Back-Nine Blitz Propels Dumas to Sani Invitational Victory

Jack Dumas (above) missed a good chance at birdie on the 9th green Sunday, and looked frustrated as he headed to the 10th tee. 

He was disappointed about the missed opportunity, but looking forward to Hyperion Field Club’s back nine. A back nine that would determine the champion of the 76th Herman Sani Invitational sponsored by Coppola Enterprises. 

“I played the back nine well the first two days,” Dumas said. “I was just trying to get through the front nine with a good number. I was really looking forward to the back nine.” 

One shot out of the lead when he made the turn, Dumas played holes 10 through 16 in six under par, and the recent Drake graduate and newly-minted pro collected a $2,500 first-place check after his final-round 65 gave him a three-shot Sani triumph over Andrew O’Brien of West Des Moines. 

O’Brien and second-round leader Andrew Johannsen also had the lead to themselves during a rapidly fluctuating final round Sunday. A birdie at the 11th hole gave O’Brien a one-shot lead. He played the final seven holes in one under par for a closing 68 and a 205 total, but fell victim to the fast finish turned over by Dumas. 

Johanssen, 18 and heading into his senior year at Johnston High School, had four bogeys in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 9 and lost touch with the leaders. He finished in a tie for fifth with defending champion Zach Steffen at 209 after a final-round 74. 

Steffen made a strong run in his Sani title defense. Nine shots back after the first round and five behind after the second round, Steffen got off to a dubious start Sunday with a bogey at No. 1. But an eagle on No. 11 got him to within a shot of the lead before the three-time Sani champ fell back with bogeys at the 13th and 14th. 

“I hit it in there close on 12, too, but just didn’t make it,” Steffen said. “Then I made a bad swing on 13. But I put myself in contention, which is always fun. My first round (72) was just too much to overcome.” 

Grant Smith posted a closing 68 and was third alone at 206, up one spot from his Sani finish of a year ago. Charles Jahn was alone in fourth after a 70 and a score of 208. 

Dumas played the back nine in 12 under par for the championship. He had two birdies in a first-round 34, birdied five of the first six holes in a back-nine 32 Saturday and posted a closing 30 there Sunday that included a pair of eagles on the par-5 11th and par-4 15th holes. 

“On 11 I drove it down the middle, then hit an 8-iron to 8 feet,” he said. “A perfectly-played hole. Then I hit driver to 2 feet on 15. A little luck of the draw there.”

Though 15 is a downhill 308-yard hole and you can’t see the green from the tee, Dumas knew something pretty special had happened. 

I heard one of the IGA radios back on the tee box,” Dumas said. “Someone was talking to the spotter, who said, “Two feet. Best of the day.’ ” 

Dumas, who tied for eighth at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in his final college event, will now work with an eye on PGA Tour qualifying school this fall. 

“This (Sani title) is just confirmation that what I’ve been working on the past few months and years, grinding and not winning a lot, is paying off,” Dumas said. “I’ve just got to keep my nose to the grindstone.” 

Dumas also became the fifth Sani Scholarship winner to capture the golf tournament played in honor of Herman Sani, the IGA’s first director. Dumas joins J.D. Turner, Steve Spray, Kent Wagoner and another former Drake player, Ben Pettitt, as Sani scholars who went on to win the Sani Tournament. 

“It’s cool to look back to four years ago,” said Dumas, a Sani Scholarship recipient in 2021. “I was just going into my freshman year of college. Now, four years later, I’m done. It’s gone full circle.” 

Dave Gaer, a Sani Scholarship winner in 1977, brought his own flair to the championship Sunday. The 67-year-old won the Sani’s Super Senior Amateur title by six shots after rounds of 74-73-72. 

Gaer’s final shot of the championship, a choked-down 7-iron into the wind on the 155-yard 9th hole, went in for the first hole-in-one of his distinguished career. 

When the shot was in the air, one of Gaer’s playing partners, Rob Christensen, said, “That’s in the hole.” Gaer’s ball landed 3 feet short of the hole and disappeared. 

“It was kind of surreal,” said Dave, the reigning IGA Super Senior Player of the Year. “I wasn’t sure what to say. Pat Roan (his other playing partner) and Rob were more excited than me. I was kind of sitting there, dumbfounded.” 

Gaer hit 17 greens in regulation, but had no birdies coming to his 18th hole. But he had an ace of a finish up his sleeve. 

Jon Brown won the Senior Amateur title with rounds of 66-72-71. Brown finished three shots better than Joe Palmer (75-75-67) and Ron Peterson (71-75-66).

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