Dillion Rust started the final round of the 2012 Firecracker Open tied for the lead at nine under par. Paired with Kody King and Michael Smith, the championship was decided when Rust went on a five hole birdie streak on holes 8-12 that got him to 15 under par for the tournament. In a post round interview he said the key was making some 10-15 foot putts in the middle or the round to give him some breathing room. By the time he got to the number 18 tee box, he opted for an iron off the tee to eliminate any disasters and waltzed home for the victory with a par four. He finished at -14, good for a four shot victory over Stratton Nolen and Steffan Schmieding who posted -10 for the tournament.

The day was not without drama that included several players making a run but falling back. The challengers included Kody King, who was two back after 11 but a bogey at #12 produced a two shot swing when Rust made birdie on the same hole. Although Rust bogied the short par three 13 and King picked up a shot to trail by three, the tournament was essentially secured when Rust fired his second shot on the par five 14th hole to about 15 feet. Although he missed the eagle, he made birdie and returned to -15. With pars on the remaining holes, except for a bogey on 16, he was clear of the field.

Stratton Nolen started the day at -4 and was making a strong run. Shown here, playing his second shot to the par five 14th, he laced an iron shot onto the green and made the putt for and eagle getting him to seven under for the round and -11 for the tournament. He dropped a shot at the par three 15th and had a birdie putt of 8 feet on #18 to post 64 and claim second alone. The putt missed low and he finished tied for 2nd with Steffan Schmieding. Schmiedling, a graduating senor from the University of Texas played solid golf and posted 68 but was a little too far back to catch a strong round by Rust.

Other notable storylines included the 2011 Champion Alex Ellis, who had it to six under par on his round through 13 holes. But a bogey at the downwind par five 14 and ensuing difficulties on the remaining holes derailed his bid for a second consecutive championship. He finished in a tie for fourth place with Kody King who shot 71, Joshua Mathis who shot 64, and Michael Smith who posted 70 in the final round. Shown here, Ellis poses with the new champion, Dillon Rust.

Jack Cersosimo, who has played well thus far in the golfing season finished alone in 8th place at eight under par.

Watching the drama unfold and the costs than an errant shot on the short, understated Muny extracts from the players, makes one wonder how someone could wins six Firecracker Championships like Billy Clagett has done. Although Muny does not have the visually pleasing penalties like bunkers and deep canyons you find at someplace like Austin Country Club or other modern designs, it has teeth when the player strays from the fairways. And, sometimes the fairways are not that friendly. The second shot to number one green that goes long is penal, as is the out of bounds to the right of number two, the tee shot to the right on number six, or right of sixteen. The list goes on and on of places on the course that extract their toll from player who think this is an easy golf course. Year after year 12 under par on a 6,000 yard golf course will content for the title. Such is Muny.

Thanks to all the staff at Lions Municipal on another successful Firecracker Open. Unless you've experienced it, you just can't appreciate the competition and the quirkiness of the Firecracker Open. One final thanks to Ed Hudgins, who cooked and prepared some 400 hot dogs for the players and spectators. A tradition like hot dogs at the Firecracker Open is like apple pie. It's just not the same without it. Thanks Ed.

Listed below are the final results of the tournament. And, you may enjoy photos of the tournament at the following link.

 

 

