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Nick Killpack, playing in severe winds of up to 40 miles per hour from the southwest, 'blew' away the UGA Winterchamps record Sunday at Bloomington Country Club as he scored 51 points to go with his opening round of 49 points at Sand Hollow for a stunning Winterchamps record of 100 points. The old tournament record was 89, set two years ago by Gipper Finau.
Andrew Barton finished in second place, 12 points behind Killpack, but his 88 was just one short of the best previous score in tournament history.
Last year Killpack won the tournament with 86 points.
Kurt Bernhisel also repeated as the champion in the Senior Division, scoring 67 points. He got 43 points at Bloomington and just 24 in the wind at Sand Hollow, but it was good enough to edge Steve Latimer by three points.
Karl Avant, Mike Hacker, and Bill Probst rounded out the top five finishers for the seniors.
Young Sirene Blair came of age by winning the Women's Division for her first major 'adult' victory. She is just 14-years-old and shows a very promising future.
Blair scored 68 points on rounds of 41-27 at Bloomington and Sunbrook. She won by five points over Echo Thatcher, and six points ahead of defending champion Annette Gaiotti.
Marie Bambo became the first winner in the newly created Senior Women's Division. She scored 61 points with rounds of 36-25.
Killpack's 51 points at Bloomington included one eagle, six birdies, ten pars, and one bogey.
The Modified Stableford scoring format used at Winterchamps gives a player one point for bogey, two for par, four for birdie, and six for eagle.
"The key to my scoring was good wedge play," Killpack said. "I was hitting it close."
He had two birdies on the front, on four and six, resulting from close chips.
On the back he birdied the first three holes, and then had his only bogey on 13. He birdied 14 and made a 25-foot eagle putt on 16. He parred 17 and missed a four-foot birdie putt on 18.
At Sand Hollow he also had six birdies and an eagle, but had three bogeys, two of them via the three-putt route, which is becoming common place at Sand Hollow.
The record score was particularly impressive given the strong winds that discouraged most players.
Killpack's strategy in the wind was "to take advantage of the down wind holes."
"I've never played in a strong wind in St. George," the St. George native said.
