Brothers go back-to-back at Milakovich

IRONWOOD — Beware the Langdon Brothers, Zach and Cody.

They tore up the Gogebic Country Club and their 100 team opposition in a way seldom seen at Milakovich Memorial Tournament.

In 2013, they won the championship flight at the Milakovich in a playoff.

On Saturday, they were the the medalists with the lowest score of 70.

But they saved their best play for last.

They shot 31 on the front side and back side on Sunday and had spectators and fellow golfers scratching their heads wondering when the last sparkling 62 was carded in the tournament.

And Zach capped off the great round by sinking a 55-foot up-hill putt on the final hole.

"This is a wonderful, big tournament," Zach Langdon said. "It's great to win back-to back. This is the best we've played in this tournament. To win the Milakovich is huge, because our family is from this area. It validates we can play good golf, especially in the gusty wind conditions. We're going to enjoy this one for awhile and it's fun to win with your brother."

Zach Langdon said it was his brother, Cody, who really brought his A game on Sunday.

"He chipped in a couple times and lipped out on another one," Zach said. "He also made some good putts. We didn't make a bogey and picked each other up."

Frank Zadra, of Spooner, and Craig Zadra, of Rice Lake, shot a very respectable three-under par 68 but still finished second, six strokes behind the Langdons.

Justin Borseth, of Bruce Crossing, and John Houle, of Green Bay, took third by firing a 70.

Jordan Barto, of Buffalo, Minn., and Simon Store, of Ironwood came in with a 67 and took the gold in the 1st Flight.

"We had seven birdies on holes 1, 5, 6, 10, 12, 16 and 17," Barto said. "And we had three bogeys. Our two biggest holes were when we birdied 16 and 17 coming in. We ham-and-egged it. When Simon had a bad hole, I had a good one and vice versa. We were streaky good. The greens were smooth out there, but wind was tough."

Joe Strong and Pat Peska, both of Ontonagon were second in the flight with a 71 and John Kozup and Colton Thewis, of Mellen were third shooting a 72.

In the 2nd flight, Justin Reid, of Hermantown, Minn. and Jerod Reid, of Troy, Mich. went to a playoff after finishing tied with Andy Borseth, of Ontonagon, and Todd Roehm, of Luck, Wis. Both teams fired a 70.

"In the playoff, I drove the cart and Todd parred the hole for the win," Andy Borseth said. "We didn't play bad. We had two birdies, one bogey and a bunch of pars. We hit it all over but covered each other and got par."

Pete Barbera, of Alexandria, Va. and Butch Barbera, of St John, Fla. shot a 72 and were awarded third place.

In the third flight, Gary Alkire, of Bessemer, and Jack Wawro, of Breezy Point, Minn. and formerly of Ironwood, carded a 71 for a spot in the winner's circle.

"We had all pars on our first nine and it was pretty boring," Wawro said. "We had three birdies on our last nine holes. They had a one-stroke lead after 17 holes, but they bogeyed the last hole and we birdied for first place. We were happy to finish it right."

Jason Asunto and Sam Davey, of Ironwood took second place.

The tournament is really the Milakovich family tournament and Jim Milakovich thought it went "very well" the whole weekend.

"I'm happy with the tournament," Milakovich said. "We had no complaints. A lot of work goes into building a successful tournament. It was a team effort. We had Chris Lahti and Carlo of the Elk and Hound taking care of everybody's needs and I'd like to thank Tyler (Leskela) for all his time and effort. And Fred Tijan and his 3 to 3 1/2 workers who had the course underwater in the spring and took care of it. And we couldn't do it without the volunteers.

"Nothing lasts forever, but we'll do our best to keep it going."

As Milakovich talked, Butch Barbera walked by to say goodbye and said, "another great weekend."

During the week of the tournament, Leskela was at the course at 4:30 a.m. and stayed late into the night. He appeared drained but happy and relieved.

"The tournament went extremely well," he said. "This was my fourth year and this was the best its went. All the people helping were great. I didn't have to worry about a thing. And how about the Langdon's playing the way they did against this stacked 100 team field? Both played extremely well."

Twelve teams had to shoot rounds from 69 to 72 on Saturday to qualify for the championship flight on Sunday.

Last year's champions were brothers Cody and Zach Langdon and they proved their win was no fluke as they shot a 69 on Saturday and were the 2014 medalists.

