John Robertson left town as the winningest golfer in Rockford tournament history. He returned 18 years later, now tied for fifth with his 15 local wins, and just trying not to be too nervous.
“It’s really funny, too,” Robertson, who moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 2006 said about playing in the senior division of the Aldeen Cup. “When I am playing at home on my home course, I’ve been playing really good. I am still a zero handicap. But there is something about playing in a tournament, you’ve got to get yourself brave enough to just swing and let it happen. And when you don’t play in tournaments, you are tentative and you make these weak swings. I had a lot of that.
“The symptoms are coming up short on chips. Or you don’t make good contact and you thin one. All that stuff is frustrating. But when you have days like that, you’ve just got to have a short memory. Because I know the game is there. It’s just a matter of relaxing and getting used to playing in a tournament.”
After shooting an opening 78 Saturday, Robertson calmed down and shot 71 Sunday to win the Senior Division title by four strokes with a 149.
Robertson, the late Lloyd McWilliams (14 career wins) and Chris Beto (second all-time with 22 wins) ruled Rockford golf from the mid-1980s until Jamie Hogan (30 wins) dominated the 2000s. Robertson won The Ledges Invitational in 2000 and 2001, but had stopped playing most local tournaments as early as 1997. But he has made it a point to play in the Aldeen Cup the last two years, seeing family and also competing on one of his all-time favorite courses.
“Aldeen is a gem,” Robertson said. “The quality of golf you get here for a public golf course is like nothing else. I love the layout. It punishes me a lot of times, but I love the layout.
“Playing here, I get to see all the guys I used to play with — not all of them; some of them aren’t here any more. It is bittersweet that way, but it is great to come back and see everybody.”
TJ Baker might appreciate Aldeen even more than Robertson. The 2019 Class 2A state champ from Boylan who graduated this spring from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, won his fourth Aldeen Cup title in five years. When he last won two years ago, he won by a record 15 strokes. Sunday, he made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to edge Western Illinois junior Luke Lofgren by one stroke.
“This was a good battle,” said Baker, who was the Ohio Valley Conference Golfer of the year this season. “You had to stay mentally in it. It wasn’t easy. He was making birdies. I was making pars, trying to claw my way back, make a few birdies as they come. This year was definitely more stressful, but I’m glad to have that experience.”
Lofgren took a one-stroke lead with a birdie on 16, but drove out of bounds on 17. Baker looked like he would take the lead, especially when Lofgren pulled his second tee shot into the rough and the edge of the woods. But he hit a rising approach shot under one branch and over another to 10 feet and then made the putt to salvage bogey and stay tied.
“It was a little confusing,” Baker said. “He had one of the tougher shots I have ever seen on that hole and he pulled it off. I just had to roll with the punches.”
Baker shot 69-70—139 to Lofgren’s 68-72—140. Defending champion Robert Dofflemyer III was third at 3-under-par 141 and Danny Gorman fourth at even-par 144.
Boylan grad Eva Greenberg shot a blistering 66 Sunday to make up a six-shot deficit on her big sister and win the women’s division with a 4-under-par 140 to Ella Greenberg’s 143.
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