Future Masters goes to seven playoff holes

Long before Ollie Schniederjans and Blayne Barber needed seven sudden-death holes to decide the 59th annual Press Thornton Future Masters, it was evident they were in a match-play situation.

Neither Barber, who won this event two years ago, nor Schniederjans, who just turned 15 two weeks ago, ever blinked, wavered or backed off.

They put on a display of golf and sportsmanship under a hot sun and the broiler of final-round pressure.

Schniederjans, of Powder Springs, Ga., won it with a seven-foot birdie putt on the seventh extra hole.

“Blayne Barber is unbelievable,” Schniederjans said. “He was so clutch all day. We battled each other, but it was so fun to be in that situation. I’ve had some good matches, but nothing compared to him.”

Barber said it was some of the most fun he’s had on a golf course.

“He beat me; I didn’t give it away,” he said after the marathon outing.

There were better rounds posted than the pair of 70s by Schniederjans and Barber. Scott Strohmeyer of Auburn shot a 69 to finish at 211 — two strokes behind the leaders. Will McCurdy of Fort Payne put up a 68 and was at 214. Trey Del Greco of Birmingham had a 68 to join a group at 215.

But those solid finishers needed the leaders to open the door for them. It never happened.

By the time both players birdied the par-5 10th hole, they knew it was a two-man tournament.

“My ball-striking is the best part of my game,” Schniederjans said. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens, so I don’t make much more than bogey.”
“It was definitely a putting match,” Barber said. “As the day went on, I was like, ‘Good gracious, is he going to make a mistake? He was great today.”

Playing partner Parker Page of Louisville, Ky., took the lead early with three birdies in the first four holes. But he gave the strokes back with a bogey-bogey-double bogey run on Nos. 6 through 8. He made four more bogeys, another double and a birdie on the back for a 76.

Still, he said he learned a lot.

“There are a lot more positives than negatives after this week,” Page said. “Watching Blayne and Ollie, they way they handled themselves, was unbelievable. They started dropping bombs on top of each other on the back. It was awesome to watch.”

Schniederjans led by one at the turn. They both birdied 10. Schniederjans bogeyed 11 to fall back into a tie.

“From 12 through the playoff, it was match play,” he said.

Schniederjans chipped in for birdie on 12, but Barber made a long birdie putt to stay even.

Barber jumped ahead when Schniederjans bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14. But Schniederjans fought back with a birdie on 15 while Barber bogeyed. The two-shot swing tied it again.

Both made tough par putts on 16 and 17. Barber said he was in “no man’s land” behind the 17th green, but made a fine chip and a clutch eight-footer for par there.

Schniederjans stood over a birdie putt of about 20 feet on No. 18, but was happy just to get it down in two to force a playoff.

“I knew I was playing well,” Barber said. “I wasn’t worried about making a mistake. But he never made any, either.”

Actually, the first hole of sudden-death could have been the end. Barber drove into the right fairway bunker and was forced to blast out, laying up to about 100 yards. Schniederjans pushed his drive even farther right, in pine straw under trees. But he hit a 9-iron under a branch and the ball rose over the magnolia on the right side. It reached the green, although it was far from the hole.

Barber, hitting his third shot, stuck a wedge about three feet from the hole. Schniederjans’ putt went three feet past the hole. But both made the clutch par putts.

Both players made short up-and-downs for par on No. 14, the second playoff hole.

Schniederjans again had a three-foot par putt on No. 18 to force fourth playoff hole.

Both golfers found the fairway on No. 14.

“I’m going to stick this,” Barber said he told himself before his approach shot.

But hitting first, Schniederjans beat him to it, putting a wedge to four feet.

“Now I have to stick it,” Barber told himself.

He answered with a wedge just one foot from the hole. Both players made their birdie putts.

On the fifth playoff hole, Schniederjans made a clutch par putt of about six feet after rolling a speedy 35-footer past the cup. Barber missed a 15-foot birdie putt.
They played on. Schniederjans had a 10-foot birdie putt to win on No. 14, but the ball stayed on the edge of the hole. Barber made a nice two-putt par from across the green to send it to the seventh playoff hole.

Schniederjans made sure it was the last. Barber drove into the right fairway bunker, where he was on the first playoff hole.

Schniederjans hit hit best drive of the day — a 317-yard bomb that flew over the bunker Barber was in and finished in the right side of the fairway less than 100 yards from the green.

“I crushed it,” he said.

Barber played a tremendous shot from the bunker, muscling the ball on the green, although some 50 feet from the hole.

Schniederjans played a soft wedge that stuck about seven feet from the hole.

Barber, who gave his opponent a quick high-five after that shot, wasn’t done. His long-distance putt looked good from the moment he hit it. The grain pulled it away from the hole, just a foot away.

“What can you say? I knew he’d two-putt from where he was,” Schniederjans said.

That left the Georgian with a birdie putt to win. He started it an inch outside the left edge and the ball fell right in the middle.

“It looked good right away,” said Schniederjans, who is a member of the Harrison High golf team that won the Georgia Class 5A state championship by 21 shots. “Good speed. Good line. But you never know on bermuda greens until it goes in.”

It fell in. The title, the trophy, and the jacket were his.