Chris Daniels and John Bumgarner battled it out as the final two golfers in the West Virginia Senior Amateur championship division at Edgewood Country Club in Sissonville on Wednesday.
Daniels, the ninth seed, took the lead for good on hole No. 5 in a 2 and 1 victory over Bumgarner, the third seed, in the match-play tournament final pitting two first-time finalists.
"This is a highlight, definitely. I've been doing this a long time," Daniels, of Beckley, said. "This is kind of my priority -- golf and competing. It takes a lot of my time and effort. It was a hot and very humid environment this week. I kept my head straight and made a bunch of pars and some birdies. I was fortunate enough to beat Pat Carter yesterday, who is such a great player and has had an outstanding career. Everybody in the state should know who he is.
"Jon played great too today. Everybody I played this week played me really super. I hit the ball well and usually in the fairway and didn't struggle much. The greens and course were great this week at Edgewood."
The weather across the Kanawha Valley was warm the first few days of the tournament, with temperatures reaching into the 90s.
"These first two days were like a sauna up here," Daniels said. "Myself and the other players were just sweating and toweling off every shot. Today wasn't a whole lot different. The temperature was different, but that first day was 93 degrees with the hot sun. The second day wasn't much better. We played 36 holes [each of] those first two days in the heat.
"Today was more comfortable, but still hot and steamy. I don't know about everybody else, but I was definitely feeling the steam again today."
Bumgarner, a Scott Depot native, said he felt that he didn't play as well as he hoped he would, especially in a championship match like Wednesday's.
Bumgarner bogeyed four of the first six holes. He also birdied three times.
"I felt like I left a lot of shots out there," Bumgarner said. "I didn't make a lot of putts and gave away a few early. Hats off to Chris. Chris played extremely well. He probably gave me one hole, maybe. He played solid. I didn't play my normal game. It was a tough day."
Bumgarner felt that nerves played into his slow start.
"There were a little bit of jitters those first few holes due to not being in this position [before]," Bumgarner said. "In the [West Virginia] Senior Open, I was runner-up, and this one, I felt like I was prepared for. I just kind of let the first five or six holes get to me. I wasn't as aggressive. I made one putt all day. It was one of those details that didn't get the rock rolling."
Daniels parred the final 10 holes of the match. In total, he parred on 14 of 17 holes.
The Beckley native birdied holes No. 3 and 7, evening out his double bogey on No. 2.
"My putting this week was probably the best I've ever putted," Daniels said. "I'm usually known for straight driving and decent second shots. But, I was confident on the putts this week and tried not to overshoot. Most of them went in for me. The one on hole 16 was key just to get par. I was in the trees and John was on up the green.
"I chipped it out and got it up there to 50 feet and two-putted it. That's kind of what I did all week. I'm not known for my short game."
Senior Division
Top-seeded Scott Bibbee, a Vienna native, claimed the Senior Am's senior division championship.
He took home the crown after knocking off Nevin Wilson, a Hurricane native and the 15th seed, 4 and 3.
Bibbee got past Reid Carroll, Cledus Judd and Jim Freeman in bracket play before taking on Wilson on Wednesday.
