MIDDLEFIELD, CT—With the Jones course of the Lyman Orchards Golf Club as the backdrop, golfer EJ Brumm of Missouri shot a 70 in the final round of the U.S. Deaf Golf Championships to edge McGowin Miller of Alabama by a single stroke to win his second U.S. Deaf Golf Championship. Brumm was also victorious twenty-one years ago in the 1998 U.S. Deaf Golf Championships.
Brumm, who led after two rounds, was overtaken by Miller in the third round, and the two men went head-to-head over the entire week. However, in the final round, the Missouri native overcame a solid 72 by Miller with a tournament-best 70 during the final round. Brumm finished with 302 strokes to Miller’s 303 to hoist the championship.
The tournament also served as a qualifier for the 2020 World Deaf Golf Championships, to be held at the Forest of Arden Country Club in Birmingham, England from August 7 to 15, 2020. Along with Brumm and Miller, Michael Mabashov, Gregory Frank, Dano Aldaz, and Pono Tokioka qualified for the World Championships.
In the women’s tournament, Patricia Lopez of Colorado won the Championship with a total score of 340 strokes, with Susan Zupnik finishing second. Melissa Stockton, Mary Bachtel, and Marie Benson also qualified for the 2020 World Championships.
In the Seniors division, Keith Worek of New York won with a combined total of 315 strokes. Gerald Isobe of Hawaii clinched the Super Seniors division with 324 strokes. The top five scores of both the Seniors and Super Seniors divisions combined qualified for the 2020 World Championships. Along with Worek and Isobe, Timothy Dapp and Thomas Perkins qualified. John Vaughn defeated Michael Finneran in a sudden-death playoff to secure the final qualifying spot.