Corey Richmond watches his approach shot on No. 14 at the Laurel Oaks Classic on Sunday. Richmond won the 36-hole stroke play tournament by seven strokes. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)

Corey Richmond watches his approach shot on No. 14 at the Laurel Oaks Classic on Sunday. Richmond won the 36-hole stroke play tournament by seven strokes. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)

GOLF

It would be tough to find a better golfer in the area right now than Corey Richmond.

He already owns a Chippeways title that he won at Maysville Country Club in June.

Add a second Laurel Oaks Classic title in the last three years to his name as he dominated the field over the weekend to win going away by seven strokes at the 29th annual Laurel Oaks Classic at Laurel Oaks Golf Course.

Richmond started off hot on Saturday with a nine-under-par 63 and followed it up Sunday with a seven-under-par 65 to nearly double up the field.

“I played really well yesterday, made some putts. Today I just put it in the right positions and made a couple putts down the stretch,” Richmond said.

The only thing Richmond has left to do is win the Firecracker at Kenton Station, a tournament he was unable to play in two weeks ago to claim all three local golf course titles.

“Firecracker is next, haven’t won that one. That is the one I’ll be looking forward to most moving forward. If I can beat B.J. (Knox). Out there he’s tough to beat,” Richmond said.

Richmond did it this weekend by dominating not only the field, but the Par 5’s on the course. He recorded birdie or eagle on every single one of them over the weekend. Sunday he made two eagles, the first one thanks to a chip-in on No. 9 that may have caught a bit of a fortunate bounce, or pin one should say.

“Nine was playing pretty long today, probably pushing close to 600 yards with the wind. Hit a good drive, kind of got lucky with my second shot, kind of clipped a tree but still got through it and ended up right there on the front edge of the green. I left a chip short on seven and I kind of stubbed it and told myself get through it, I got through it and it had some gas going at the pin and luckily it caught the pin or else it would have been 25-feet by on the back of the green,” Richmond said. “Good to be lucky rather than good sometimes.”

His lone bogey of the tournament came on the first hole Sunday when he three-putted. That was the only time his lead was really threatened as Tad Barton was within a stroke, Tyler Lippert within two after a birdie on the hole.

Richmond proceeded to go three-under on the front, aided by his eagle on No. 9. After pars on the first four holes of the back nine, he separated from the pack that was lurking with the group behind in runner-up B.J. Knox, but Richmond went four-under over the final five holes to erase any doubt.

With two of the three titles now with his name on it for two of the three local golf courses, Richmond’s summer has been sizzling.

“Obviously tons of good golfers around. Just try to go out there and hit it the best I can when the wife and kids let me play a little bit, that’s a plus,” Richmond said.

With his age, has also come more maturity to his game, able to settle in, shoot low and win tournaments.

“More course management, knowing when to hit driver. No. 1 is a perfect example, all the young guys and I used to do it too…just bomb your driver. Now I just kind of hit a four iron, play the fairways, hit wedges and kind of go from there,” Richmond said.

Knox finished second with the second lowest score on Sunday in the championship flight with a five-under 67, following a 68 on Saturday to finish the tournament at nine-under.

Tad Barton finished third at eight-under, shooting 71 on Sunday after a 65 on Saturday. Tyler Lippert placed fourth, always in contention at Laurel Oaks, following up a 67 on Saturday with a 70 on Sunday.

Kevin Lawson rounded out the top five at five-under-par for the tournament.

First flight winner was Deron Feldhaus in a really competitive flight, edging out Jackson Frame and Mark Moore by a stroke at five-under-par. Four scores in the first flight on Sunday were in the 60’s, Logan McIntosh and Frame firing a 68, Feldhaus a 67 and Moore with a 66.

Jake O’Mara won the second flight with a 36-hole score of 146, shooting a two-under-par 70 on Sunday. Chandler Clark finished in second a stroke behind.

Coy Cummins won the third flight with a 155, Ronnie Garland won the fourth flight with a 163 and Scott Schroer won the fifth flight with a 171.

A total of 76 golfers competed in the tournament, an increase of 20-30 golfers over the prior couple of years.

SCORING

Laurel Oaks Golf Course

Championship Flight

Par 72

1. Corey Richmond — 63-65 — 128

2. B.J. Knox — 68-67 — 135

3. Tad Barton — 65-71 — 136

4. Tyler Lippert — 67-70 — 137

5. Kevin Lawson — 68-71 — 139

6. Christian Vining — 70-70 — 140

7. Mason Butler — 68-73 — 141

7. Shawn Armstrong — 68-73 — 141

9. Jordan Hughes — 70-73 — 143

9. Jason Vance — 68-75 — 143

11. Bryan Sturgill — 67-77 — 144

12. Randy Ross — 71-74 — 145

13. Kyle Burchett — 71-75 — 146

14. John Kennedy — 70-77 — 147

15. Robert Walton — 71-WD — WD