Hestwood Earns Spring Thaw Golf Win

Riley Hestwood hits out of a bunker on the final hole during the Spring Thaw Golf Tournament Sunday at Cascades Golf Course. Hestwood won the event with a two-day total of 148.  Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

A year after finishing second in a pair of major tournaments in Jackson County, Riley Hestwood finally broke through with a win Sunday at the Spring Thaw Golf Tournament at Cascades Golf Course.

It was a big win for the golfer who has only played the sport for a handful of seasons.

Hestwood shot rounds of 74 and 74 for 148 to win the tournament by one stroke over Tom Butterfield. Cody Lysher finished third (150), Conner Spencer was fourth (151), David Crandall finished fifth (152), and Sean Vann placed sixth (153).

The left-handed Hestwood said his experiences last year helped him win the Spring Thaw this season.

“I felt like I was going to get it done,” Hestwood said after the round. “There were not any nerves today.”

Hestwood spent his high school years playing hockey at Lumen Christi Catholic High School. He started playing golf as a junior in high school.

“All of my friends played golf, so I wanted to join them,” Hestwood said.

That means that he has been playing golf for only four years.

Hestwood said he was disappointed that the spring season at Aquinas College was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aquinas won two of three conference jamborees last fall.

“I was disappointed when the spring season was canceled,” Hestwood said. “We had a good team.”

Hestwood said he is going to play as many tournaments as possible.

“It is nice to finally play some tournament golf,” Hestwood said.

Will Doubles won the first flight with a two-day total of 155, and Noah Abbey took the second flight with 165.

Spring Thaw Golf Tournament

Cascades Golf Course (par 72)

Championship flight

Riley Hestwood 74 74 148 1st

Tom Butterfield 74 75 149 2nd

Cody Lysher 75 75 150 3rd

Conner Spencer 75 76 151 4th

David Crandall 74 78 152 5th

Sean Vann 77 76 153 6th

Greg Zeller 80 74 154

Jamie Hinkle 77 77 154

Steve Maddalena 76 78 154

Mike Brockie 76 78 154

Justin Bunch 81 74 155

Andrew Tindall 81 75 156

Brian Carney 78 78 156

Bret Valkuchak 77 80 157

Logan Anuszkiewicz 78 80 158

Scott Denig 76 82 158

Cannon Risner 77 81 158

Pete Walz 82 77 159

Dan Taylor 79 80 159

Jacob Petersen 81 79 160

Ryan Wiedmeyer 79 81 160

Brett Casto 81 80 161

Troy Allen 81 80 161

Timothy Clack 81 81 162

Evan Brzyski 80 82 162

Luke Girodat 78 84 162

Dave Mickle 87 76 163

Chris Chaney 83 80 163

Tim Pickering 79 84 163

Mike Boldt 84 80 164

Mike Raymond 84 81 165

Trevor Raymond 91 75 166

Ethan Bramble 84 83 167

Bo Cochrane 84 85 169

John Tarpley 82 87 169

Kyle Field 85 87 172

John Mellen 87 85 172

First flight

Will Double 82 73 155 1st

Larry Sexton 82 74 156 2^nd

Bryan Marvin 83 76 159 3rd

Mike Zuchowski 83 78 161

Denny Schwarze 84 79 163

Chris Cullen 82 84 166

Justin Dods 86 81 167

Scott Savage 85 82 167

Jim Coutu 82 85 167

Shane Clark 84 84 168

John Gaston 87 83 170

Josh Wilson 86 84 170

Chad Risner 87 83 170

Richard Brondike 86 84 170

Brogan Brockie 86 84 170

Thomas Morris 87 87 174

Chris Vanderveen 87 88 175

Henry Berkemeier 82 93 175

Second flight

Noah Abbey 89 76 165 1st (won in playoff)

Joshua VanCampen 89 76 165 2nd

Rusty Whisman 90 77 167 3rd

Andrea Clark 92 80 172

Logan Densmore 91 81 172

Tom Raymond 92 83 175

Rodney Hovinen 92 88 180

Conner Lackey 100 82 182

Ben Maino 94 89 183

Mike Beck 91 92 183

Matt Saunders 99 87 186

Matt Brown 98 93 191

Ken Byers 106 98 204