FAIRFIELD — Jeff Sullivan had more than enough time to ponder his most recent golf victory during a lengthy car ride back home to Charleston, South Carolina.
The 2004 Fairfield graduate is now one trophy closer to reaching a personal milestone.
Sullivan fired a 67 at Fairfield South Trace Golf Course on Sunday afternoon to capture his eighth Fairfield City Golf Championship.
“It never gets old,” said Sullivan, who also won the tournament in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2020, 2021 and 2023. “Twenty hours of driving for golf? It’s worth it.”
Sullivan has won the Fairfield City tournament every year he’s participated in it since 2020. He missed out on competing in 2022 because of a vacation.
Sullivan fired a 74 on Saturday at Fairfield South Trace for a two-day total 141. Pete Betzold came in second with a 75-73—148.
Sullivan, 39, moved to the East coast with his wife Sarah around the time they got married in 2017, but he still has played in 20 Fairfield City Golf Championships.
He said winning the 2013 Fairfield title is the most memorable victory. That was the first tournament win since Sullivan’s father passed away two years prior.
“He was the one that got me into the game,” he said.
Sullivan also coined this weekend’s championship “a special one because it gets me one step closer to a goal that I set of trying to win 10 or more.”
Sullivan said he started documenting his journey to No. 10 a couple years ago on Instagram for added motivation.
“Early on, the first one and two are cool because at least for me personally growing up — when I moved to Fairfield from a different town, trying to fit in with everybody and getting those first ones proves that you belong there with all of the different names — it had me feeling like I belonged,” Sullivan said. “Early wins were validation that my game was good enough.
“The rest leading up to now is just bragging rights for me and a personal accomplishment. The parking spot is fun, too,” Sullivan added. “Mainly it’s about being out there with all of my old friends and teammates and seeing everyone that I grew up with — seeing and hoping that everyone plays well, too. I’d rather play everyone on their best.
“It always feels good to do it. For me, personally, to stay at a relatively high level of golf for this long is what I’m most proud of I think.”
Sullivan said he played 17 good holes on the first day, but a quadruple bogey on Hole 11 set him back.
“On Day 2, I played smart,” he noted. “I felt like if I just didn’t make any big mistakes and just tried to make a few birdies here and there. Luckily, I was able to make a few putts here and there and pulled away a little bit. Most of my tee shots were working.”
Sullivan said he and his wife plan on moving back to the Cincinnati area in the near future, which would allow him to help collaborate with new Fairfield golf pro Chris Rossi on bringing the city tournament’s participant count back up from this year’s 60 to over 100 when Sullivan first started competing.
“This tournament means a lot to me. I just want to see it continue to thrive.”
The following are results from the 2024 Fairfield City Golf Championship:
Championship Flight: Sullivan 74-67—141, Betzold 75-73—148, Creech 74-75—149, Maier 73-76—149, Curran S. 75-75—150, Wilson 79-72—151, P. Compton 78-74—152, Koger 79-76—155, Foster 80-76—156, Schwartz 81-76—157, Whitehead 79-78—157, B. Compton 80-79—159, West 75-87—162, Esterkamp 84-80—164, Gale 87-78—165, Mosley 81-86—167, Sutter 77-90—167, Dickey 81-87—168, Stone 85-85—170, Stidham 85-86—171, Heinly 86-86—172, Sorter 88-88-176, Wallpe 92-97—189.
First Flight: Flynn 78-75—153 (playoff win), Meyer 76-77—153, Trotter 81-74—155, Moore 80-78—158, Woedl 79-79—158, McCoy 81-78—159, O’Leary 76-85—161, Meiner 82-80—162, Cobb 76-87—163, Brune 78-86—164, Sutton 80-85—164, Turner 85-84—169, Suess 85-87—172, King 89-86—175, Timmer 93-82—175, Clements 89-89—178, Boxrucker 87-94—181, Hyden 93-88—181, Begley 88-95—183, Flege 100-93—193.
Second Flight: O’Shea 78-79—157, Konermann 82-83—165, DeJesus 85-83—168, Saters 88-81—169, Colon 85-87—172, Phipps 85-88—173, Betscher 84-92—176, Curran D. 88-93—181, Reed 93-92—185, Morgan 95-95—190, Kurzner 101-92—193, Hatton 93-104—197, Baker 101-106—207.
Third Flight: Westerman 85-83—168, Gumm 91-90—181, Buchheit 91-94—185, McMonigle 96-102—198, Clear 95-108—203, Caton 112-102—214.
Senior (55-59): Stone 67, O’Shea 69, Rossburg 71, Trotter 72, Fogle 73, Jay Sims 76, Jeff Sims 78, O’Connor 79, Baird 79.
Senior (60-64): Hubbard 67, Flynn 68, Gilmore 68, Lashley 69, Mueller 70, Baynes 71, Henry 72, Winkler 73, Retherford 75, Rossi 76, Heckler 76, Kurzner 78, Brune 78, Phipps 79.
Senior (65-69): Nikias 55, Moore 68, Cobb 69, White 70, Brandenburg 71, Napier 74, Stephens 77, Wainscott 80, Augspurger 86, Daniels 91.
Senior (70-over): W. Knott 63, Schneider 64, Bickel 65, Buchheit 66, Willins 69 (senior city champion), Leshner 70, W. Herzog 71, Shiffman 71, Ramirez 71, Cantrell 74, Wilson 77, J. Knott 79, R. Herzog 79, McCoy 80, Gillens 94.
Women’s Senior Division: Choi 74, Haas 96, Barbour 97, Kelley 99, Johnson 102, Baker 103, Nance 104, Miller 108.
Women’s Regular Division: Heinly 75 (playoff win), Stegemann 75, Zoz 78, Becker 84, Lulow 92, Spizzirri 114.
