Sunday, Max Dye will fly to Wisconsin to start his freshman year at Marian Univeristy in Fond du Lac and play Division III golf for the Sabres.
Sunday at the Donald R. Morgan Memorial Club Championship at Kenai Golf Course, Dye showed he was more than ready for the next phase of his career by blitzing the field with a two-day total of 7-over-par 151.
Chris Morin and Truckee Lemay — behind Sunday’s low round of 77 — tied for second at 159, while Leona Jackson came out on top of the women’s event at 185.
Morin had won the last six two-day tournaments at Kenai Golf Course — three club championships and three Kenai Opens.
Dye not only stopped Morin’s streak, but his 151 was lower than Morin’s best of 155 during his run. Records for the Kenai club championship are spotty, but a couple of regulars who have seen a lot of golf on the course over the years couldn’t remember anyone getting as low as 151 in the event.
Dye was making his debut in the club championship and wasn’t aware of Morin’s streak.
“I’m excited because that’s someone to be competitive with next year and the rest of this year,” he said.
Morin played with Dye on Saturday, when Dye quickly let his intentions be known by going out in 1-under 35 and finishing at 1-over 73 for a two-shot lead over Gordon Griffin and a seven-shot lead over the next closest competitor.
Coming off a fifth-place finish in the State Am and getting named to be one of the amateurs in the Bomar Cup for the fifth straight time, Morin came away impressed with Dye’s game.
Kenai is a narrow course, but if a player can consistently pipe the driver as long and accurately as Dye can, many of Kenai’s problems can be bypassed.
Morin said it was instructive to watch Dye hit three of the four par 5s in two shots on Saturday.
“Max is a really good player,” Morin said. “It’s nice to have the competition.”
Dye took a big step toward his goal of playing college golf a year ago in August, when he left for Highland Village, Texas, to play golf for Marcus High School. There, he stayed with a friend of his dad, James, before returning in March to play soccer for Kenai Central and graduate with his class.
“It allowed me to see some real coaching and get a better feel for the competition down south,” Dye said.
Dye was usually the fourth, fifth or sixth golfer on his team, and quickly learned that all areas of his game needed work, but especially his short game.
“I’ve been focusing on the things I learned down there, and I can see it paying off now,” Dye said.
His goal at Marian is to make the traveling team, which means he has to be one of the team’s top five golfers.
Dye had six birdies, seven bogeys and three double bogeys in the club championship, with two of those doubles and two more of the bogeys coming on the back nine Sunday. Heading into the 12th hole Sunday, he was just 1 over par for the tournament.
“On the back nine, I just lost it a little,” he said. “I got lazy on a couple of key shots.”
Dye said he would like to play in the Kenai Open at Kenai Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday, but is not sure if that will fit in with his flight plans to Wisconsin.
Jackson took the women’s division after deciding to play Friday night. Her gross of 185 was four better than Teresa Sibolboro and six better than Alice Kerkvliet.
It has been a long time since there has been a women’s division at the club championship, so Jackson felt an obligation to play. She has won two-day tournaments at Birch Ridge Golf Course before, but never at Kenai.
“We wanted to try and get more women to come out and play,” Jackson said. “We can’t do that if I don’t participate.
“It’s a lot of commitment for a two-day tournament for people.”
The four ladies started on the back nine, then played the front, to allow for quicker play. It worked, with the round taking about 3.5 hours. Jackson said the play was back and forth, and she didn’t feel the victory was secure until the final hole.
Charlie Rehder had the top net of 145, while Tom Reese was second at 149, Lemay was third at 149, Rene Alvarez was fourth at 152 and Morin was fifth at 153. For the ladies, Jackson was also the net champ, while Sibolboro was second.
Saturday’s closest to the pins went to Alvarez at No. 5, Todd Eskelin at No. 9, Dave Kerkvliet at No. 10 and Tim Bornowski at No. 14. Sunday, Dye won at No. 5, Alvarez won at No. 9, Eddie Sibolboro won at No. 10 and Alvarez won at No. 14.
Kerkvliet and Gordon Griffin took two Saturday skins, while Doug Jung, Morin and Dye also had skins. Sunday, Lemay had two skins, while Lara Griffin, Pat Bowen, Alvarez, Eskelin and Dye added skins.
Donald R. Morgan Memorial Club Championship
Saturday, Sunday
at Kenai Golf Course
Par 72
Player Sa Su Grs Net
Men
Max Dye 73 78 151 147
Chris Morin 81 78 159 153
Truckee Lemay 82 77 159 149
Todd Eskelin 80 84 164 154
Tom Reese 83 84 167 149
Gordon Griffin 75 94 169 153
Rene Alvarez 81 89 170 152
Doug Jung 88 84 172 162
Charlie Kahakauwila 87 88 175 159
Charlie Rehder 88 89 177 145
Mike Houghton 83 95 178 156
Dave Kerkvliet 86 94 180 160
Mark McComsey 87 94 181 157
Eddie Sibolboro 99 85 184 162
Chuck Ruppenthal 90 102 192 164
Keith Stasek 93 99 192 164
Mike Kebschull 96 97 193 169
Kirk Hyman 96 97 193 171
Tim Bornowski 95 109 204 176
Pat Bowen 108 96 204 168
Greg Matturro 107 116 223 179
Clyde Reynolds 122 121 243 177
George Siter 119 126 245 169
Women
Leona Jackson 91 94 185 131
Teresa Sibolboro 91 98 189 141
Alice Kerkvliet 93 98 191 147
Max Dye hits an approach shot into the 18th green Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, on the way to winning the Donald R. Morgan Memorial Club Championship at Kenai Golf Course in Kenai. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