PlayerName 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Total CHAMPIONSHIP
Rust, Dillion 66 67 66 199 WINNER
Nolen, Stratton 69 69 65 203 T-2nd Place
Schmieding, Steffan 69 66 68 203 T-2nd Place
Ellis, Alex 67 70 67 204 T-4th Place
King, Kody 70 63 71 204 T-4th Place
Mathis, Joshua 70 70 64 204 T-4th Place
Smith, Michael 66 68 70 204 T-4th Place
Cersosimo, Jack 66 71 68 205 8th Place
Alden, Jonathan 67 74 67 208 T-9th Place
Cooper, Michael 70 65 73 208 T-9th Place
Noonan, Brian 71 68 69 208 T-9th Place
Pearce, Jason 70 69 69 208 T-9th Place
Shephard, Dylan 67 70 71 208 T-9th Place
Bhakta, Manish 69 69 71 209 T-14th Place
Fell, Hagen 66 70 73 209 T-14th Place
Carter, Ben 69 74 67 210 T-16th Place
Cristea, Nicholas 66 72 72 210 T-16th Place
Evans, Robert 69 72 69 210 T-16th Place
Hansard, Hudson 70 71 69 210 T-16th Place
Black, Gene 69 70 72 211 T-20th Place
Boatner, Logan 69 68 74 211 T-20th Place
Laudermilk, Charlie 68 70 73 211 T-20th Place
Sigler, Greg 68 73 70 211 T-20th Place
Waldrip, Ted 70 71 70 211 T-20th Place
Brown, Cory 69 69 74 212 T-25th Place
Goldwater, Michael 72 70 70 212 T-25th Place
Redfern, Brenden 71 70 71 212 T-25th Place
Schalk, Joey 70 68 74 212 T-25th Place
Allen, Mike 71 74 68 213 T-29th Place
Baldree, Mark 68 69 76 213 T-29th Place
Paterson, Steve 70 71 72 213 T-29th Place
Stuart, Seth 72 69 72 213 T-29th Place
Broussard, Lee 71 76 67 214  
Matheson, Scott 71 70 73 214  
Shive, Chris 66 75 73 214  
MacNeil, Will 69 72 74 215  
McWilliams, Ripley 70 72 73 215  
Frazier, Robert 73 68 75 216  
Perez, John 68 73 75 216  
Williams, Justin 77 68 71 216  
Beck III, Joe 69 77 71 217  
Brunssen, Vince 70 70 77 217  
Perrine, Matthew 76 70 71 217  
Bendetti, Joe 71 74 73 218  
Landry, Steve 68 73 77 218  
Sykes, Bubba 70 77 71 218  
PlayerName 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Total CHAMPIONSHIP
Bell, Drew 73 71 75 219  
Gilliland, Sean 75 71 73 219  
Ibbotson, Tim 72 72 75 219  
Moore, Paul 75 72 72 219  
Morris, Trey 76 67 76 219  
Schroeder, Trey 70 75 74 219  
Coutinho, Ravi 72 72 76 220  
Hartenstein, Chris 72 74 74 220  
Howard, Dan 77 71 72 220  
Minton, Jeff 72 70 78 220  
Vallejo, Gabriel 74 71 75 220  
Reynolds, Peach 77 71 73 221  
Elbrecht, Tyler 70 76 76 222  
Hawkes, Jordan 74 76 72 222  
Schonhar, Todd 70 75 77 222  
Walsh, Larry 73 74 75 222  
Shanahan, Patrick 74 75 74 223  
Specjal, Robert 72 77 74 223  
Strickland, Trip 74 73 76 223  
Winter, Ben 71 76 76 223  
Fellenz, John 76 74 74 224  
Gustafson, James 70 77 77 224  
Holtzman, Thomas 71 77 76 224  
Mutschler, Billy 73 75 77 225  
Yanis Jr., Ted 77 73 75 225  
Bera, Josh 73 76 77 226  
Ferchill, Price 75 72 79 226  
Unnasch, Kyle 75 74 77 226  
Gammill, Tyler 76 73 78 227  
Glosson, Monte 74 73 80 227  
Long, Jason 74 75 79 228  
Hyde, Austin 73 77 79 229  
King, Daniel 75 75 79 229  
Bailey, Brooklin 70 81 MC 151 Missed Cut
Beck, Julia 72 79 MC 151  
Reynolds, Randy 78 73 MC 151  
Sholtis, Austin 74 77 MC 151  
Sooch, Kevin 75 76 MC 151  
White, Charles Neel 76 75 MC 151  
Caldwell, Trey 78 74 MC 152  
Hamm, Dillon 78 74 MC 152  
Ormand, Johnny 74 78 MC 152  
Brader, David 78 75 MC 153  
Ormand, Rob 76 77 MC 153  
Spring, Trevor 75 78 MC 153  
Thorn, Jerry 77 76 MC 153  
PlayerName 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Total CHAMPIONSHIP
Goodlett, Wesley 79 75 MC 154  
Salazar, Cris 77 77 MC 154  
Underwood, Tony 81 73 MC 154  
Bushover, Stephen 76 79 MC 155  
Creath, Norris 75 80 MC 155  
DeMarco, Pierce 80 75 MC 155  
Gomez, Ben 80 75 MC 155  
McCalla, Kevin 77 78 MC 155  
Underwood, Snake 77 79 MC 156  
Douglass, Jan 78 79 MC 157  
McGinley, Ryan 82 75 MC 157  
Jeffers, Johnny 80 78 MC 158  
Jones, Greg 80 78 MC 158  
Brown, Trevor 82 77 MC 159  
Morris, Bobby 81 78 MC 159  
Ford, Stewart 81 79 MC 160  
McCollum, Clark 80 80 MC 160  
Hutchens, Craig 82 81 MC 163  
Turner, Cyrus 73 76 MC DNS  
Cook, Jesso 0 0   WD  
Kaiser, Aaron 0 0   WD  
Beaman, Jaime 75 0   WD  
West, David 81 0   WD  
Hutchens, Miles 83 0   WD  
           
           
PlayerName 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Total FIRST FLIGHT
Dever, Bill 70 73 75 218 WINNER
Nichols, Randy 78 72 73 223 2nd Place
Jacoby, Jeff 74 74 78 226 T-3rd Place
Welch, Richard 77 72 77 226 T-3rd Place
Spotts, Craig 68 81 78 227 5th Place
Durkin, Sean F. 79 74 78 231 6th Place
Lovett, Bob 78 75 79 232 7th Place
Bell, Alan 77 75 81 233  
Wood, Steve 79 75 79 233  
Torres, Rock 81 76 79 236  
Allen, David 76 82 86 244  
Fuccello, Frank 81 83 84 248  
Fuccello, John 89 82 81 252  
Evans, Robert M. 91 86 94 271  
           
           
PlayerName 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Total SECOND FLIGHT
Allen, DJ 75 78 78 231 WINNER
Pratt, Don 79 79 78 236 2nd Place
Stewart, Lane 81 81 82 244 3rd Place
Alton, Randy 78 86 90 254 4th Place
Glaros, Michael J. 83 88 84 255 T-5th Place
Haynes, Joe 79 94 82 255 T-5th Place
Lange, Michael 87 84 84 255 T-5th Place
Suescun, Mauricio 90 82 83 255 T-5th Place
Howard, Robert 83 94 88 265  
Stevens, David 90 91 89 270  
Alton, Mary 82 101 91 274  
Koetter, Ken 89 91 97 277  
Reeves, Wally 99 93 96 288  
Allen, Buddy 92 103 0 DNS

 

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