SOUTH BEND — When the 100th Greater South Bend Men’s Metro Golf Tournament begins Saturday morning at Elbel Park Golf Course, it will be without its defending champion.
Last year as a 20-year-old, Paige totaled four-under 280 in his tours of Elbel Park (68), Knollwood East (78) and Erskine Park (68 and 66), leaving runner-up Kyle Meihofer 12 strokes behind and the rest of the field in his considerable wake. Meihofer also is not in this year’s tournament which continues Sunday at Knollwood East and concludes with rounds July 27-28 at Erskine.
The top returnee from 2023 is third-place finisher Jonah Kumfer, a former standout at Penn High School who will be a senior on the Bethel University golf team next season. Kumfer shot rounds of 70 and 69 at Erskine last year to finish at nine-over 293 along with former Penn teammate and 2021 champion Bazil Furry who is not entered this year.
More: Burdova (67-208) wins 97th Women’s Metro Open title by seven shots over Wade
Others to watch include 28-year-old Austin Christner of Mishawaka, a former Fairfield High School standout who has three top-five finishes in the last three Metros, and former Penn High School standout Ben Szklarek of Granger, who won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Tournament officials have invited past champions of the tournament to return and play a ceremonial final round July 28 after the leaders tee off at Erskine Park.
More: Fairfield’s Brayden Miller realizes lifelong goal with IHSAA boys state golf championship
The starting times for this weekend’s first two rounds of the 100th Greater South Bend Men’s Metro Golf Tournament. First round is Saturday at par-72 Elbel Park Golf Course; second round (starting tee in parentheses) is Sunday at par-72 Knollwood Country Club East Course; final two rounds July 27-28 are at par-70 Erskine Park Golf Course:
No. 1 Tee (No. 10 Tee)
8 a.m.: Christian Pottschmidt, Andrew Mars, Alexander Walters
8:08: Tony Bailey, Chase Nichols, William Gaideski
8:16: Roger Moreno, Travis Truex, Duke Bailey
8:24: Jeffrey Barouska, Ricky Entzian, James Parker
8:32: Mike Strausborger, Fred Williams, Alex Sexton
8:40: Keith Hodgson, Vincent Barnette, John Garcia
8:48: Bartolo Marquez, Shawn Pinnyei, Geoffrey Davidson
8:56: Aaron Rhame, Don Bedock, Gary May
9:04: John Parakowski, Scott Tafelski, Jerry Barnette
9:12: Jake Brentlinger, Geordan Presley-Griffin, Chase Coen
9:20: Austin Christner, Jonah Kumfer
9:28: Sean Egan, Stanley Gebo, Ryan Glover
9:36: Leo Goss, Campbell Jones, Brandon Roman
9:44: Benjamin Mattingly, Brandon Thomas, Ben Szklarek
9:52: Chris Shaw, John Hahn, Justin Crook
10 a.m.: Mark Harman, Kevin Wiseman, Rick Hardesty
No. 10 Tee (No. 1 Tee)
8 a.m.: Kenny Bishop, Jeff Steele, Mark Haab
8:08: Nick Bishop, Brian Patterson, Carlos Loaiza
8:16: Jim Van Fleit Sr., Jacob Padrnos, Thomas Butler
8:24: Alan Smith, Scott Kirner, Andy Williams
8:32: Jamie Lucas, Adam Urbanski, David Krizman
8:40: Craig Eggers, David Fulcher, Carl Daniels
8:48: James Potter, Matt Potter, Brian Carver
8:56: Jason Quimby, Quinlan Armstrong, Joey Garcia
9:04: Andrew Kowalewski, Andrew Katona, Ben Padrnos
9:12: Jim Shaw, Evan Smith, Mark Colpaert
9:20: Max Christianson, Matt Schiele, Jeff Oltmanns
x9:28: Scott Frederickson, CJ Superczynski, Earl Nickell
9:36: Robert Rogers, Dallas Shultz, Zack Cripe
9:44: John Sevison, Nicholas Johnson, Taylor Urbanski
9:52: Andy Vavul, Doug Fedore, Ben Brewers
10 a.m.: Joseph Daigle, Jerry Haeffel
GAINESVILLE, Va. – It’s been nine years since the biggest comeback in Solheim Cup history took place at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Germany. Suzann Pettersen
Kingsley, Michigan and Hobart, Tasmania probably don’t have a whole lot in common. After all, they’re separated by nearly 16,000 miles and approximately 30
Donald Trump revealed how his loved ones reacted to the failed assassination attempt against him during a fundraiser in Beverley Hills on Friday night.In foota