Todd Palmer captured the Indiana PGA Monticello Open Championship in a convincing fashion today with a four-shot victory over fellow amateurs Jordan Lenard and Drew Imel. Palmer fired identical nines of 32-32 for an 8-under par 64.
The 40-year-old Fishers resident recently finished tied for 3rd in the Indiana Amateur Championship and used that momentum to propel him to his second Indiana PGA Championship, his other victory coming in the 2009 Indianapolis Open.
“I competed well in the State Am,” said Palmer. “I drove it well at Prairie View but I wasn’t hitting my irons well enough to feel completely confident. I drove it well today and never got into any trouble. Driving it in the fairway and putting well was the key,” he added.
Palmer has had success at Tippecanoe Country Club in the past, winning the Monticello Open in his last tournament as a professional in 2005. This was prior to the Indiana Section PGA making the event a sanctioned tournament.
“There are four or five holes you have to play conservatively out here”, said Palmer. “Otherwise you have a lot of wedges in your hand. I only missed three greens and I was on the fringe on a couple of those.”
Palmer’s only glitch of the day came on the 580 yard par 5 13th. He drove the ball into trouble, had to punch from the trees, and was left with a 190 yards. After missing his approach to the right of the green he failed to get the ball up and down and made a bogey 6.
He rebounded well, playing the last 5 holes 4-under par. That run included an eagle 3 on the 513 yard par 5 17th hole.
“I had a good pairing, a fun group, and everyone played well,” said Palmer.
LaPorte’s Lenard and Bluffton’s Imel had matching 68’s for second place. Golftec’s Toby Baldwin from Carmel and Woodwind Golf Academy’s Brad Fellers tied for low professional honors with three under par 69’s.
Palmer’s two Indiana PGA titles go with his four Indiana Golf Association titles. Those victories came in the 2007 IGA Mid Amateur Championship and 2007 Mid Amateur Team Championship, the 2009 Mid Amateur Team Championship and the 2010 Pepsi Indiana Golf Championship.