Apyan secures wire-to-wire victory at Greater Cedar Rapids Open

MARION – Two months ago, Paul Apyan strongly considered giving up on his dream of professional golf.

Married with a newborn baby, Apyan fielded a lucrative job offer from a friend and felt the pull to cut ties with his struggling golf game and embrace his newfound joy of just being home.

But thanks to the unwavering love and support from his wife, Leah, Apyan forged ahead.

'Leah said, ‘Hey, just keep sticking to it. You've got your obligations and I'm going to keep pushing you,'” Apyan said.

That support and patience was rewarded on Saturday as Apyan enjoyed a wire-to-wire lead in the Greater Cedar Rapids Open golf tournament at Hunters Ridge Golf Course, finishing 18-under par and winning the championship by four strokes.

'Just kind of grinded away, I knew there were some really good golfers behind me,” Apyan said. 'I said, ‘Just keep your head down, keep plugging along.'”

The Chattanooga, Tenn. native received an early indicator that this might be a special day. As he was driving near Hiawatha in the early-morning hours, an electronic billboard displayed the message '#ChattanoogaStrong” in support of his hometown in the wake of a July 16 gunman attack on two military installations, one near Apyan's home.

'You know, I'm like 750 miles from home, why would they have that here?,” Apyan said of the billboard. 'You know, that's pretty cool. Maybe that's a sign for this week.”

The largest amount in tournament winnings Apyan had earned prior to Saturday was $4,523 for a sixth-place finish over two years ago at a North Carolina tournament. Saturday's victory netted him a check for $22,000 - a lucrative prize for his persistance and having a wife who believed in him and encouraged the pursuit of his dream.

'She said, ‘If that's your dream, you chase it,'” Apyan said. 'She played college golf. She didn't have a great experience. Her dream growing up was also to be a professional golfer. So she'll remind me, ‘You're not just chasing your dream.'”

Apyan, 28, entered the final round with a six-stroke lead, then held off a hard charge from both Englishman Sam Osborne and Adam Schenk of Vincennes, Ind.

Apyan finished the round at 2-under par, while Osborne and Schenk both carded a 7-under par 65 final round and finished tied for second place at 14-under.

'I played pretty steady,” Osborne said. 'From tee to green, I was pretty good. I held a lot more putts today. I had a few where it was just a half-chance and I made it. That makes a big difference. You can easily turn a 69 into a 65.”

Schenk - who finished sixth at last weekend's Waterloo Open - got as close as three strokes from Apyan before bogeying the final hole.

'I just putted well,” Schenk said. 'I hit it decently today, kept it in play. Birdied some par-fives, but was just making my putts from 10, 15 feet, which I had a lot of them. So that was nice.”

A 10-under par 62 in the final round by Justin Hueber of Jacksonville, Fla., tied the tournament record for a single round. Hueber finished in third place overall at 13-under par.

J.D. Schlotterback of Marion, 47, continued his torrid play with his third amateur victory of the summer, overtaking Cedar Rapids Jefferson golf coach Steve Koepke for the amateur division championship with a 3-under par 69 in the final round.

'I thought I hit the ball as well as I've hit it all year long,” said Schlotterback, who finished 2-under par overall. 'That made it a little easier. It's a challenging golf course. Of course, it's always whoever makes the putts that ends up doing well.”

Javier Sanchez of Taistan, Mexico, won the senior professional division at 10-under par and tied for seventh overall.

Former University of Iowa golfer Steven Ihm cracked the top 10 by virtue of a 6-under par 66 in the final round.

Linn-Mar golf coach Bill Hoefle entered Saturday tied for seventh place, but a 74 in the final round left him tied for 18th.

GREATER CEDAR RAPIDS OPEN

At Marion

(Hunters Ridge Golf Course, par 72)

FINAL RESULTS

Paul Apyan 63-65-70-198

Adam Schenk 70-67-65-202

Sam Osborne 71-66-65-202

Justin Hueber 70-71-62-203

Joseph Juszczyk 65-69-70-204

Eric Steger 65-72-68-205

Brandon Cauldwell 65-71-70-206

Mark Blakefield 69-65-72-206

Steven Ihm 69-72-66-207

Blanton Farmer 71-70-66-207

Seth Fair 71-69-67-207

Patrick Sheehan 68-68-72-208

Justin Regier 72-69-68-209

Trent Sanders 72-65-72-209

Matt Miller 70-70-70-210

Austin Quick 64-74-72-210

Mitchell Gregson 71-71-69-211

Maxwell Cohen 68-72-71-211

Tyler Neff 71-68-72-211

Bill Hoefle 68-69-74-211

Curtis Yonke 72-73-67-212

Justin Bryant 67-76-69-212

Eric Cole 72-68-72-212

Nate Barbee 74-72-67-213

Luke Slaymaker 71-74-68-213

Ryan Kiewiet 70-72-71-213

JD Schlotterbock 72-73-69-214

Alexander Medinis 69-74-71-214

Zach Steffen 68-74-72-214

Cody Strange 68-74-72-214

Alex McMahon 73-72-70-215

Tim Beth 73-71-71-215

Tim Crouch 73-67-75-215

Greg Kopf 72-67-76-215

Thomas Buran 65-71-79-215

Andrew Rauscher 69-77-70-216

Daniel Zimmerman 76-70-70-216

Dylan Jackson 73-72-71-216

Ryan Buerk 69-76-71-216

Britt Pavelonis 70-74-72-216

Craig Isabel 70-74-72-216

Jimmy Lytle 69-73-74-216

Drew Imel 69-72-75-216

Charlie Harrison 74-72-71-217

Brent Blaum 72-70-75-217

Brian Anderson 65-77-75-217

Peter Lamaris 74-70-74-218

Kurt Slattery 72-71-75-218

Steve Koepke 75-67-76-218

Sean Barrett 75-71-73-219

John Jackson 73-72-74-219

Andrew Wegeng 71-73-75-219

Greg O'Mahony 70-70-79-219

Calvin Pearson 70-76-74-220

Clint Keown 73-72-75-220

Kevin Ault 68-77-75-220

Matthew Rau 72-71-77-220

Robb Taylor 70-75-76-221

Michael Peter 73-77-72-222

Andy Buege 67-79-76-222

Ryan Schrimper 72-74-78-224

Chris James 75-78-73-226

Zechariah Potter 76-70-80-226

Hunter O'Mahony 78-79-71-228

Tanner Stewart 78-77-74-229

Rob Dickerman 79-78-77-234

Eric Cress 75-76-84-235

Jeff Wenthe 80-75-81-236

Ryan Schlueter 76-76-86-238

Senior Professionals

Javier Sanchez 66-69-71-206

Chuck Moran 71-73-72-216

Marshall Gavre 68-76-75-219

Mark Lemon 74-74-75-223

David Narveson 74-76-74-224

Jim Doing 75-73-76-224

Super Senior Professionals

Chuck Moran 71-73-72-216

Marshall Gavre 68-76-75-219

Mark Lemon 74-74-75-223

David Narveson 74-76-74-224

Amateurs

JD Schlotterbock 72-73-69-214

Steve Koepke 75-67-76-218

Kevin Ault 68-77-75-220

Michael Peter 73-77-72-222

Chris James 75-78-73-226

Hunter O'Mahony 78-79-71-228

Tanner Stewart 78-77-74-229

Rob Dickerman 79-78-77-234

Eric Cress 75-76-84-235

Jeff Wenthe 80-75-81-236

Ryan Schlueter 76-76-86-238

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com