The Shadow
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — “Thank you for your service.”
The Greenbrier rolled out the red carpet for an exclusive group of veterans last week.
A total of 78 American heroes in 16 different divisions earned the right to compete in the Veteran Golfers Associ-ation’s National Champion-ships on The Greenbrier’s Meadows and Old White TPC courses.
Colter Kautzmann, a retired Army pilot, and Laurel Gill, a graduate of the Naval Academy, won the VGA’s coveted “red jacket,” given to the overall champions.
Kautzmann came from one shot back after Tuesday’s first round at the Meadows, shooting a 1-over-par 71 on Old White TPC Wednesday to finish the tournament at even par, three shots clear of runner-up Brian Blalock.
Back-to-back birdies on No. 8 and 9 gave Kautzmann a lead that he would never give up.
“Our group was struggling, I think there was a seal on the hole in terms of making birdies today,” said the former University of Idaho college golfer. “On eight and nine it just starting clicking. I hit a couple good shots and was able to roll a couple of putts in.”
Kautzmann’s biggest fan in White Sulphur Springs was his father, a retired 20-year Air Force pilot — F-16 driver.
Duey Kautzmann walked all 36 holes with his son at The Greenbrier.
“He’s a special person,” Coulter said pausing to gather himself. “And I know that he wishes as much as I do that my mom was with me out here.”
Kautzmann returned to the Arizona National Guard to be with his terminally ill mother after four years in Germany, including missions in the Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine, along with a four-month deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
By winning the overall title, Kautzmann will join Gill at Pebble Beach next February to play in the Monday pro-am at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am PGA TOUR stop. They will also join each flight winner at Tuesday for the Troops at The Masters and a practice round on famed Augusta National.
Kautzmann was floored by some unexpected news at Wednesday night’s Champions Dinner when Jim Justice, the governor of West Virginia and the owner of The Greenbrier, presented him with an exemption to play in The Military Tribute at The Greenbrier PGA TOUR event next September.
“That’s an unexpected blessing right there,” he said of the exemption. “Every thing that The Greenbrier has done for us with this trip, playing their immaculate courses, staying at their beautiful resort — it’s been first class. I can’t believe the opportunity. I’m extremely excited to come out here next year with my Dad and hopefully my wife, maybe my kids — and try and do the VGA proud.”
Gill, who posted rounds of 75 and 81 for a four-shot win, helped start the women’s golf team at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and has continued playing with the All-Navy golf team.
She arrived at The Greenbrier early Tuesday from China, where she was competing in the World Military Games.
“It’s like the Olympics for the military,” Gill offered. “Over 100 countries participating and the women’s (golf) team got silver. I flew in and didn’t have a chance to play a practice round. But I’m very happy with how I played these two very challenging courses.”
Flight winners at The Greenbrier were:
• Gross Veteran A Flight: Colter Kautzmann (CW2, Army), Trophy Club, Texas, Even-par;
• Gross Veteran B Flight: John Lucha (SPC, Army), Brownstown, Michigan, 8-over-par;
• Gross Veteran C Flight: Lee Culpepper (SSG, Marines), Grapevine, Texas, 15-over-par;
• Gross Wounded Veteran A Flight: Tony Bilich (SPC, Army), Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, 6-over-par;
• Gross Wounded Veteran B Flight: Chad Calvert (SFC, Marines), Brownwood, Texas, 13-over-par;
• Gross Wounded Veteran C Flight: Vic Ferraris (Col, Air Force), Lexington, Kentucky, 37-over-par;
• Gross Female Veteran A Flight: Laurel Gill (Lt, Navy), San Diego, Calif., 16-over-par;
• Gross Female Veteran B Flight: Michelle Sroka (Sgt, Army), Romoulus, Michigan, 36-over-par;
• Gross Female Veteran C Flight: Wesley Bauguess (Cpt, Army), Wake Forest, North Carolina, 42-over-par;
• Gross Family A Flight: Adam Columbia (Army), San Antonio, Texas, 9-over-par;
• Gross Family B Flight: David Case (Air Force), Lenoir City, Tennessee, 13-over-par;
• Net Veteran D Flight (Declared Co-Winners): Dennis Gustafson (1SG, Army), Deland, Florida, 12-under-par and Bruce Weeks (Ssgt, Air Force), Pinebluff, North Carolina, 6-over-par;
• Net Wounded Veteran D Flight: Kenneth Snipes (Sgt, Army), Sellers, South Carolina, 11-over-par;
• Net Female Veteran D Flight: Debbie Melecosky (PO2, Navy), Oregon, Ohio, 23-over par;
• Net Family C Flight: Gerald Flesch (Army), East Liverpool, Ohio, 6-over-par;
• Net Family Female Flight: Kolbie Warr (Army), Boise, Idaho, 8-over-par.
