By Marc Hardin
NKyTribune contributor
Jacob Baumann loved sports and sports loved him back. He had many success as a baseball and football player and as a wrestler. But nobody loved the former Bishop Brossart High School student-athlete more than his family, and they will miss him eternally.
Baumann passed away two years ago at the age of 20, the victim of an accidental drug overdose while receiving treatment at a drug rehabilitation facility in Delray Beach, Florida. After dealing with their monumental loss and coping with a difficult new normal, his family and friends decided to keep alive his memory by establishing a fundraising effort to support scholarships for graduating seniors at Bishop Brossart.
To that end, the family has started a sporting event and they chose golf as a means. Jacob and his father enjoyed some good times on the course so it seemed fitting that the family honor him at place close to home. The inaugural Jacob Baumann Memorial Golf Outing benefiting the Jacob Dean Baumann Scholarship Fund is Aug. 11 at A.J. Jolly Golf Course in Baumann’s home town of Alexandria. Golf will be played in the morning and afternoon. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. A silent auction is to follow.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Mark Baumann said. “It took us a year to get together our thoughts on how we were going to memorialize him. In May, we gave out our first scholarship. We think this is the best avenue to raise money. We hope it lasts. We use the phrase: One life lived, many lives touched. We want this to keep his memory alive.”
Among the many items up for auction are event tickets, wall art, gardening products, cosmetics, an outdoor picnic table with four chairs and gift baskets. The grand raffle item is a basket stocked with gifts totaling $400, including $350 worth of gift cards redeemable at local restaurants and eateries.
For more about Jacob’s story and information on how to donate to the scholarship fund, please visit jacobdeanbaumann.org.
Around the links in Northern Kentucky:
NORTHERN KENTUCKY AMATEUR: Familiar names dot the leader board after two rounds at the 78th Northern Kentucky Amateur Championship at Traditions Golf Club. Three former champions, including two Metropolitan Amateur champs, are in the top eight after 36 holes. Coldstream’s Bill Williamson leads with a score of 6-under-par 138. Williamson, who won the Metropolitan in 2012 and the Northern Kentucky Amateur in 2016, shot a tournament-best 68 on Tuesday.
His four-ball partner Brad Wilder, the 2011 Met champ representing Summit Hills, and Traditions member Kurt Fortman are tied for second at 4-under 140. Wilder, a Covington Catholic graduate and former University of Cincinnati golfer, shot a first-round best 69 on Monday. The final round is today beginning with 7:30 a.m. tee times. Williamson, Wilder and Fortman are in the final threesome and tee off at 11 a.m.
Jonathan Feldkamp and two-time Northern Kentucky Amateur champ Eric Fuldner (2010, 2011) enter Wednesday’s final round tied for fourth at 2-under 142. They are followed by Peter Betzold (144) and Fred Geraci (146). Defending champ and former Northern Kentucky golfer Matthew Wetherill and returning runner-up Austin Zapp from Traditions are tied for eighth at 147. Wetherill recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur. Zapp, a former standout at Ryle, golfs at Hanover College.
Tim Murphy leads the Northern Kentucky Senior Amateur Championship by 10 strokes with a score of 4-under 140. He carded a 67 on Tuesday. The final round is today at Traditions.
BRITISH SENIOR OPEN: Northern Kentucky golfers Ralph Landrum, Lance Lucas and Jim Volpenhein failed to qualify Monday for this week’s tournament at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland but Volpenhein nearly made it. The seven-time Met champion missed by two strokes in an attempt to qualify for the second time. He shot 3-over 75 at Fairmont St. Andrews and finished 21st at his qualifying event, sixth among Americans. A score of 73 qualified at Fairmont. Landrum, president and head pro at World of Golf, shot 8-over 79 at Scotscraig. He’s a three-time Kentucky PGA player of the year. Lucas, a two-time Northern Kentucky Amateur champ, shot 10-over 82 at Fairmont St. Andrews.
KENTUCKY PGA JUNIOR TOUR: Lauren Abner from Villa Hills finished sixth in the girls’ 18-under event at the Junior Tour Championship at Gibson Bay Golf Course in Richmond. She shot 14-over 86. She was fifth after the first round with 81. Union’s Christopher Harpum tied for ninth in boys’ 14-under at 6-over 78.
Former Cooper standout Madison Smith from Union medaled at the Trusted Choice Big “I” Qualifier at par-72 Quail Chase Golf Club South/West in Louisville. The incoming Middle Tennessee State University freshman shot a two-day, 2-under-par 142, good for a 12-shot margin over the runner-up. Union’s Olivia DiPaolo, a rising senior at Ryle, finished third with 155. Rylan Wotherspoon of Florence tied for 22nd at the boys’ qualifier, carding 155. He shot 75 the second day.
GCWGA: Of the 11 high school graduates receiving $1,500 scholarships from the Greater Cincinnati Women’s Golf Association, two golfed at Northern Kentucky schools. Cooper’s Smith and St. Henry’s Elizabeth Roch were honored with one-time scholarships by the GCWGA Foundation Board. Applicants had to meet a list of criteria in order to be considered.
NKWGA: The Northern Kentucky Women’s Golf Association Team Play schedule concludes Thursday with the final match at A.J. Jolly. Kenton County has a 17-point lead over second-place Northern Kentucky Golf Club.
The greatest disparity in points last week was 25. Every spot in the standings is mathematically up for grabs although it’ll be difficult to contest second place where Northern Kentucky Golf Club has a 19-point lead over third-place Fort Mitchell. Kenton County plays Twin Oaks in one of five Thursday matches. Twin Oaks leapfrogged over Twin Bridges into fourth place at the last stop July 10 at Eagle Creek. Northern Kentucky Golf Club takes on seventh-place Boone Links on Thursday. Fort Mitchell plays A.J. Jolly.
NKWGA Team Play standings through July 10: 1. Kenton County 373, 2. Northern Kentucky Golf Club 356, 3. Fort Mitchell 337, 4. Twin Oaks 331, 5. Twin Bridges 324, 6. Summit Hills 318.5, 7. Boone Links 308, 8. Devou 299, 9. A. J. Jolly 288, 10. Eagle Creek 287.5.
Marc Hardin’s summer golf column has been featured in The Kentucky Post and Kentucky Enquirer for 15 years. He’s covered all the local amateur tournaments and several PGA and LPGA events since 2003. His feature for The Cincinnati Post about how Chi Chi Rodriguez got on the album cover of a Devo record was PGA Story Of The Day from the 2004 Kroger Classic at The Golf Center at Kings Island. Marc has written for the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association and Greater Cincinnati Women’s Golf Association. He welcomes comments, story tips, feature ideas and your league’s standings. You can contact him at marcwriterdude@yahoo.com.