By Gary Kalahar, JTV Sports
Mike Brockie won the Jackson Masters golf tournament Sunday, made some history, and broke up a college party while he was at it.
Brockie extended his record-breaking run of local tournament success by repeating as Jackson Masters champion with a blazing finish to give him a two-round total of 4-under-par 140 at the Country Club of Jackson. Four of the next five finishers behind the 46-year-old Brockie are in college or just graduated, including the final threesome all carrying college bags. Playing one group in front of the college crowd, Brockie birdied four of the last six holes for a 69 that was the day’s best round by four strokes. That gave him a three-stroke edge over Josh Dirlam, with Henry Hitt third another stroke back. Dirlam and Hitt had shared the first-round lead by a stroke over Brockie, Connor Talbert and Steve Maddalena.
With his seventh Jackson Masters victory in the last 10 years, Brockie became the first player to win any of Jackson’s major tournaments seven times.
“If there was one (tournament) where I’d like to do that, it’s this one, here at this place,” Brockie said. “You can never get tired of playing this course. I think I appreciate it more because I’m not a member. There just aren’t many courses like this.”
Under warm but breezy conditions, the course played considerably more difficult than in Saturday’s first round. The average score was 3.4 strokes higher, and just six of the 25 players who made the cut improved their score in the second round – Brockie the only one of the top eight finishers to do so.
“The wind never has bothered me,” Brockie said. “I hit the ball so low. I’m glad it was blowing – to keep my temperature down after I made that bogey on 12. I might have overheated.”
That bogey came after Brockie had birdied the par-5 11th hole to get back to even par for the day following a double bogey on No.3.
“I was trying so hard to fight back to even, and I do that, and then I give it right back on the next hole,” Brockie said. “It’s been a long time since my blood pressure was that high. I had to go off to the side and have a talk with myself. Sometimes you need something to kick you in the butt. That bogey did it.”
With that bit of self-motivation, Brockie birdied four of the next five holes. He stuck approaches within 5 feet on No. 13 and 2 feet on No. 15 for birdies. After what he called his best drive of the day left him 80 yards from the 16th green, he pitched to 8 feet and rolled in another one. Finally, he birdied the par-3 17th from 20 feet. He missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
“I figured I had to have that one,” Brockie said. “Sixty-eight was my number. It seemed like a long ways away when I made double on 3.”
Still, Brockie’s 32 on the back nine might not have been enough if not for Dirlam’s misfortune on the 17th. Two under par for the day and in effect tied with Brockie at that point, Dirlam pulled his tee shot into a wooded, overgrown area and could not find it. His second from the tee found a bunker, and he finished with a triple-bogey 6.
“Thirty-five good holes,” Dirlam said. “That’s golf. I’ll learn from it and move on. It’s a good experience for me. I feel good about my game and where it’s at.”
Dirlam will be a senior at Lawrence Technological University, where he was the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference golfer of the week three times this season. Dirlam, who won the City Championship in 2015, said playing golf at the college in Southfield has helped him improve the mental aspect of the game.
“Coming down the stretch, the feeling is exactly the same in a college tournament as in a tournament like this,” he said. “I have more confidence being in this position. I’m still not there yet, but this is another experience that I’ll take and build on.”
Dirlam played in the final group with Hitt, a junior on the golf team at Hillsdale College, and Talbert, who wrapped up his collegiate career at Spring Arbor University in the fall. Talbert tied for fifth with Dean Hitt, who graduated from Ohio State last month. Maddalena finished fourth, adding to his record with his 21st top-five finish in the tournament.
