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