Tim Kramer of Riverside Country Club in Menominee, the first-day leader, and Gladstone’s Joe Quinn — the 2014 UPGA men’s champion — faced off in a rain-soaked and windy sudden-death playoff after tying for the top spot.

It ended after five holes with Kramer taking home the trophy for his first senior championship.

Scott Saari of Wawonowin Country Club in Champion, the 2018 UPGA senior champion, and Mark Ray of nearby Highland, the champion from 2019, tied for third six strokes back at 147 along with Steve Douglas of Terrace Bluff.

Saari shot 74 the first day and added 73 Tuesday for 3-over-par.

Tim Kramer of Riverside Country Club in Menominee poses with the trophy for winning the Upper Peninsula Golf Association Senior Men's Championship at Terrace Bluff Golf and Country Club in Gladstone on Tuesday. He took the title after a five-hole sudden-death playoff. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Justin St. Ours)

For the two combatants vying for the title, stepping onto the 17th hole, Kramer had fallen two strokes behind Quinn, who was sitting comfortably at 2-under par. Kramer started the day with a one-shot lead over four golfers, including Quinn.

But Kramer made up his deficit by birdieing the 17th and 18th holes to finish at 2-under 70 to go with his 71 Monday for 141, 3-under-par.

“I had to birdie 18 to get into the playoff, and I hit my best drive of the day,” Kramer said. “I hit a nice wedge (from 45 yards) into four or five feet (from the hole) and made the putt to force the playoff.”

It was just enough to match Quinn’s total with his finishing 69 to go with 72, also for 141.

“I played fantastic today,” Quinn said. “With the conditions we were in out there, with the wind and the rain, shooting in the 60s is a great score. The weather didn’t affect me more than anyone else because I had a goal in mind. I wanted to win the U.P. championship, so I didn’t let it bother me. I stayed focused on what I was trying to do.

“Yes, it was (an exciting way to end it). He birdied the last two holes when he was down just to get into the playoff. That was huge. It was awesome, and he deserved it.”

The two had to duke it out in a playoff match. Quinn had two chances to seal the victory on the green as the match progressed, but it wasn’t until the fifth hole when Kramer sank a short putt for par that the title was decided as Quinn’s final putt slipped past the hole.

“I had a lot of confidence going into today from yesterday,” Kramer said. “I didn’t make many putts, but I just felt if I could hit the ball as equally as good today, that the putts would fall.

“When you’re playing well things like (the weather) don’t really bother you. Weather is only an issue when your game’s a little off and you’re not playing well. When you’re dialed in and focused and your game is sharp, weather doesn’t even come into play.”

Kramer’s second day didn’t start well, as putting troubles followed him from the first day and pushed him over par for the first eight holes.

“I was 3-over through eight (holes) today, and I struggled a little bit,” he said.

But it was the last 10 holes where he turned it around, improving to 1-under after getting birdies on the next four holes.

“I made some birdies coming into the last 10 holes, started stroking the ball a bit and started making some putts, so that certainly helped,” Kramer said. “To close 6-under for the last 10 was certainly fortunate.”

While neither wanted to lose, both acknowledged losing to the other was something they could accept.

“Playing with Joe Quinn — Joe and I have been friends for a long time, and we’ve battled a lot. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. It’s kind of bittersweet,” Kramer said. “You want to win — I mean every golfer comes here to win — but when you play against a guy like Joe, it’s not all that bad because you’re happy for a guy like Joe to win. And equally so — I just talked with Joe and he told me he’s happy to see me win, so that’s awesome.”

Quinn offered similar sentiments.

“Me and Tim are good friends,” he said. “We play a lot of golf together, and he’s a great guy. You can’t lose to a better guy.”

The new champion went on to praise the tournament and its organization.

“The course was set up awesome,” he said. “(Terrace) Bluff did an awesome job of making everything fair, making everything playable. The course was in great shape, and it was run very smoothly. (Course owner) Tony Pouliot and his crew did an amazing job here.”

Here are the flight winners — 1st, Rick LaFleur, Terrace Bluff, 74-75–149, and Larry Bratonia, Gladstone, 75-74–149; 2nd, Ken Wilkie, Pickford, 76-72–148; 3rd, Wes Stripling, River’s Edge, 79-73–152, and Brian Scheeneman, Highland, 80-72–152; 4th, Randy Eis, Escanaba, 81-75–156, and Steve Bratonia, Gladstone, 81-75–156; 5th, Steve Schmidt, Riverside, 84-72–156; 6th, Jim Peltier, Escanaba, 86-81–167, and Paul Gayan, Escanaba, 86-81–167; 7th, Tom Chaperon, Nahma, 89-83–172; 8th, Marty Kallio, Gladstone, 90-87–177; 9th, Rick Soder, Newberry, 93-91–184