Mann is the man! - Dr. Mark Mann wins Ann Arbor Senior Golf Championship in dramatic fashion.

In the above photo sequence, Dr. Mark Mann watches his 45-foot chip shot disappear into the cup for a tournament-winning birdie on the 18th hole at Leslie Park Golf Course before exploding with joy during Sunday, August 23rd's final round of the Ann Arbor Men's Senior Golf Championship. (photos by Lon Horwedel - to see a complete photo gallery from the final round, visit annarbor.com and click on the sports tab.)

In the annals of golf championship history, there have been many fantastic finishes.

Jack Nicklaus' final round charge to win the 1986 Masters. 

Tom Watson's chip in on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach to win the 1982 U.S. Open. 

Corey Pavin's amazing four wood approach shot that stopped six feet from the pin on the 18th hole at the 1995 U.S. Open and even last week's three-hybrid approach on the 18th hole from 235 yards over a tree to 10-feet, by little-known Korean golfer Y.E. Yang, helping him beat the unbeatable Tiger Woods in this year's PGA.

Add to that list Dr. Mark Mann of Ann Arbor who stepped on to the 18th tee at Leslie Park Golf Course in Ann Arbor, tied for the lead in the 2009 Men's Senior Championship, Sunday afternoon.

Mann had just missed a seven-footer for birdie on the 17th hole that would have given him a one shot lead over Dave Kempner, Ann Arbor, with one hole to go. Now all bets were off as he made his way to the difficult 18th.

It had been a see-saw battle between the two for much of the afternoon, they just didn't know it. With no scoreboards on the course and the two men playing in different groups, neither was quite sure where the other stood until the par-3, 17th hole.

"I saw Dave make his birdie putt on 17," Mann said, "and I heard he was around par so I knew it was close."

Kempner, had, in fact, tied Mann at one under par for the 36-hole tournament after sinking his 12-footer for birdie on the 17th, but he also wasn't certain where he stood in the tournament until he being informed his final round two-under par 70 had him tied for the lead. Meanwhile, Mann was making his way down the 18th hole toward his tee shot which he pushed into the right rough.

From there, Mann had to watch as both his playing partners, Bruce Wagner and Jack Stollsteimer, knocked their approach shots close to the pin on the tough finishing hole. Now it was his turn to try and do the same.

With Kempner watching from just off the 18th green, Mann's approach shot landed pin high, but with no chance of spinning the ball from his lie, it skidded off the back of the green and into the first cut of rough, some 45-feet from the hole.

With the hole cut in the back-left portion of the tricky green, getting up and down was hardly a foregone conclusion for the Ann Arbor dentist and Travis Point Country Club member, who carefully patrolled the real estate between him and the pin before settling in over his shot.

After several practice swings, Mann gracefully sent his chip shot floating over the apron of the green before it began its descent toward the pin. The line of the shot looked good from the start, but it was picking up speed as it neared the cup; a six-footer or more for par seemed a certainty. And then it happened, the ball slammed into the pin and dropped into the cup.

Mann leaped into the air, partly in shock, partly in joy. Just like that, the tournament was over - no playoff necessary.

"I honestly thought he hit the shot a little too hard," Kempner said of Mann's chip, "I thought he was going to have a tough putt coming back, but congratulations to Mark, that was a hell of a shot."

On a round that saw him hit 17 greens in regulation, Kempner managed to shoot only two-under par, noting his putting had let him down. "A pro would shoot a 62 or 63 if they hit that many greens," he said, "but I couldn't get any putts to the hole."

As for Mann, he thought he had blown the tournament when he failed to make his birdie putt on the 17th hole.

"I was disappointed when I missed that seven-footer for birdie on 17 after I hit a lucky shot." Mann said, adding he felt if he could go out and play par golf and someone still beat him, "then so be it." 

"This was stronger field than I thought," Mann said, "and to beat a player of Dave Kempner's caliber, I don't know ... it means a lot; I'm in a cloud right now."

Bruce Wagner fired a final round one-over par 73, 145 total, to finish solo third in the tournament. Rounding out the top 10 were Ernie Sellers and Terry Jourdain at 146, Ed Shaffran at 147, George Washburn at 148, Jim MacDonald and past champion Lawrence Clemons at 149, and first round co-leader Jack Stollteimer and Fritz Reifert at 150.

This year's senior championship field drew a record 107 golfers giving Leslie Park yet another feather in its cap in a year that already saw the popular track receive the honor of being named the best municipal course in the state.

