (Salt Lake City) finished in the top three of the Senior Sidebar.