The Creighton University golfer did just that, breaking the scoring record previously held by Jay Giannetto and Sam Zoske of 9-under-par 131 with rounds of 64-66 to shoot 10-under 130 and win the Times-Republican City Golf Championship by a staggering nine shots over Grant Greazel. It is Davis’s second triumph in the event after taking home the title in 2018 at a record young age of 16.

Davis said everything came together just right for him this weekend.

“I felt amazing today, I hit the ball just really well and just wedged it perfectly,” Davis said. “The whole thing there was one thing on my mind, and that was getting the record. Jay’s been giving me [expletive] forever, so that was the one thing on my mind and I executed it. It was a bit of a grind down the stretch, but I’m proud of myself.”

Starting his round with two birdies in the first five holes, he jumped out ahead by seven shots and took the sting out of any possible charge from Zoske or JD Pollard in the final group.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Grant Greazel reacts as his birdie putt finishes just outside the 18th hole to close out Sunday’s final round at Elmwood. Greazel finished second in the T-R City Golf Open for the second time.

A bogey at the sixth was a small step back, but he bounced back immediately with a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole to go out in 2-under 33. A birdie on the par-5 13th was countered by a shot in the water and a dropped shot on the 14th. On the 15th, few people made pars with the difficult hole location placed on the ridge in the middle of the green.

Davis, however, put in a wedge to four feet short of the hole and drained the putt for birdie — one of two birdies made on the 15th in the final group, as Zoske buried a hard-breaking 20-footer to a big roar from the boisterous crowd set up beside of the green.

Par on No. 16 gave way to a terrific up and down for a birdie on the par-4 17th after Davis’s tee shot wound up beyond the 13th tee box.

Knowing he only needed a par to break the record, he wanted a birdie to put space between himself and the two prior record-holders. A disappointing second shot and a two-putt for par wasn’t the finish Davis wanted, but he said it was still a near-perfect weekend.

“I was a little disappointed with the second shot there, but I got a par so can’t be upset,” Davis said. “I’ve struggled the last couple of years, so I forgot how stressful it is to win a golf tournament. I was stressed the hell out from the first tee.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - JD Pollard putts from the back of the ninth green during Sunday’s round at Elmwood Country Club. In his fifth trip to the championship flight, Pollard set a new personal best in finishing third.

Greazel was proud of his runner-up finish, his third top-five at the City Open in the past five years. A 1-over 71 on Saturday at the American Legion put him in a difficult spot, but he shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday to improve his standing to 1-under.

Putting together a solid day got Greazel as far up the leaderboard as he thought was feasible after Davis’s early birdies.

“Anyone getting to double digits in two rounds is impressive, so hats off to Cole,” Greazel said. “I was close to having a really good round yesterday but just had a couple bad shots. Was able to get a 71 and keep myself kind of in the mix. Today my goal was that second place would be a good spot to get to.”

Pollard finished third, Zoske finished fourth and 10-time champion Matt Steddom took fifth in his return to the City Open. He also took the crown of Senior Champion as the best-finishing player 50 or older in the open division.

The super senior division was won a third time by Pete Kelly, who shot 77-73–150 to win by seven strokes ahead of Thomas Fleming.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Natalie Henson, 15, poses with the Ladies Division trophy after shooting a record 68-77—145, breaking the previous low mark of 148 set last year by her older sister Amber.

The women’s division was won by Natalie Henson. Henson, 15, parlayed a tournament record 3-under 68 Saturday at the Legion and a 7-over 77 on Sunday into a 26-shot victory and a record total of 145, two strokes lower than her older sister Amber’s previous mark set last year.

Henson said it was a good round and a good end to the summer after her first year of high school golf in the spring.

“Yesterday my approach shots and putting were really good, I just kept making long putts and hitting it well so it fit well together,” Henson said. “My game hasn’t quite been as good as I wanted it to be, but in the City I played pretty well and it’s a good thing to let the season go on.”

35th Annual Times-Republican City Golf Championship

Saturday at American Legion

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Sunday at Elmwood Country Club

