‘Boring golf’ nets Primavera first Old Cap title

If a golf fan wants to watch an exciting round of golf, he or she should take it under advisement to skip a round played by Michael Primavera.
Primavera, who by his own admission plays ‘boring golf,’ doesn’t try to win with flash, but with simple shots from tee to green.
‘Whether I shoot a 74 or a 68 it looks the same. Everything is driver, approach, then hopefully a one- or two-putt. It’s all the same to me,’ Primavera said, ‘and it’s probably not all that exciting.’
But, as he proved this weekend, it gets the job done.
The resident of Charlestown, who grew up in Corydon, took a one-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the 45th annual Old Capital Invitational at the Old Capital Golf Club. After waiting through a pair of rain delays totaling close to two hours, and plodding along with his ‘boring’ round of golf, Primavera was able to pull out his first Invitational title by two strokes over Kevin Nash.
In opening play on Saturday, Primavera shot a 69, then shot a one-over par 73 on Sunday to clinch the title by two strokes over Nash (70-74’144), who beat out Larry Harmon (70-74’144) on the final six holes in a card-playoff.
Rounding out the top five were Tom Scheuerman (72-74’146) and 12-time Invitational champ Jack Miles (73-75’148).
Primavera became the seventh different champion in the past seven years (Neal Davis, Mike Campbell, Mike Cason, Brett Stilwell, Paul Cline and Jack Miles were the others).
‘I grew up in Corydon, so this is a lot of fun to come back here and win this,’ Primavera said. ‘I’ve played in this many years. It was a lot of fun today. It was a good group to play with.’
Joined by Nash, Harmon and Mike Campbell, Primavera kicked off Sunday’s play with a birdie on the opening hole.
He went on to mark three consecutive pars before finding trouble on hole No. 5.
A bogey by the eventual champ, coupled with a birdie by Nash, briefly knotted the tournament.
On the next hole, Nash wound up trailing by two shots again after pulling his tee shot left.
‘I got there and found the ball and hacked it out. I just barely got it out,’ Nash said. ‘I hit it up near the green after that and from there I was just trying to get a bogey. I hit the chip shot up there and just missed the putt. It went right over the edge.’
Primavera’s two shot advantage was trimmed to a single stroke two holes later as Nash marked a birdie on the 530-yard par-5 eighth hole.
That’s when the second of two toad stranglers rolled through the area, causing a 35-minute rain delay.
When action resumed, Primavera marked par on the ninth hole, while Nash gave one back with a bogey.
Primavera opened up a three-shot advantage with a par and a birdie to start his second nine, then held off Nash to pull off the win.
Nash’s final three putts of the round were just a touch short, otherwise the outcome could have been different.
‘With the exception of two holes, I hit the ball really good. I just missed the putts,’ Nash said. ‘We never really put any pressure on him. He’s very accurate with his drives and he’s not going to get into much trouble. I hit good shots all the win in, but just came up a bit short on the putts. I think with it getting later, the dew started setting in and it slowed the putts down more than I expected.’
Harmon came up with two birdies on the day and stayed in the hunt for the championship with rock-steady play, marking 12 pars.
Primavera said a key to his win was the flat stick during Saturday’s trip.
‘I only had 12 putts on the back nine, so that was the key. Today I hit 17 greens and had a lot of two putts, so I was never really in trouble,’ Primavera said.
In other action around the course: First Flight ‘ 1. Cliff Bruce 77-78’155, 2. Phil Denzinger 78-77’155; Second Flight ‘ 1. Travis McIntosh 80-74’154, 2. Bud Bennett 79-80’159; Third Flight ‘ 1. Charlie Pitman 83-75’158, 2. Dwight Seals 85-77’162; Fourth Flight ‘ 1. Andy Rideout 86-79’165, 2. Justin Evans 87-83’170; Fifth Flight ‘ 1. Tim Shewmaker 91-83’174, 2. Melvin Davis 90-88’178; Sixth Flight ‘ 1. Jeff Dye 93-84’177, 2. Matt Ramser 93-87’180; Seventh Flight ‘ 1. Ronnie Roach 100-90’190, 2. Chris Fessel 100-90’190; Eighth Flight ‘ 1. Marty Cook 110-99’209, 2. Cam Walts 114-103’217.
A complete list of results can be found on Old Capital Golf Club’s web site at www.oldcapitalgolf.com