Golf: Bendtsen scorches Ives Grove with an 8

Bendt Bendtsen III, left, and his caddy, Ben Kusters, watch as Bendtsen's eagle putt just misses the cup on the ninth hole on the Blue course Saturday during the second round of the Racine County Men's Open at Ives Grove Golf Links in Yorkville. He tapped in his birdie putt on his final hole of the round to finish off an 8-under-par 64 that took him from a five-shot deficit to a six-shot lead in the 51st County Open.

Eric Schroeckenthaler hits his tee shot on the second hole of the Blue course Saturday during the second round of the Racine County Men's Open at Ives Grove Golf Links in Yorkville. The assistant pro at Meadowbrook Country Club shot an even-par 72 in the second round and is at 1-under-par 143, six strokes behind leader and 10-time Open champion Bendt Bendtsen III.

ROBB LUEHR, [email protected]

Chris Wood hits out of the bunker behind the green on the seventh hole of the Blue course Saturday, during the second round of the Racine County Men's Open at Ives Grove Golf Links in Yorkville. Wood shot a 76 in the second round and is 11 shots behind leader and 10-time Open champion Bendt Bendtsen III, who shot an 8-under-par 64 in the second round.

Bendt Bendtsen III hits his tee shot on the fifth hole of the Blue course Saturday during the second round of the Racine County Men's Open at Ives Grove Golf Links in Yorkville. Bendtsen shot a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 in the second round and leads Eric Schroeckenthaler and first-round leader Mike Masik by six shots. The three will play in the final group Sunday.

YORKVILLE — Defending Racine County Men’s Open Champion Mike Masik said after Friday’s first round that his three-stroke lead may not hold up long because pursuers Bendt Bendtsen and Ricky Kuiper, among others, “have a 65 in them.”

In Bendtsen’s case, Masik missed it by one shot.

Bendtsen

Bendtsen, the 10-time County Open champion, almost made Masik look like Nostradamus as he scorched the White and Blue courses at Ives Grove with a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 to go from a five-stroke deficit to a six-stroke lead after the second round of the 51st County Open, sponsored by H&H Fairway Enterprises and Range Time.

Bendtsen matched his best County Open round — he shot a 64 in the first round in 2006 at Browns Lake in Burlington on the way to his second title — and came within one shot of tying Kuiper’s tournament- and Ives Grove course-record 63 from three years ago.

That leaves Bendtsen just 18 holes away from adding his 11th title and first since 2020, when he beat Kuiper in a playoff.

Masik

Schroeckenthaler

Masik, who shot a 4-under 68 in the first round, struggled to a 75 and is tied for second at 1-under 143 with Meadowbrook Country Club assistant pro Eric Schroeckenthaler, who played in the final group with Masik and shot an even-par 72.

Bendtsen, Masik and Schroeckenthaler will play together in the final group that is scheduled to tee off at 12:15 p.m. Sunday as the field plays the Red and White nines.

The First, Second and Third flights begin play at 7 a.m. Sunday at Ives Grove, also on the Red and White courses.

Live scoring, final scores and tee times for all flights are available online at www.golfgenius.com/pages/9727088173225364030 or on the Golf Genius app with the GGID code 2023RCO.

If anyone was a fortune teller Saturday, it was three-time County Open champ Joe O’Brien, who wasn’t able to play this year because of a family commitment. He sent a text to Bendtsen before the second round and said “shoot a 64.”

Bendtsen’s round was as routine as it was spectacular. He hit every green in regulation and aside from missing a four-foot eagle putt on the first hole of the White course, he was locked in. He had birdies on all four par-5 holes and had four birdies on each nine.

“I’ve put a lot of rounds together and I feel like my game was really close,” Bendtsen said. “I’ve hit well and don’t putt great or I putt great and don’t hit it well, but today it all came together.

“I missed a couple of fairways, but I missed the fairways in the right spot. I didn’t have a tough shot and I never shorted myself on any of my iron shots.

