Dan Woltman

Former University of Wisconsin golfer Dan Woltman of Beaver Dam lines up a putt during the second round of the 2018 Wisconsin State Open Championship at North Shore GC in Menasha.

 Wisconsin.Golf photo / Jim Kelsh

GARDEN CITY, Kanas — Dan Woltman knows how much it means to win golf tournaments like the Southwest Kansas Pro-Am.

A year ago, his $20,000 winner's check was one of four first-place purses he captured during a remarkable run through state opens in the upper Midwest.

That's why he was fine Sunday with seeing Colorado's Nick Mason cap a wire-to-wire victory at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course. Mason and Woltman matched scores for the second day in a row as Mason, who opened Friday with an 8-under-par 64, rode his sizzling start to a six-stroke victory over Woltman (70-68-70) and Trent Whitekiller, who went 65-76-68 earn his share of second.

"Nick played the best of anybody this week and deserved to win," Woltman wrote in a text message to Wisconsin.golf. "I’m happy for him he has finished second there three times so it was nice to see him finally pick up the 'W.'"

Meanwhile, Woltman was disappointed not to put more of a scare into Mason — the former University of Wisconsin golfer parred every hole on the back nine after turning in 2-under 34 — as he settled for his sixth top-10 finish in as many weeks playing in South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas the last six weeks.

"Conditions were windy (Sunday)," Woltman wrote. "With firm greens and very difficult pins, it was a tall task to shoot a low number and my putter wasn’t up for the task. (But it's been a) solid couple weeks. The game has been good not great. (I) still need to improve in many areas."

A year ago, Woltman pocketed more than $100,000 for his four wins, a fourth-place showing and an 11th over the same stretch before adding another $10,000 to his name for winning the Wisconsin State Open. His defense of that championship comes a week from Monday at Geneva National Golf Club in Lake Geneva against an expanded field featuring 204 golfers.

"Last year, I was fortunate enough to grab a couple wins as it is very difficult to win three- and four-round golf tournaments," Woltman said. "My game is close this year and hopefully a few days off will help recharge the batteries before the State Open next week because I am drained physically and mentally after these six weeks in a row."

Men's golf: Beaver Dam's Dan Woltman at Southwest Kansas Pro-Am | FINAL results (Buffalo Dunes GC-Garden Grove, Kans.)

Pos. Player Total R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Nick Mason -12 64 68 70 202
T2 Trent Whitekiller -6 65 75 68 208
T2 Dan Woltman -6 70 68 70 208
4 Clay Ederer -5 70 69 70 209
T5 Nick Arman -4 71 68 71 210
T5 Jacob Lestishen -4 72 68 70 210
T5 Ryan Zech -4 70 69 71 210
T8 Derek Tolan -3 72 70 69 211
T8 Ryan Argotsinger -3 70 69 72 211
10 Spencer Painton -2 73 69 70 212
T11 Gage Ihrig -1 71 74 68 213
T11 Curtis Yonke -1 67 75 71 213
T13 Kade Brown E 72 71 71 214
T13 Travis Mays E 74 70 70 214
T13 Clay Devers E 71 70 73 214
16 Taylor* Larsen* 1 74 70 71 215
T17 Austin Jordan 2 73 71 72 216
T17 Jarred Jeter 2 71 72 73 216
T19 Todd Rossetti 3 70 74 73 217
T19 Ryan Hogue 3 73 72 72 217
21 Ian Ansett 4 71 75 72 218
22 Logan McCracken 6 72 74 74 220
23 Josh Weems 7 73 72 76 221
T24 Bruce Vaughn 8 74 73 75 222
T24 Brandon Ellis 8 72 75 75 222
T24 William Paulsell 8 72 74 76 222
T24 Bill Allcorn 8 73 76 73 222
T24 Taylor Griffith 8 74 73 75 222
29 Kyle Robbins 10 73 79 72 224
T30 Mike Green 12 75 72 79 226
T30 Gabe Laske 12 74 74 78 226
T30 BJ Brady 12 75 80 155
33 Andrew Romano 13 75 74 78 227
34 Griffen Locke 14 72 77 79 228
T35 Justin Raigoza 15 85 68 76 229
T35 Sully Thompson 15 74 71 84 229
37 Cory Knight 19 79 75 79 233