Indianapolis, Ind. – After the first round of the Indiana Mid Am Team Championship at Brickyard Crossing GC, teammates Sean Rowen and Bobby Delagrange were one shot out of the lead held by Ben Hunter and Mark Humphrey. The relative unknown team of Humphrey and Hunter teamed for a 5-under par 67 in the alternate shot portion of the event on Sunday.
Despite cold temperatures and a windy, wet golf course, both teams posted solid 9-under par totals with Delagrange and Rowen firing a best ball 67 today and Humphrey and Hunter posting a 4-under par 68.
The four players headed to the par 4, 390 yard first hole at the Brickyard Crossing layout in order to determine a champion. All four players had a good look into the green on the first playoff hole, but it was Rowen who was able to put it to four feet from the hole. With the best look at birdie, Rowen was able to convert the putt to win the playoff to send he and Delagrange to the title.
“We kept it in play all day and really saved ourselves with putting,” said Rowen, from Greenwood, Ind. “Bobby made two tremendous birdies during the final stretch of our round today and that was what put us in contention.”
Rowen and Delagrange had five birdies coming on holes 3, 7, 8, 15, and 18 and did not card a single bogey during the four ball competition on day two.
“It means a lot to win playing against such a competitive field,” said Delgrange, a Westfield resident. “We played consistent and worked well together and a win feels great.”
Rowen and Delagrange are former high school teammates and have both had success in IGA Events. Including this win, Rowen has now won an IGA event each year for the past three. He won the Tournament of Champions in ’12 and both the Mid-Am and Indianapolis Amateur in 2011. Delagrange has had five top five finishes in his last six Indiana events he has participated in, including his win today.
Runners-up Hunter and Humphrey fell just short of achieving their first IGA win. Chris Gauss and Austin Bowman who finished fourth overall, had the low round of the day with a 6-under-par 66, which was helped in part by Gauss’s ace on the par 3, 7th hole.