The Fight for the Old Warson Cup

Two days filled with stiff competition and tough weather conditions led to a memorable 25th Old Warson Cup. Sixteen of the area’s top golfers and four of the top senior golfers came together to battle in a Match Play event. Saturday morning the weather was bearable, with the sun shining and some wind gusts, but as the weekend progressed the weather continued to decline. The winds continued to get stronger, making itself a factor in the players’ game. Sunday these conditions declined further with cooler temperatures, less sun, and continuing increased cool winds. The Round of 16 kicked of the championship with a bang. Three upsets happened when the first, fourth, and fifth seeds were knocked out of the competition by the sixteenth, thirteenth, and twelfth seeds, respectively. Joel Sylven, the sixteenth seed, knocked off the number one seed, Tony Gumper, 5 & 4 in his Old Warson Cup debut. Thirteenth seed, Jason Landry, took down the reigning Metropolitan Amateur Champion, Drew Pranger (Seed 4), 2 & 1, while Max Kreikemeier, the twelfth seed, took down fifth seed, Brad Carpenter, 2 & 1. The five other quarterfinalists joining them were Ryan Eckelkemp (6 & 4), Chad Niezing (3 & 1), Shawn Jasper (3 & 1), Ryan Sullivan (5 & 3), and Justin Bryant (3 & 2).

In an afternoon wave, the quarterfinals started rolling. Sylven proved his early win was no fluke when he defeated Eckelkamp 6 & 5. The other three matches were more tightly contested. Kreikemeier versus Landry was the first match of the championship to reach 18 holes, and then did not stop there. With neither player wanting to give up the fight, the match went on to 21 holes, where Kreikemeier made birdie to win the match. Jasper (Seed 10) and Niezing (Seed 2) held a tightly contested match with Jasper winning 2 & 1. Bryant and Sullivan became the second match to reach 18 holes to determine their match. In a back and forth battle, Bryant became victorious by tying the eighteenth hole to win the match 1-Up.

The Semi-Finals saw Kreikemeier versus Sylven and Jasper versus Bryant in tough weather conditions. Both were hard fought matches. Though Sylven fought hard to keep Kreikemeier on his toes, Max managed to showed his strength by having the lead for the majority of the match. Tying the last four holes of the match, Kreikemeier defeated a strong competititor 3 & 2. Jasper and Bryant stayed toe-to-toe throughout their match. Jasper took the lead on the third hole and maintained that lead until the last few holes. Bryant really found his footing on the back nine and came back to win hole fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, forcing the match to 18 holes. Sitting 1-Up, Bryant needed to tie the hole to move on to the final, and he did just that to win the match 1-Up.

Finally the Final Match was upon us with the twelfth seed, Max Kreikemeier, taking on the sixth seed and former Old Warson Cup Champion, Justin Bryant. Still in the groove from his Semi-Final Match, Kreikemeier started out strong and never let off the gas. Taking the lead on Hole 2, he pushed on to find himself 3-Up through seven holes after making eagle on 6 and birdie on 7. Bryant tried to shrink the lead by winning Holes 9 and 13 to bring the match within 1. Taking it the seventh hole, a short tee shot and miss hit chip for Bryant, left the door open for Kreikemeier to close out the match. Capitalizing on the misfortune of Bryant by winning the hole, Kreikemeier closed out the match 2 & 1. After playing more golf - 71 holes - than anyone else in the field, Max Kreikemeier earned the title of Old Warson Cup Champion.

Concurrently, the Senior Division played their Semi-Final matches on Saturday afternoon and the Final match on Sunday afternoon. In the Semi-Final matches, Brian Lovett (Seed 1) faced David Bremer (Seed 4) while Buddy Allen (Seed 2) played Paul Neeman (Seed 4). Lovett defeated Bremer in a close match 2 & 1. Meanwhile, fighting hard, Neeman took down the 2022 Champion, Allen, 3 & 1. In the Final Match, Neeman and Lovett continued to test each other throughout the match. Neeman found himself 1-Up twice in the match, but Lovett would not give up the fight. On the sixteenth hole, Lovett found himself 1-Up with two to play. Taking it to the 18th green, Lovett tied the hole to win the match and become the second Old Warson Cup Senior Champion.