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A long-awaited title

Prunick pulls out stunner to take first Men’s UPGA Championship

By STEVE BROWNLEE 7 min read

MARQUETTE -- Putting often gets veteran golfers into trouble.

But for Marquette resident Scott Prunick, it kept him out of a lot of it.

That along with his short game -- and his uncle on the bag -- were what he credited for helping him win the Men's Upper Peninsula Golf Association Championship held at the Marquette Golf Club that ended Sunday.

Prunick, 37, is a member of both the MGC and Pictured Rocks Golf Club in Munising, having graduated and played golf at Munising High School before moving to the U.P.'s closest thing to the big city.

Sunday's 72nd and final hole culminating four days of golf dramatically showed off his putter.

He trailed four-time UPGA men's champion Mark Clements of Wawonowin Country Club in Champion by a single stroke, then turned it around as Clements bogied and Prunick birdied this final hole for a one-stroke victory.

Prunick finished with a 2-under-par total of 282 while Clements came in at 1-under 283.

"A huge difference was having my uncle, Chad Wester, caddy for me the final two days," Prunick said. "He helped keep me calm. There was definitely some pressure as we got closer to the end."

He explained that while making several championship flights in past UPGA Championships, Prunick had only come close to winning this title once, finishing runner-up in the 2020 pandemic year at Riverside Country Club in Menominee.

"My approach game was very solid this week," Prunick said. "I think I only missed one green in regulation the first two days.

"After I had a bogey on my first hole Thursday and a double bogey later that round, I went 27 holes in a row without a bogey.

"A week ago I made the switch from a regular grip to a claw grip on my putter, and I stuck with it. Especially on the shorter putts, the ones four feet and in, it really gave me confidence on those."

However, it wasn't just a four-footer that won it for Prunick.

Hitting his first shot on No. 18 in the fairway and his second to within 25 feet of the cup on this par-5 hole, he snaked his first putt close and had all but a tap-in for a birdie-4 on the hole.

"Chad said when we got up to the green, 'A two-putt would be perfect,'" Prunick related.

Meanwhile, Clements' tee shot went into the right rough and he had to settle for a bogey-6.

This pair wasn't the only ones close on the final leaderboard as 10 of the 12 players in the championship flight finished within six strokes of Prunick.

Bryson Mercier of Iron Mountain was third, two back at even-par 284, while MGC member Cody Langdon was fourth at 1-over 284.

After the youthful Mario Pisani of Portage Lake in Houghton was fifth at 2-over 285, four MGC members occupied the next spots.

2022 UPGA champion Chris Black and Marquette Senior High School golfer Sevrin Swanson tied for sixth at 3-over 287.

And two more just-graduated Sentinels, Boden Moore and Easton Aho, joined Iron Mountain's Ryan Pepin all tied for eighth at 4-over 288.

Each of them, plus the golfers in the first through eighth flights, had a chance to play four rounds of golf at the MGC's two courses, each a par 71. They were on the Greywalls course on Thursday's first day and Sunday's final day, playing the Heritage course for their middle two rounds on Friday and Saturday.

It wouldn't seem to have made much difference to Prunick, who carded a 3-under 68 each of the first two days while adding a 2-over 73 on both of the final two days.

Clements, meanwhile, was looking to double up this summer after winning the Men's Senior UPGA Championship in mid-June held at the Gladstone Golf Club.

Clements is just barely senior-eligible at age 52, but he doesn't show his age off the tee.

"I was behind him on (the second shot) just about every hole we played together," Prunick said about Clements' longer drives off the tee.

Clements, who won the U.P. Senior title by five strokes, put together rounds of 73, 67, 71 and 72 with the "kids" over the past week for his runner-up finish.

The back nine on Sunday was a whirlwind for the top two contenders.

Playing in a foursome that day with Aho and Pisani, Prunick led Clements by three strokes when they teed off at No. 10.

Clements birdied the 10th to pull within two, but gave it back with a bogey on No. 12. Prunick parred each of the first three holes on the back.

But the 13th turned the tide in Clements' favor. While the Ishpeming resident birdied this par-5, Prunick got lost in an adventure and took a double-bogey 7, a three-shot swing in a single hole that tied it all up.

That put the pressure on Prunick, though he got his lead back two holes later when Clements bogied the par-3 15th.

But the tide again turned in Clements' favor coming down the stretch.

"I hit a draw into the wind that took (the ball) to the left edge of the rough," Prunick said of his drive on the par-3 17th. "Then I rolled the next shot into a bunker and ended up with a bogey."

Meanwhile, Clements pulled out a birdie-2 to again produce a multishot swing on a single hole.

This time, there was a new significance to the turnaround.

"That was the first time I trailed all week," Prunick said, conceding that he was actually a shot behind after Thursday's first round before taking the lead for good during round No. 2.

For good, that is, until they took to the tee at the 72nd hole.

"When I bogeyed that hole (the 17th), I just thought I was done for. I know you want to keep those thoughts out, but that's what crossed my mind."

Then he used his short game, his putting stroke -- and maybe most importantly, his uncle -- to gather himself for the final hole.

Prunick said he's won several club championships, but was a bit amazed at the turnout for this UPGA Championship.

"I wish I had taken a shot of all the (golf) carts that were surrounding us Sunday," he said.

Defending UPGA champion Carter Mason of Negaunee got knocked out of the championship flight with a rough second-round 79. That followed his opening 68 that tied him with Prunick, one shot behind the eventual eighth-place Pepin.

Golfers needed to be in the top 12 after two rounds to be assured a place in the championship flight. While Mason won the first flight by four strokes with 287 -- he had 69 and 71 his final two days -- he would've tied for sixth in championship flight with that score.

Chris Rhoades of Marquette and Tyler Annala, a former Westwood and Northern Michigan University golfer, tied for second in the first flight with 291 apiece.

The top of the second flight also had a local flavor, with Marquette Senior High School graduate and current Portage Lake pro Tyler Bergwall winning with 298, while Marquette's Rick Rhoades and Dennis Hruska tied for second with 303 each.

Other flight winners included Blake Miller in the third flight with 306, Jim Pericolosi in the fourth with 309, Alec Miron in the fifth with 310, Nick Sundstrom in the sixth with 318, Nolan Hanner in the seventh with 321 and George Bolo in the eighth with 349.

Story contents based on a telephone interview with Scott Prunick and an examination of the UPGA Championship scoreboard at www.golfgenius.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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