O'Malley team tops off Schell's

By JEN SEAVEY

Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- Another player may have been distracted on the golf course after reporting a vehicle stolen, but not Tom Steinbach.

Undaunted, Steinbach played solidly at Schell's Bottle Cap Opener Monday. The stolen vehicle turned out to be a false alarm and the tournament turned out to be a success.

The five-person team of Scott O'Malley, Steinbach, Jon Radke, Lee Brandt and Dan Pfeifer finished with a combined total of 125 for first place, two strokes ahead of Glen Peters, Ron Schmitz, Bob Skillings, Albert Kral and Eric Dulka in second place.

"He thought his truck was stolen for nine holes -- he did well," O'Malley said.

After they were through golfing, Lee Brandt was talking to Dan Beranek, who said that when asked, Brandt's team was the only one all day that had said they were doing well.

And they were. The team was hitting their shots, and when one person erred, another stepped up.

"It happened so much all day long, I can't pick anything out," O'Malley said. O'Malley came down from St. Paul when invited by his friend, Phil Reims. "Every hole someone had a great shot."

The team got a net eagle and net birdie on par-4 No. 7. Then on hole 12, a par 5, the team had two net birdies.

"Somebody came through when someone else was in trouble," Pfeifer said.

"Every hole, someone came through," the group's A player, O'Malley said. "Our scramble team never had a bogey."

The scramble team, made up of the C, D and E players, Radke, Brandt and Pfeifer, got second place with a 67 behind Ted Marti, Randy Schottle and Dan Rhoades (64).

The A and B players competed in a two-person best ball, and O'Malley and Steinbach tied for first with Chad Mammen and Steve Henderson at 58.

"We started off good and had the confidence to keep it up," Pfeifer said. "When I got introduced to John and knew I was playing with him ... I though oh, no, because I thought he'd burned up all his luck yesterday."

Pfeifer was on the winning team in the Schell's Bottle Opener Sunday.

"But he didn't [run out of luck]," O'Malley said. "He played solid all day long."

The third place team with 128 was Tom Kannegiesser, Tim Schultz, Ted Marti, Randy Schottle and Dan Rhoades.

In fourth place was Chad Mammen, Steve Henderson, Travis Roth, Mark Windschitl and Ken Lambrecht with 129.

"It was a great day in the Schell's tournament, except for my whiff on No. 7," Windschitl said.

"Windy" Windschitl was also on the winning team in the Bottle Open Sunday.

--For full results, please see the Scoreboard on Page 2B.

Jen Seavey can be reached at jseavey@hotmail.com.