Tournament Notes:
• Every veteran had a story this week, two stood out.
There was Tony Bilich, who was 6-over-par for 36 holes, winning the wounded veterans A flight for the second straight year.
Bilich played golf at Northern Michigan University and served as a combat engineer in the Army.
“I was doing route clearance in Afghanistan, May 1, 2009,” he said. “I was gunning and got hit with an IED (improvised explosive device) in complex ambush and stuff like that. I think about it a lot. Those were my real family that I went to Afghanistan with. I think about it every day.
“Anyone who has been in combat and has been through firefights or indirect fire or any of that stuff — there is an adrenalin rush that goes with that.
When you come back home, I think a lot of veterans, including myself, struggle to feel that again. Two of my best friends that I was with both passed away in separate drinking and driving accidents when we got back. I think everyone struggles to feel that again. I think golf is a way that I can just relax and not think about anything but just go make some swings — check out for a few hours.”
Then there was Brian Blalock of Redlands, California.
Blalock was 2-under-par after day one before shooting a 75 on Old White, finishing three shots back of Kautzmann in the very competitive A flight.
Blalock was active duty during 9/11.
“The worst experience for me during my active duty was doing clean-up crew at ground zero,” he said. “I was 21 years old — it wasn’t fun. It was awful.”
Blalock is in his first year in the VGA.
“I think the thing that is most important for me, what sits well with me — I don’t have a lot of folks my age to talk to about what I experienced in the military,” Blalock continued emotionally. “I don’t talk about it at all — the stuff that I saw at ground zero. So it’s a struggle. My PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) has gotten worse and worse and worse. So that’s the most important part of all it to me. Because everyone understands, people that don’t have it don’t understand. I’m thankful for the VGA. It’s given me a new found home, (a) comfort zone to talk to folks. I love it.”
• The VGA, founded by veteran Josh Peyton, is in its fifth year.
Peyton, who played baseball at West Point, was injured in a vehicle rollover incident in Iraq in 2011 and ran into a group of veterans who played golf while recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland.
“They were using golf as a therapeutic outlet,” Peyton said Wednesday night. “Having almost lost my right hand to amputation and being an athlete, I still wanted to be competitive, but I really didn’t know how to. These guys introduced me to competitive golf. I knew there had to be other veterans out there that wanted to use the game of golf as a way to connect with other veterans. So the Veteran Golfers Association was formed in 2014 and it’s been an incredible experience since then.”
The VGA is open to all veterans and immediate family members. The group has divisions for veterans, wounded combat veterans as well as family.
Tournaments are held throughout the year with competitors earning points to qualify for regionals and super regionals with winners getting their expenses paid for the national championship.
The 2018 finals were held at The Olympic Club in San Francisco and the 2020 championship will be at Trump National Doral in Miami.
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Colter Kautzmann (left) and Laurel Gill (right) won the Veteran A flight at the Veteran Golfers Association National Championships, hosted last week by The Greenbrier. (Photo Courtesy of the VGA)
