While David Bach might brush off his familiarity with Kohler golf courses as any significant advantage, the rest of the field yielded to the 29-year-old’s mastery of the sport as Kohler’s assistant PGA pro won the Wisconsin PGA Match Play Championship at Whistling Straits on Thursday.
Bach survived a birdie barrage by Andy Hansen and held on for a hard-fought 1-up victory in the championship match Thursday, one year after Bach finished runner-up to Brian Brodell.
Bach, seeded No. 1, won four of the first six holes and was still 4-up with 10 holes to go. But Hansen, of The University Club of Milwaukee, got hot, rolling in birdie putts on Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12 to square the match.
Bach went back in front when he won the 13th hole with a par. Then the golfers turned into the wind starting on No. 14.
“That’s where the Straits really bares its teeth,” Bach said.
The two halved every hole down the stretch with pars except for No. 15 and 17, which they halved with bogeys, and Bach escaped with the 1-up victory.
First-round matches were held on the Irish Course and second- and third-round matches were held on the Meadow Valleys. This is Bach’s eighth year at Kohler Company.
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