11-12 June 2005 - Warren, OH - Jim Cruse opened the 2005 PPA Great Lakes Open with a round of 24, 12 under par, to quickly open up a four stroke lead on the field of 14 professionals. Cruse continue to extend his lead with rounds of 25, 28 and 27 to the first four round with a ten stroke lead over the field with a score of 104, 40 under par. In second was David Jones of Warren, OH, at 114 with Harry Sykes and Peter Neumann in a tie for third at 115. Cruse opened the second day of play with a round of 26 to further extend his lead to 13. Rounds of 29 and 28 in rounds 6 and 7 left him with a 12 stroke lead entering the final round. David Jones who entered the day in second trailed Cruse by 12 strokes entering the final round with Paul Johns in third 13 strokes behind.
Playing several groups ahead of Cruse, Paul Johns put on a valiant charge shooting a final round 23 to close the gap on Cruse. However, even with Cruse posting a final round 33 he still managed a three stroke victory over Johns. Cruse posted an eight round score of 220, 68 under par, with Johns at 223, 65 under par. David Jones posted a final round 27 to finish in third at 226 with Roger Beckerman in fourth at 227 and Jim Engel in fifth at 231. Beckerman's rounds of 24, 26, 29 and 26 in the final four rounds moved him from a tie for ninth, seven stroke out of the top five, into fourth. Johns posted the second best final four rounds shooting 28, 29, 27 and 23 to move into second place. In the amateur division, Jeff Brown opened with rounds of 29, 32, 29 and 32 for a first day score of 122, 22 under par, and a four stroke lead over Walt Kizzie in second at 126. The second day saw the fortune of John Tuite change dramatically from the first day. After struggling with rounds of 33, 32, 32 and 31 in the first four round, Tuite fired rounds of 24, 29, 27 and 28 to take the victory. Tuite's score of 236, 52 under par, gave him an eight stroke victory over Jeff Brown who finished in second at 244 with Barb Mingo and Bill Combs in a tie for third at 251. Tuite's second day score of 108, 36 under par, was only bettered by two players in the professional field, Roger Beckerman (105) and Paul Johns (107). The 2005 PPA Great Lakes Tour returns to tournament play in Springfield, OH on June 25th and 26th with the Southwest Ohio Open and the Switzer Classic. Scores provided and tournament recap provided by Robb Titchell.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||