"We had an up-and-down round," Zach Langdon said. "A lot of birdies and key pars. Cody made an 8-9 footer which had a big break for a par on 18 that was big. We're feeling pretty good going into Sunday."

Tim Steiger and Jack Croci shot a 70 on Saturday followed Frank Zadra-Craig Zadra, Tony Gheller-Steve Elias, Andy Pierpont-John Pierpont III, Scott Synkelma-John Pierpont and Milo-Scott Larson with 71s.

Justin Borseth and John Houle needed birdies on the final two holes to make the championship flight with a 72. Scott Erickson-Colin DiGiorgio, Mark Martini-Chris Thomson, John Huber-Scott Huber, Rusty Malvrh-Garrett Greenwald also came in with 72s.

But there were a number of fine golfers who laid in wait for the Langdon brothers on day two of the tournament. All of Saturday's scores were wiped clean once the flights are set and every golfer got a fresh start on Sunday.

Milakovich Memorial Results

Championship Flight

1.Zach and Cody Langdon, 62, Ironwood and Marquette; 2.Frank Zadra and Craig Zadra, Spooner, Wis. and Rice Lake, Wis., 68. 3.Justin Borseth, Bruce Crossing, Mich. and John Houle, Green Bay, Wis.,70. 4. Jack Croci, Green Bay, Wis. and Bruce Crossing and Tim Steiger, Bessemer, 72.

Top 3 results in each flight

First Flight

1. Jordan Barto, Buffalo, Minn. and Simon Store, Ironwood, 67. 2. Joe Strong and Pat Peska, Ontonagon, 71. 3. John Kozup and Colton Thewis, Mellen, Wis. 72.

Second Flight

1.Andy Borseth, Ontonagon, and Todd Roehm, Luck Wis. 70. 2. Justin Reid and Jarrod Reid, New Troy, Mich., 70 3. Pete and Butch Barbera, Alexandria, Virg. and ;St. Johns, Fla, 72.

Third Flight

1. Gary Alkire, Bessemer and Jack Wawro, Breezy Point, Minn., 71. 2. Jason Asunto and Sam Davey, Ironwood, 72. 3. Al and Andy Olmstead, Sussex, Wis. 73.

Fourth Flight

1.Matt Pierpont, Blaine, Minn. and Phil Symons, Sturgeon Bay, Wis. 71. 2. Jim Margetta, Marinette, Wis. and Jim Margetta, Jr., Appleton, Wis. 73. 3. Dan Floyd, Ontonagon and John Hale, Tomahawk, 76.

Fifth Flight

1. Ken and Tom Talaska, Ironwood, 72. 2.Derek Gheller, Ironwood and Kevin Gerovac, Bessemer, 74. 3.Blaine Sprague and Jeff Ramme, Ironwood, 74.

Sixth Flight

1.Roman and Travis Tauer, Ironwood, 72. 2. Rob Bray, Iron mountain and Jim Gering, Ironwood, 79 3. Adam and Bill Zamecnik, Milwaukee, 81.

Seventh Flight

1. Will Corcoran, Ironwood, and Dave Corcoran, Milwaukee, 78. 2. Jon Laessig, Marquette, and James Kahila, Bessemer, 80. 3. Ray Bastman and Rich Da Ronco, Ironwood, 81.

Eighth Flight

1. Kevin Everson Wakefield, and Ryan Whitley, Negaunee, 76. 2. Dan Peirpont and Gob Pierpont, St. Paul, Minn., 77. 3. Lars Hyalmquist and Jeff Hyalmquist, Boneta Bay, Fla., 77.

Ninth Flight

1. Adam Pavlovich, Wrightstown, Wis., and Mike Pavlovich, Freedom, Wis., 78. 2. Chad Webster, Lansing, Mich., and Jim Sain, Wakefield, 81. 3. Peter Milakovich, Ishpeming, and Mike Milakvich, Portland, 82.

Tenth Flight

1. Pete Petranek, Bessemer and John Petranek, Marenisco, 80. 2. Walt Mattson, Wausau, Wis., and Irv Mattson, Bessemer, 83. 3. James O’Neill and Richard Armstrong, Marenisco, 86.

Eleventh Flight

1. Tom Pavlovich, Andover, Ma., and Chris Pavlovich, Minn., 81. 2. Jeff Pavlovich and Paul Bernardin, Chanhassen, Minn., 83. 3. Troy Damgard, Superior, Wis., and Shawn Edyvean, Wakefield, 85.