FRANKLIN – Two-time Wisconsin State Open champion Harrison Ott finished his second round of play at Tuckaway Country Club on Aug. 18 a little before 1 p.m., and the touring professional from Brookfield was sure his 5-under-par total of 139 would not be good enough to be leading the tournament at the end of the day. He would be proven correct, but not until over four hours later when University of Wisconsin alumnus Max Schwarz’s birdie putt on No. 18 curled into the cup to give him a one-shot lead over Ott and three others heading into the final 36 holes of play on Aug. 19. Schwarz, who is a professional playing out of Paradise Valley, Arizona, also had the round of the day in shooting a 4-under 68 to shoot up the leaderboard. “Honestly, it didn't really feel like a special day at all until I hit a really good 4-iron on [No.] 16, the par 5, a nice little cut in there to, like, 12 feet and made it I knew that it would be a solid round,” he said of his eagle that propelled him into the lead. “Then to close it out on 18 with a birdie, tough hole, tough pin. Solid. "We're only halfway done so plenty of golf left. But it's tough to make birdies out here, they tuck the pins, the wind blowing and the greens are firming up a little bit so just wanted to get as many birdies as I could and we'll see what happens tomorrow [Aug. 19].”
Joining Ott at 5-under for the tournament and one shot behind Schwarz are two amateurs from Marquette University in first-round leader and current senior Mason Schmidtke and Golden Eagles alumnus Brandon Cloete. Schmidtke began the day at 5-under and had an up-and-down round that included four birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey. But, he remains in a nice position at the start of a marathon final day. "Just being up there is nice and not having to feel like you're chasing all the time, but that is kind of the mindset that you want to have to take into tomorrow," Schmidtke said. "You don't want to play passive. You want to just play your game on the course and see what we can do." Cloete saved par on the 18th to shoot a 1-under 71 and get to 5-under along with professional Barrett Kelpin, a Michigan native who now hails from Madison. Kelpin is a teaching pro at Bishops Bay Country Club in Middleton and a coach with the U.S. National Development Program (USNDP). He spent seven years playing on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica. Also within striking distance of the lead after two rounds are professional David Bach (Sheboygan) and amateurs Vijay Kumar (University of Wisconsin) and Hugo Thyr (Hartland) at 4-under while Marquette alumnus and professional Patrick Adler leads a group of seven players at 3-under par. As for Ott, the two-time champion nearly posted a 6-under tournament total himself but he bogeyed the par-3 17th hole before finishing with a par to end his second round with a 2-under 70.
Since winning the State Open in 2020 and 2021 as an amateur, Ott has knocked on the door as a professional. He skipped the 2022 event but has since recorded a solo second (2023), a tie for sixth (2024) and a tie for third (2025). He will enter Wednesday’s final 36 holes just a shot behind. “I’ve always tried to think of it as two separate rounds versus one long day,” Ott said. “It feels like that’s how it sets up, too. The last round plays pretty hard, stuff starts going pretty fast. I don’t think I’ll change much. I guess on the flip side of that you’d kind of like to go on the first 18. That’d probably be a little bit in my mind starting the day.” Dan Woltman was the last golfer to claim not only three titles, but championships as an amateur (2007, 2009) and professional (2018, 2019). Ott recalled that in his two amateur wins, he rallied back from early deficits to win by comfortable margins over the final 36 holes. That will not be the case heading into the final round on Aug. 19, which he said is the bigger difference in mindset for him as opposed to trying to win as a professional as opposed to as an amateur. That said, if he wins he’ll claim the top cash payout. Last year’s champion Sam Weatherhead won $15,000, the largest purse in tournament history. Ott said he’s blessed to be playing golf professionally, so he’s trying to keep the main thing the main thing heading into his final rounds. “At the end of the day I’m really lucky to do that,” he said of his career. “It’s a great check. Shoutout The Suter [Ward] Group; but it doesn’t completely change your season, so I think those viewpoints I try to hold on to a little bit as well, to take away from that being a factor.” A victory would put Ott in special company as well, as five golfers have won the Open as an amateur and a professional and seven have won at least three Opens. Francis Gallett, Manuel de la Torre, Bob Brue and Steve Stricker have the most Open titles with five apiece.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A Badgers alumnus tops crowded leaderboard at Wisconsin State Open