Former champions top leaderboard at City Golf Tournament

QUINCY — One swing can change everything. Blaise Haxel experienced that Saturday.

Coming off a three-putt bogey on the par-3 ninth hole at Westview Golf Course that left him with a 1-under 35 on the front side, Haxel decided to attack the par-4, 357-yard 10th hole off the tee by sending his drive over the trees straight the green.

It played out better than he ever could have imagined.

Haxel’s drive landed on the green and rolled to within 4 feet of the cup. He made the eagle putt and used the momentum it created to shoot a 4-under 31 on the back nine and post a 5-under 66 in the opening round of the Quincy Men’s City Golf Championship.

“That’s the highlight of my day,” Haxel said. “I went from losing a stroke to not only gaining the one I lost but gaining another one as well. That was awesome.”

It puts the former city champion in the final group Sunday. Haxel, who won the title in 2011, will tee off at 11 a.m. with six-time champion Adam Pfeiffer, Zach Kuhlman-Pfeiffer and 2015 champion Ryan Schuenke.

Kuhlman-Pfeiffer shot a 4-under 67, while Pfeiffer and Schuenke posted 3-under 68s.

Three others — Brad Niemann, Alex McCulla and Reis Dreyer — broke par with 1-under 70s.

“Being in the mix again definitely gets the juices flowing,” Haxel said. “I know there are going to be some good scores out there and there are great players in our area, most if not all of them I consider really good friends.

“I’m excited to be able to go out there tomorrow and play to the best or our abilities and see who can take the title.”

It might come down to who gets the biggest breaks.

Haxel got one on the par-4 13th. He hit his drive into a pine tree to the right of the green and was forced to take an unplayable lie. He dropped his ball near the 14th tee blocks, leaving him with a 70-yard shot that went past the hole. He made the 25-foot downhill putt to save par.

“That kept everything moving in the right direction,” Haxel said.

Kuhlman-Pfeiffer experienced something similar on the par-4 14th. His second shot went over the green, bounced off the cart path and ended up about 50 yards from the hole. He holed out for birdie and then made birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to post a 4-under 31 on the back nine.

“That was a huge save,” Kuhlman-Pfeiffer said.

So was the decision to start using a new putter recently. Kuhlman-Pfeiffer, the former Culver-Stockton College golfer now working in Hannibal, Mo., picked up a Taylor Made Daytona putter two weeks ago and developed confidence with it quickly.

He needed just 25 putts Saturday.

“I never get to play,” Kuhlman-Pfeiffer said. “To relax after a stressful day, I spend about an hour on the putting green. It paid off.”

It helped him keep pace with his older brother. Adam Pfeiffer, the defending champion, put himself in position to match Larry Moller for the second-most titles in city history by not letting any big numbers derail his round.

“He didn’t hit the ball like he normally does,” Kuhlman-Pfeiffer said. “Adam and I kind of matched each other. Him pushing me a little bit and me pushing him a little bit got us around.”

All four players in the final group can play long off the tee, which should make for an interesting afternoon.

“There is definitely an advantage when I can smooth my swing out and keep it moving in the right direction,” Haxel said. “You can certainly do that at Westview because it’s pretty forgiving.”

In the women’s flight, three golfers shot in the 80s and are separated by just one stroke. Former Quincy High School golfers Krystal Burgtorf and Hannah McGuire both shot 84, while Laci Novosel posted an 85. They will tee off at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Local Scores

Quincy City Championships

Men

First Round

At Westview Golf Course

Championship flight

Player Score

Blaise Haxel 66

Zach Kuhlman-Pfeiffer 67

Adam Pfeiffer 68

Ryan Schuenke 68

Brad Niemann 70

Alex McCulla 70

Reis Dreyer 70

Bob Beswick 71

Aaron Neff 71

Gary Anders 71

David Hutson 72

Dustin Jenkins 72

Jarad Dieker 72

Zach Higgins 73

Jamie Blaesin 74

Jimmie Patterson 74

Kolbe Rodemich 74

Dylan Hoschar 74

Jason Traeder 75

Laithan Sublette 75

Jason Buxman 75

George Novosel 76

Tim Schrage 76

Adam Hutson 76

Jack Leffers 76

Nathan Hoebing 76

Andrew Boudreau 77

David Amelotti 77

Tim Eaton 77

TJ Wensing 77

Parker Campbell 77

Jason Kvitle 78

Matt Bruns 78

Andy Smith 78?Lucas Kane 79

Zach Kinscherf 80

Ryan Hulett 80

Grant Ohnemus 81

Andrew Smith 84

Paul Schmitz 85

Gavin Frese 85

Mike Haxel 86

Aaron St. Clair 94

Alternate Flights

Mark Scarbrough 70

Sayeed Ali 71

Chris Peters 73

Ryan Stuckman 73

Matt Douglas 73

Conner McLaughlin 74

Bill LaTour 75

Adam Koch 76

Jim May 77

Randy Neiswender 77

Rob Feyerbend 77

Craig Cherington 77

Scott Riley 78

Brennan Rakers 80

Mike Cramer 80

J.B. Schwener 81

Tanner Stout 81

Ray Gray 82

Aaron Griswald 82

Cody Ash 82

Ryan Barnes 83

Tom Reckers 83

Mike Dicks 83

Jeff Clark 84

Michael Norris 84

P.J. Moody 84

Dick Rhea 84

Otis Pleasant 86

Rick Pruitt 86

Don Stumpf 87

John Letts 88

Broc Hampsmire 88

Forrest Ashby 89

Nick Wiskirchen 89

David Brinkley 90

Kendall Zajac 91

Rick Sager 92

Demond Dade 93

Blake Herman 93

Tony Urbanc 96

Chris Bradshaw 97

Brady Frericks 98

Royce Steffen 101

Kevin Baesling 102

——

Women

Player Score

Krystal Burgtorf 84

Hannah McGuire 84

Laci Novosel 85

Kelsey Rees 96

Grace Frese 98