The Wolfe that roamed the Kahwka Club on Sunday commanded alpha status.
Mike Wolfe, with one the most dominant championship rounds for an Erie District Golf Association Match Play Tournament, defeated former winner Ted Grassi III 6 and 4. The former McDowell and Allegheny College player took a permanent lead after the fifth hole and then methodically stacked it against his fellow club member.
Grassi, the tournament’s 2013 victor, conceded the match after his bogey five on Kahkwa’s 14th green. It was there he shook hands with Wolfe, 37, who won the earliest conclusion to a Match Play final since 2013.
That year’s winner was Grassi, whom Wolfe deemed a friend more than an opponent.
Even after Wolfe led 3-up at the turn. The tournament’s fifth seed maintained that margin until he won the 12th and 13th holes with birdies and the 14th via Grassi’s bogey.
Mistake-free was a phrase Grassi used to describe Wolfe’s performance.
Wolfe won the tournament 17 years after his initial appearance. He also claimed his first EDGA major in his second appearance for a Match Play final.
Drew Deimel won the second of his three titles when he beat Wolfe 4 and 3 in 2018. That year’s final also took place at Kahkwa, which hosted this weekend’s tournament for the first time since then.
Grassi was the on the victorious end of the last Match Play final that ended with four holes left. His 5 and 4 win over Rick Carlotti 11 years ago occurred at North East’s Lake View Country Club.
EDGA officials conducted 36-hole finals for its first two Match Plays, held in 1972 and 1973. They reduced it to 18 the next year.
The shortest final since then was in 1982, when Brett Kieffer defeated Tom Bean 7 and 6 at Lawrence Park Golf Club.
Sunday’s final concluded the EDGA’s first major tournament at Kahwka since the course completed a facelift of its sand bunkers.
It was 1916 when Donald Ross started work on laying out the Fairview Township course to its current look. The bunkers were its main aspect that never came to full fruition for the renowned architect, a World Golf Hall of Famer who died in 1948.
The decision to make Ross’s vision a reality began two years ago, when Spence Golf Inc. began reconstructing the bunkers for Kahkwa’s 17th and 18th holes. The North Carolina company completed its work there last September.
The idea was to bring the bunkers into full play, according to Kahkwa head golf professional Sean Moffat.
“Our previous bunkers were pretty parallel (to the holes),” he said. “Now, they bite into the fairways. They’re also in the right spots for today’s (golfers).”
That Moffat has heard both good and bad from Kahkwa’s golfers means the bunkers are having their desired impact.
Count Grassi among those who welcome their challenges.
Wolfe is now the EDGA’s lone golfer who can sweep its major events for 2024. He fully expects to register for its Marquette Savings Bank Amateur Championship, scheduled Aug. 16-18 at Lake View.
Tyler Cozad, at 4-under par 212, won the 2023 Amateur at Lake Shore Country Club. It was his third title for that tournament since 2017.
Wolfe, at 2-under, tied for third.
