Eight-time champ Pfeiffer to face McCulla again on final day of men’s city golf championship

QUINCY — For the third straight year, Adam Pfieffer will have to go toe-to-toe with the man who has denied him of that elusive, record-setting ninth Quincy men’s city golf championship.

In his fifth attempt at breaking a tie with Mike O’Connell for most city tournament crowns, Pfeiffer enters the second and final round in a tie with Alex McCulla for the top spot. Both golfers carded a 2-under 69, the only players to break 70 on a blustery Saturday at Westview Golf Course.

“It was very difficult out there with the wind and tricky lies and whatnot,” said Pfeiffer, who has finished second in each of the last four city tournaments. “It’s about controlling your ball, trying to hit fairways and greens and trying not to shoot yourself out of it on the first day. My idea through all these years of playing this thing is just to stay within shouting distance and see how the chips fall on the second day.”

Pfeiffer came out of the gates firing. He birdied the par-4 third hole and the par-5 fifth. He stuck his tee shot to five feet on the par-3 ninth and sank the birdie putt to make the turn at 3-under.

Pfeiffer parred his way through the back nine until he bogeyed the par-4 16th, his first bogey at the city tournament since 2022. After a par on No. 17, Pfeiffer hit his drive on the short par-4 18th hole about 40 yards to the front left of the green but drew an unfavorable lie. His pitch shot finished just short of the green, then he hit his chip shot just past the pin at the front of the green and made a slippery, downhill par putt to come in at 2-under.

“I drove it into a divot and had a rough lie,” Pfeiffer said. “I didn’t quite execute the chip shot, but I made a good putt. I putted pretty well today, and that’s something I’ve been struggling with this year. For the most part, I made every putt inside five or six feet that I needed to make. I didn’t make a whole lot outside of that, but it was still a good round. I didn’t shoot myself out of it, and I’m right there to have a chance tomorrow.”

McCulla, the two-time reigning city champion and the player Pfeiffer has finished runner-up to the last two years, also played what he called “boring golf” to finish in a tie for the lead.

“I just didn’t really capitalize on much today, but I played solid,” McCulla said. “It was a boring day, but if you’re a golfer, you love boring days. I have no complaints.”

McCulla rebounded from a bogey on the first hole by making par on nine of the next 10 holes and eagling the fifth hole.

“I was in the trees on the right and had to aim way left and cut one back,” McCulla said of his second shot on No. 5. “I knocked it in there pretty tight and had a pretty easy putt.”

McCulla bogeyed the par-4 12th hole then made his first birdie on the dogleg right par-4 13th. He parred the next four holes before hitting his drive just short of the green on No. 18, chipping to inside five feet and making the birdie putt.

“There weren’t any fireworks really, but I was pretty consistent all day,” McCulla said.

McCulla was three days removed from participating in the NCAA men’s golf regional, his final tournament at Illinois State University. He finished 34th in the 80-player field at the University of Illinois’ Atkins Golf Club.

“I’ve played five golf courses in the last two weeks, so when you’re changing speeds all the time, changing slopes, it takes a little bit to get back adjusted,” McCulla said. “I felt like I was a little bit off with my speed control, but having a round under my belt is going to help that and make me feel a little more comfortable tomorrow.”

McCulla and Pfeiffer earned Sunday’s final tee time, as did Jason Traeder, who shot a 1-under 70 and was the only other player to break par.

“Jason and I have been good friends for a while,” said Pfeiffer, who played in the same group as Traeder on Saturday. “We’re the old guys, the Spring Lakers. It’s always fun to play with him.”

Pfeiffer heads into the final round with another year’s worth of motivation.

“Every year I don’t pull through, the weight gets more and more on my shoulders,” said Pfeiffer, who last won a city championship in 2020. “I’ve been 10-under or better the last two years and lost at those scores, but I’ve won at 3-, 4-, 5-under. It is what it is. I’ve gotten pretty lucky these 18 years I’ve been playing this tournament.”

His strategy for beating McCulla is simple.

“I’m not really too worried about what he’s doing. I just try to do everything that I can,” Pfeiffer said. “I can’t compete with him distance-wise or some of the things he can do, as the older person that I am, but I play my game and not let what he’s doing affect me too much. Hopefully the third year is the charm.”

Andrew Boudreau and Luke Mettemeyer will begin Sunday three shots back, while Adam Longo, Beau Eftink and Ryan Schuenke will have to make up four shots. Brad Niemann and Cameron Bergman round out the top 10 at 3-over.

Quincy Notre Dame’s Nancy Scholz and Isabelle Boudreau, the only golfers in the women’s flight, shot a 78 and 88, respectively.