Ladies Division

1. Natalie Henson 68-77–145 +4

2. Margaret Fehrle 87-84–171 +30

3. Leah Stahlin 85-95–180 +39

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

4. Kiley Misek 97-94–191 +50

Super Senior Division

1. Pete Kelly 77-73–150 +9

2. Thomas Fleming 80-77–157 +16

3. Jim Carlson 84-77–161 +20

4. Mike Anderson 80-82–162 +21

5. Steve Ruddick 78-85–163 +22

6. John Bru 85-94–179 +38

Robert Mancieri 101-NS NS

Tim Bell NS

Mike Ward NS

Open Division

Championship Flight

1. Cole Davis 64-66–130 -10

2. Grant Greazel 71-68–139 -1

3. JD Pollard 70-71–141 +1

4. Sam Zoske 69-75–144 +4

5. Matt Steddom 73-72–145 +5

6. Cody Weaver 71-75–146 +6

7. Pat Ryan 74-75–149 +9

8. Rob Christensen 72-78–150 +10

9. Colin Schmit 72-80–152 +12

10. Tate Carlson 74-79–153 +13

11. Drake Polley 73-80–153 +13

12. Ryan Schmit 74-81–155 +15

13. Chad Moler 75-83–158 +18

14. Amber Henson 73-85–158 +18

15. Aaron Fleming 75-87–162 +22

16. Paul Collins 75-93–168 +28

1st Flight

1. Taylor Wilson 77-75–152 +12

2. Isaiah Zoske 77-77–154 +14

3. Hunter Polley 79-78–157 +17

4. Todd Weaver 79-81–160 +20

5. David Eichhorn 78-82–160 +20

6. Troy Underhill 78-84–162 +22

7. Then Baccam 76-86–162 +22

8. Brad Kadner 79-84–163 +23

9. Mark Wolken 78-85–163 +23

10. Lee Thiphasouk 78-86–164 +24

11. Brian Kadner 79-86–165 +25

12. David Baccam 79-87–166 +26

13. Eli Polley 78-88–166 +26

14. Joel Chandler 79-89–168 +28

15. Pat Hala 78-90–168 +28

16. Tyler Baccam 78-95–173 +33

17. Henry Keen 79-100–179 +39

Kevin Strand 78-DNF DNF

Kenneth Logsdon 77-NS NS

2nd Flight

1. Jeff Tice 81-82–163 +23

2. Sam Irwin 80-83–163 +23

3. Tyler Peschong 83-81–164 +24

4. John Haney 83-81–164 +24

5. Brad Iverson 81-84–165 +25

6. Darren Bare 84-82–166 +26

7. Darin Shipley 83-84–167 +27

8. Chad Weir 80-88–168 +28

9. Will Shipley 82-88–170 +30

10. Jacob Thiessen 80-92–172 +32

11. Bryan Herschberger 81-92–173 +33

12. Brett Ferneau 82-94–176 +36

13. Todd Bolar 81-96–177 +37

14. Alonzo Ceren 84-104–188 +48

Rob Weatherly 83-DNF DNF

3rd Flight

1. Will Van Buren 85-79–164 +24

2. Tyler Faltys 87-80–167 +27

3. Curt Hoff 88-84–172 +32

4. Bryan Ferneau 86-87–173 +33

5. Kyle Hall 85-89–174 +34

6. Luke Sponsler 85-89–174 +34

7. Dao Sorlaesith 86-89–175 +35

8. Austin Bedell 88-88–176 +36

9. Justin Sorenson 86-96–182 +42

10. Matt Hannam 88-95–183 +43

11. Ron Davis 85-98–183 +43

12. Joe Hannam 88-96–184 +44

13. Shawn Morris 89-101–190 +50

14. Kreighton Miller 88-103–191 +51

15. Chris Blanchard 89-105–194 +54

4th Flight

1. Kent Carson 91-89–180 +40

2. Chuck Misek 90-90–180 +40

3. Dave Benz 93-89–182 +42

4. Jeff Welch 94-90–184 +44

5. Dave Engel 92-92–184 +44

6. Blake Micleff 94-92–186 +46

7. Trent Potter 91-95–186 +46

8. Antonio Botello 90-100–190 +50

9. S. Riemenschneider 90-100–190 +50

10. Donny Weeks 94-97–191 +51

11. Mike Peschong 94-99–193 +53

12. Ben Kosboe 93-101–194 +54

13. Kim Zesch 92-109–201 +61

14. Ivan Hernandez 94-118–212 +72

15. Brett Johnstone 95-123–218 +78

5th Flight

1. John Peart 100-94–194 +54

2. Joe Gummert 99-97–196 +56

3. Joel Botello 98-99–197 +57

4. Ray Halverson 97-101–198 +58

5. Aristeo Hernandez 96-102–198 +58

6. Marcos Nunez 99-101–200 +60

7. Steve Dunham 96-104–200 +60

8. Erick Barajas 109-110–219 +79

9. Trae Misek 111-112–223 +83

10. Carter Strand 105-123–228 +88

11. Steven Alvarez 106-124–230 +90

12. Mike Garrett 115-121–236 +96

Caleb Gunsaulus 98-NS NS

James R. Wilson 99-NS NS

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries

Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

• Yes
• No