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WHEELING -- Thirty-six holes weren't enough to decide the Kalkreuth Amateur golf tournament Sunday on the sun-soaked Trent Jones Course at Speidel Golf Club inside spacious Oglebay Park.
Ryan Bilby, a junior-to-be at Marshall University, parred the first extra hole -- No. 18 -- to hold off Bryan Myers who bogeyed, for his first Kalkreuth Amateur title. Both players, who are good friends on and off the course, carded 139s.
"I kind of struggled yesterday (Saturday). I didn't make any putts but I came out today and hit it really good for the first 13 holes," Bilby said. "I was 5-under and had it going."
The victory didn't come easy, however, as the 20-year-old Brooke High graduate struggled down the stretch after leading by three shots with five holes to play. It all started on the 14th when his second shot splashed down in a small pond in front of the green.
"I hit it in the water and bogeyed that hole and then bogeyed 15. I told myself, 'whatever. I've still got three holes left,'" Bilby added. "It was deflating but in golf you've got to have a short memory sometimes."
Myers, who won the Bordas & Bordas Amateur last month, birdied the 14th for a key two-shot swing as the lead dwindled to one shot.
Bilby gained one of those strokes back on the par-3 15th, but lost it on the par-4 16th as Myers kept the pressure on and trailed by a shot.
Myers pulled even heading into the final hole with a par on the par-4 17th while Bilby continued to limp home.
Bilby had a chance to win it in regulation but couldn't get a putt to drop. Myers knocked down a short putt to force some bonus golf as the sun was setting.
"I had a short putt to win it on 18 but it just didn't fall," he noted.
Myers, who held a two-shot lead after 36 holes, three-putted on the final hole while Bilby, who had a chance to win the tournament on his third shot that just missed, saved par for the title.
"I'm depressed right now," Myers allowed. "You've at least got to make par. I'm good friends with Ryan. Hats off to him. He played well."
Bilby's Marshall University teammate Joseph Kalaksey took third at 140 while Campbell Koegler and Noah Seivertson tied for fourth at 143.
Bilby made it a daily double when he and Kalaskey, from Charleston, ran away from the best-ball field by a whopping nine shots. The winners finished at 126 which was nine shots better than Myers and his partner, Jay Davis.
"We had a one-shot lead coming into today and we wanted to jump out with a good start, and we did," Bilby noted. "We were 6-under after five holes."
Other winners included Steve Green (First Flight); Brad Baker (Senior Flight); Jeff Sparks (Super Senior Flight); Kailey Pettit (Women's Flight); Luke Simonetti (Junior Flight); Abraham-Stephens (First Flight Best-Ball); Baker-Cope (Senior Flight Best-Ball); Sparks-Staber (Super Senior Flight Best-Ball); and Pettit-Frederick (Women's Flight Best-Ball).