Steady effort leads Patrick Stolpe to Wyoming Open championship | Wyoming Open

CHEYENNE – Patrick Stolpe has been in contention for the Wyoming State Open championship most of the years he’s played the tournament.

The Scottsdale, Arizona, resident had played in the final group of the 54-hole tournament, but hadn’t been able to take home the top prize.

Until Sunday.

Stolpe carded a 6-under-par 64 during the final round to finish the tournament at 14-under 196. He won the tournament by two strokes and left Airport Golf Course with the $10,000 winner’s check.

“It means a lot to win this tournament,” Stolpe said. “I haven’t won a real state open or anything in quite a few years, so this is really special to me. I don’t play most of the winter, so I try to get my game ready in the summer.

“I really enjoy coming here. There are a lot of good people, I like this course, and I feel comfortable here. It’s a lot of fun.”

Stolpe – who works as a caddy – sat in a five-way tie for fifth at 8-under after two rounds. He was in the final group to tee off on Hole No. 10 on Sunday.

“The first two days, I played solid – nothing great, but real solid,” Stolpe said. “I knew I was playing well, so I just kept doing what I was doing. I was solid and stayed patient all day, especially with the wind we had.

“… I was trying to play as good of golf as I could play and hit good shots. I couldn’t control what everyone else was doing.”

Stolpe started his round with a birdie on the par-5 Hole No. 10 and another on the par-4 Hole No. 11. He also notched birdies on Hole Nos. 15 and 18, and followed with another birdie on the par-4 Hole No. 1 to get to 5-under for the round.

“The way these greens are, there are spots where you can be aggressive and spots where you just kind of play the middle of the green,” Stolpe said. “If you get to the wrong spot, it’s a real tough up and down. I tried to pick my spots and be aggressive when I felt good about it.”

The lone blemish on his score card came with a bogey on the par-4 Hole No. 5. He followed that miscue by birdieing the next two holes.

“This isn’t the hardest course, but you can get in trouble, for sure,” Stolpe said. “You have to figure out how to navigate that. I’ve been coming here for seven or eight years now, so I’ve been learning and tried to take advantage of that knowledge.”

Jimmy Morton of Aurora, Colorado, and Braydon Swapp of Ogden, Utah, split second place at 12-under 198. Swapp was playing in the final group and shot a 3-under 67 thanks to birdies on the par-4 Hole Nos. 15 and 16.

“Any time you’re playing in the last group, it’s a great opportunity,” Swapp said. “It’s something golfers look forward to because winning happens so seldom. My (putter) was a little off to start the round.

“I had three three-putts today, so that’s what I’ll be thinking about as I drive home. Those are the three shots I needed to win. … The goal for the week was to not be mad for three days, and I think I did pretty good at that. It was fun to keep the mental game in check and grind it up.”

Riverton amateur Parker Paxton held a three-stroke lead at 14-under entering the final round. He carded a 5-over 75 and finished the 54-hole event 9-under 201. Paxton won the championship amateur title by five strokes.

“I was never really able to get comfortable and get into a rhythm with the swing or with the putter,” said Paxton, who will be a junior at the University of Colorado this fall. “I missed a lot of putts, didn’t really chip it very good and didn’t really hit it very good.

“Nothing was really clicking. It’s hard to get the ball in the hole when it’s like that, especially with the wind blowing like it was.”

Paxton started his final round with a birdie on the par-4 Hole No. 1, but carded bogeys on three of his next five holes. He made the turn onto the back nine after bogeying the par-3 Hole No. 9. The par-5 Hole No. 10 provided Paxton’s final birdie of the day. He bogeyed Hole Nos. 14, 15, and 18 and double-bogeyed the par-3 Hole No. 17.

“As soon as I tried to get something going, I’d follow it up with a bogey and I just never got going all day long,” Paxton said.

Paxton’s older brother, Easton Paxton, won the Wyoming Open amateur title in 2020.

The Wyoming Open is the first in a busy month of competitive golf for Paxton. He was eager to test himself against the young professionals in the field. Instead of comparing scores as he had on the first two days, Paxton teed it up alongside pros in Sunday’s final group.

Paxton hopes it will be an invaluable experience.

“At first, I didn’t think I was going to be able to play in the final group with the pros,” he said. “So, I was really excited to see myself in that final group. … Once you get to a certain level in golf, there’s not much of a difference in players. The level that I play at in college, I play with really, really good players all the time that look like pros and will eventually be like these pros.

“It was great to play with these pros and see their game. Other than (Swapp), we all were kind of in the same boat with how we played, but it’s always fun to play against good competition.”

Dominic Piccirillo of Salem, South Carolina, and Jake Ezell of Austin, Texas, rounded out the final group. Piccirillo shot a 3-over 73 and split ninth at 8-under for the tournament. Ezell fired a 3-over 73 in the final round and tied for 14th at 6-under.

Other winners

Barry Conser of Scottsdale, Arizona, won the senior pro title at 1-over 211. He won the pro title in 1994 and ’95.

Flighted amateur titles went to Chase Chapman of Robinson, Texas; Yun Ro of Cheyenne; Derek Valencia of Aurora, Colorado; Aaron Martens of Cheyenne and Trent Keller of Cheyenne.