Robert Dofflemyer III birdied the final hole at Aldeen last year to break a tie with Cody Rhymer and win the Greater Rockford Men's Golf Classic.
That made for a fourth straight top-4 finish in the Men’s City for Rhymer. But no wins. Sunday, he made a 10-footer for eagle on the first hole at Aldeen to tie Dofflemyer for the lead.
"It was a dream start for me," Rhymer said.
Dofflemyer had a dream entire round. He shot an unheard-of 28 on the front nine and set course (63) and tournament records (15-under-par) in winning his fourth Men’s City title in runaway fashion.
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“It was effortless for him,” said Rhymer, who finished second, nine strokes back. “You blink and he’s 8-under through nine. He made it look so easy.
"It’s definitely not that easy.”
Dofflemyer almost eagled No. 1 himself, settling for a tap-in birdie on the 520-yard par-5. And then he buried the field with his final six holes on the front, going: birdie, hole-in-one, eagle, birdie, par, birdie.
“The guy was a ball-striking machine,” said two-time champion TJ Baker, who finished third in his final local tournament before turning pro. “And he was not only doing that well; he was rolling in putts. He was doing everything great.
“He’s a great player. I was very lucky to be in the final group with him today. It was awesome.”
Dofflemyer made a 15-footer for birdie on No. 18 to finish at 9-under par 63. That broke the course record from the 7,049-yard gold tees that he once shared with Baker at 65. He lost that record last week to South Carolina’s Jacques Wilson, who shot 64 in a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Aldeen. Now he has it back. All by himself.
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“I was very excited to see that last putt go in,” Dofflemyer said.
Dofflemyer also broke the Men’s City tournament record by finishing 15-under-par. The old mark was 12-under by Brad Benjamin in 2009, the summer he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links and the Illinois Open. And later tied by Kyle Slattery, who came from six strokes behind to edge Kevin Flack and win the second of his three titles in 2016.
“I am more excited about just winning the City again,” said Dofflemyer, who now has four Men’s City titles. “I was really bummed out after Saturday. I felt I came back to the field.”
He opened and closed the tourney with a pair of 63s, the first at Ingersoll, which is 900 yards shorter than Aldeen. But he led by only one stroke going into the final round after shooting a 73 on the second day at Sandy Hollow.
“I just need to learn how to play Sandy Hollow and I could play some good golf, huh?” Dofflemyer joked.
Dofflemyer won his first title in 2017, becoming the 97-year-old tourney’s youngest ever champion at age 17. He now has 16 total local wins, fourth all-time. And only four men have won more Men’s City titles: Jamie Hogan with nine, Alex Welsh with eight, Chris Beto with six and Lloyd McWilliams with five.
But Dofflemyer never worried about history. Or setting a record until that final putt. That, he said, was the benefit of playing with Rhymer — who also eagled No. 1 when he played with Dofflemyer in last week’s Aldeen Cup — and Baker.
“With Cody and TJ playing well, I don’t remember what lead I had,” Dofflemyer said. “TJ can go so low, it forces you to zone in instead of thinking about the low round. I needed to keep hitting good shots to keep the lead. That’s a different type of pressure. You don’t get lost in how you are playing.”
Most career Rockford Men's City golf titles
- Jamie Hogan, 9
- Alex Welsh, 8
- Chris Beto, 6
- Lloyd McWilliams, 5
- Robert Dofflemyer III, 4
- John Robertson, 4
- Mike Johnson, 4
- Dick Jungen, 4
- Russ Johnson, 4
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Dofflemyer shoots 8-under-par 28 on front nine at Aldeen to win Rockford Men's City golf
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