“I can’t say it was easy — the course wasn’t playing easy — but I didn’t get myself in trouble.”

Most of Bendtsen’s putts were on the correct side of the hole and he made several 15-foot putts to keep the round going.

With a chance to tie Kuiper’s record on the final hole, the No. 9 hole of the Blue course, Bendtsen gained a few extra yards on his tee shot by hitting the cart path on the left side of the fairway. He put his second shot about 20 yards from the pin to set up a putt that would have done it, but he just missed the putt and tapped in for his birdie.

Bendtsen was playing with Kuiper when he set the record, but Bendtsen said that didn’t cross his mind as he lined up the putt.

“I was trying to get a 63 and get it in the hole, that’s for sure, but I wasn’t thinking about that at all,” Bendtsen said. “I was just trying to make the putt.”

With a six-shot lead, Bendtsen said he’ll approach the final round just like any other round.

“It’s the same as it was as today,” he said. “I have the same thoughts and I don’t change anything. I pick a shot and try to hit it and keep doing that over and over — and hopefully the ball goes in the hole again.”

Masik, who played in the final group Saturday with Schroeckenthaler and Brian Pella, didn’t play a bad round, but he wasn’t able to score well. He played the par-5 holes, typically his strength, in 1-over par, making a bogey on the final hole.

“I just didn’t have it going,” Masik said. “I was trying — the course was tough for everybody but Benny. I didn’t play terrible, but I couldn’t get any momentum going.

“I had some really makeable putts, but I didn’t convert them. It was one of those kind of early flat rounds.”

As for catching Bendtsen, Masik won’t put out of the realm of possibility, he knows it’s an uphill climb.

“If he plays well, it’s going to be too hard, but it’s out there,” Masik said. “‘Schroeck’ played great today — he eagled No. 1 (White) and almost rattled off a couple more birdies. If he catches fire, he can get going.

“It will be a fun last group — the three of us have the ability to shoot good scores, so it will be good golf.”

Schroeckenthaler hit a driver on the first hole, then hit a hybrid to three feet and made the eagle putt to get his round started on the right foot. He shot 1-under 35 on the White course, then had two bogeys and a birdie on the Blue course for a 37.

“(The eagle) catapulted me to a pretty good to start and I kind of held steady the rest of the way,” Schroeckenthaler said. “I made some bogeys along the way, but that comes with it. I didn’t make a putt, but I had two chip-ins for birdie on the back (Blue) nine.”

This will be the first time Schroeckenthaler has played in the final group during the final round. The last time he had a similar good start was 2017, when he shot a 68 in the first round, then skied to an 81 in the second round to fall out of contention.

“It was nice to stay in it and it should be fun,” he said.

Pella, who opened with a 71 Friday, had a rough day with an 89. He stayed in the hunt after a 40 on the White course, but opened the Blue nine with a quadruple bogey 9.

Kuiper shot his second straight 72 and is alone in fourth at 144. He had a double bogey 6 on the ninth hole on the White course to drop back to even par and also shot 36 on the Blue course.

The only other player to shoot par or better Saturday was Quinn Angel, who matched Schroeckenthaler’s eagle on the first hole and shot a 72 to tie for fifth with Chris Wood (76 Saturday) at 148.

After first round

At Browns Lake G.C., par-72

Mike Masik 68

Brian Pella 71

Eric Schroeckenthaler 71

Chris Wood 72

Ricky Kuiper 72

Brian Eitel 73

Ben Bendtsen 73

Ryan Pettibone 73

Justin Kammler 74

Jacob Brown 74

Paul Koszarek 74

Brian Hopfensperger 74

Sam Nolan 74

Tom Chambers 74

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BURLINGTON — Mike Masik Jr. began defense of his Racine County Men’s Open championship Friday just about where he left off.

Last year’s Racine County Men’s Open resulted in a milestone victory for Mike Masik Jr. — 18 years in the making.