Jaydon Nambo survives 4-hole playoff to claim first Berry Memorial title

The scheduled 36 holes were not sufficient to decide the championship of the 45th annual Richard J. Berry Memorial.

Neither were 37, 38 or 39.

The 40th hole, however, did the trick for 19-year-old Jaydon Nambo.

He won a four-hole, sudden-death playoff against Huston Gass by calmly two-putting for birdie on the Eastwood’s par-5, 402-yard No. 4 to claim his first Berry Memorial championship. Nambo is the first player without the last name “Gass” or “Lehr” to win the Berry’s top flight in a tournament those families competed in since 2012 – when Nambo was just 6 years old.

“This one feels really good,” Nambo said, “because if you go and look at it, Josh [Gass] and Baley [Lehr] have won this throughout the last 10-plus years, just going back and forth. It feels good to put my name in there. ...

“My putting for sure [was the key]. I didn’t three-putt once, just two-putts all day.”

With a 4-under-par 68, Nambo finished Saturday’s opening round at Ottawa’s Pine Hills tied with defending champion Baley Lehr for second place, one stroke behind eventual fourth-place finisher Patrick Guilfoyle. Huston Gass, Breyer Harris, Josh Gass and T.J. Templeton were one stroke behind them with 69s, very much in the hunt.

It took an incredible, out-of-the-trees shot on 18 in Sunday’s final round at Streator’s Eastwood for Huston Gass to potentially force a playoff – which the incredible shot did when Nambo missed a tough putt and settled for par on 18 with Huston Gass watching attentively from the cart path.

“I didn’t have much over there,” Huston Gass said. “I snap-hooked one off the tee, and I had to hit about a 45-yard cut to get back to the green, and talking to my brother, we had a line in mind, and it ended up working out pretty well.”

Each young man had opportunities to win it before the fateful fourth playoff hole. Huston Gass had a better first putt on No. 1; Nambo a better chance on No. 3.

It took a mistake to decide things, that mistake turning out to be Huston Gass’ too-hot second shot on No. 4 skipping the green and finding the sand trap behind and to the left of the hole. His wedge out escaped the sand but didn’t quite make the green, allowing Nambo to two-putt his way to victory.

“I had the same putt earlier, and I drained it,” Nambo said. “I knew it was dead straight. I pulled it just a little bit. I did my line and did what I practice all the time. That was it.”

Behind Nambo (138) and Huston Gass (138), Bryer Harris (139) took third, Guilfoyle (141) fourth, Josh Gass (141) fifth, Templeton (142) sixth, Brian Lehr (143) and Baley Lehr (143) tied for seventh, Tony Muscato (145) placed ninth, and Rick Lehr (149) came in 10th.

Nambo is the 19th champion in the history of the Berry Memorial – formerly the Streator Times-Press City Championships.

• In Championship 2 Flight, Paul Snook entered Sunday’s final round tied for second and Al Retoff came in a stroke behind and in fifth. Both shot 1-over-par 73s at the Eastwood to separate themselves from the pack, Snook (149) taking the title and Retoff (150) finishing as runner-up. Jacob Ursua (154), the leader after Day 1, topped J.J. Cravatta (154) in a one-hole playoff for third place.

• In A Flight, four men finished the prescribed 36 holes tied at 156, forcing a four-hole playoff for first through fourth place. When the dust settled, Nolan Ketcham took the title after just one playoff hole, with Doug Wisler second, Kolden Neumann third and Josh Eplin fourth.

• In B Flight, Mitch Barton led by only two strokes after golfing 18 at Pine Hills, but by the time the day was finished at the Eastwood, Barton (153) recorded a 12-stroke victory for the title over runner-up Brody Elias (165). Zack Uratchko (166) won a one-hole playoff with Logan Cottingham (166) to claim third place.

• In C Flight, Randy Kochis (168) ended Saturday in fourth place, but his flight-best 79 Sunday lifted him to a one-stroke triumph over second-place Andrew Barton (169). Derek Kruger (177) was third and Damion Nambo (178) fourth.

• In D Flight, Thad Wendt (184) won by three strokes. Rounding out the top four were Jeff Harcar (187), Greg Wargo (189) and Jeff DeMoss (190).

• In Legends Flight, Ron Noel (141) scored a decisive victory from the closer tees. Bill Mattingly (157) was second, Bill Sipula (162) third thanks to a one-hole playoff win and Charlie Monroe (162) fourth.

• In the Senior Division, Tony Muscato (145) scored a four-stoke victory over runner-up Rick Lehr (149). Al Retoff (150) was third, and Joe Cravatta (156) fourth.

• The late Mike “Pro” Sipula was inducted into the Richard J. Berry Memorial Hall of Fame, the prestigious club’s 26th inductee.

Berry Memorial Champions

Championship Flight winners

1981 — Dick Berry

1982 — Ed Zukosky

1983 — Ed Zukosky

1984 — Kevin Pflibsen

1985 — Rod Leonard

1986 — Jeff Peterson

1987 — Dean Bundy

1988 — Rod Leonard

1989 — Rob Keen

1990 — Rod Leonard

1991 — Ron Yuhas

1992 — Ron Yuhas

1993 — Rich Holloway

1994 — Colby Pomeranke

1995 — Rich Holloway

1996 — John Cinotto

1997 — Bob Berry

1998 — Bob Berry

1999 — Rich Holloway

2000 — Bob Berry

2001 — Bob Berry

2002 — Rich Holloway

2003 — Rich Holloway

2004 — Rich Holloway

2005 — Rick Krumscheid

2006 — Rich Holloway

2007 — Rich Holloway

2008 — Rod Leonard

2009 — Brian Lehr

2010 — Brian Lehr

2011 — Austin Gass

2012 — Bob Berry

2013 — Brian Lehr

2014 — Josh Gass

2015 — Baley Lehr

2016 — Josh Gass

2017 — Baley Lehr

2018 — Baley Lehr

2019 — Josh Gass

2020 — Josh Gass

2021 — Jeremy DeBernardi

2022 — Baley Lehr

2023 — Josh Gass

2024 — Baley Lehr

2025 — Jaydon Nambo