Championship Results:

Name	City	1st. Rd	2nd. Rd	Total
Championship Flight
Mann, Dr. Mark	Ann Arbor	71	71	142
Kempner, Dave	Ann Arbor	73	70	143
Wagner, Bruce	Ann Arbor	72	73	145
Sellers, Ernie	Monroe	75	71	146
Jourdain, Terry	Toledo, OH	77	69	146
Shaffran, Ed	Ann Arbor	75	72	147
Washburn, George	Frederick, MD	75	73	148
MacDonald, James	Ann Arbor	75	74	149
Clemons, Lawrence	Canton	77	72	149
Stollsteimer, Jack	Ann Arbor	71	79	150
Reifert, Fritz	Ypsilanti	76	74	150
Gregg, Daniel	Ann Arbor	76	75	151
Rullman, Karl	Grass Lake	77	75	152
Richart, John	Ann Arbor	78	75	153
McQuarrie, Neil	Livonia	77	76	153
Breier, Randy	Ann Arbor	75	79	154
Redmond, Tim	Dexter	77	77	154
Hahn, Eugene	Ypsilanti	77	80	157
Stadtmiller, Martin	Northville	76	83	159
Mile, Chris	Ypsilanti	78	82	160
Frontier, Greg	Waterford	78	85	163
First Flight
Adler, Tim	Ann Arbor	79	73	152
Maidment, Ray	Saline	79	75	154
Kuhl, Roger	Jackson	79	78	157
Bretting, Michael	Canton	80	78	158
Bishop, Dave	Milan	80	78	158
Kim, Kyu	Bloomfield Hills	81	78	159
Stark, Tom	Hartland	79	81	160
Baker, Doug	Ann Arbor	82	78	160
Kozlowski, John	Saline	81	79	160
Husak, Dave	Dexter	81	80	161
Carden, Robert	Ann Arbor	82	80	162
Bostick, Andrew	Horton	80	82	162
Kuehn, Brian	Ann Arbor	79	83	162
Russ, Ron	Farmington Hills	79	85	164
Choi, S.C.	Ann Arbor	79	87	166
Ridenour, Robert	Ann Arbor	82	85	167
Harrison, Pat	Ann Arbor	81	86	167
Hart, Kevin	Ann Arbor	80	88	168
Gilboe, Gerald	Whitmore Lake	79	89	168
Mangan, Tim	Plymouth	81	90	171
Rasmussen, Bob	Ann Arbor	82	90	172
Parsell, Richard	Ann Arbor	82	91	173
Second Flight
Prince, Donald	Shelby Twp.	83	72	155
Orians, Greg	Ypsilanti	83	73	156
O'Neill, Mike	Troy	83	77	160
Young, Song	Ann Arbor	83	78	161
Bigge, Christopher	Ann Arbor	85	77	162
Kennard, David	Ann Arbor	83	82	165
Wojcik, Tom	Saline	87	78	165
Everett, Bruce	Brighton	84	81	165
Gatscher, Dennis	Dexter	84	82	166
Brown, Bennie	Northville	87	80	167
Brousseau, Marc	Ann Arbor	87	80	167
Burnley, Kenneth	Ann Arbor	87	80	167
Hatto, Jeff	Ann Arbor	83	85	168
Monger, Bill	Brighton	83	85	168
Pritt, Jeff	Jackson	86	83	169
Laughlin, Harry	Ann Arbor	85	85	170
Chonko, George	Fraser	84	86	170
Grant, Bob	Ann Arbor	83	87	170
Talik, J. Michael	Ann Arbor	87	84	171
Gliha, Greg	Plymouth	85	89	174
McClellan, Ed	Ann Arbor	87	88	175
Poszywak, John	Ann Arbor	86	89	175
Piotrowski, Skip	West Bloomfield	86	90	176
Toma, Jeff	Ann Arbor	87	90	177
Kauffman, James	Ann Arbor	86	92	178
Callender, Jeff	Ann Arbor	87	92	179
Hickey, Brian	Chelsea	86	WD
Third Flight
Hollander, Tom	Ann Arbor	89	79	168
Faerber, Gary	Ann Arbor	89	83	172
Cohen, David	Ann Arbor	88	85	173
Nichols, Steven	Ann Arbor	90	84	174
MacInnes, Bill	Ann Arbor	90	84	174
Bluhm, Rick	Ann Arbor	88	86	174
Erwin, Michael	Ann Arbor	88	87	175
Wallace, Pat	Manchester	90	87	177
Emmitt, Jerry	Ann Arbor	90	87	177
Sewell, Emmett	Ypsilanti	90	88	178
Acosta, Lou	Ann Arbor	90	88	178
Smith, Bob	Ann Arbor	90	88	178
Pigford, James	Ypsilanti	92	87	179
Betts, Jim	Milan	88	91	179
Ann, Chan	Ann Arbor	91	89	180
VanBlack, John	Ypsilanti	92	89	181
Burke, Rick	Ann Arbor	92	96	188
Maier, Bill	Ann Arbor	89	101	190
Newcom, Mark	Saline	92	99	191
Mrokowski, Jerome	Lathtrup Village	91	103	194
Fourth Flight
Vlisides, William	Saline	94	80	174
Cox, Terry	Ann Arbor	93	86	179
Brigham, Mike	Chelsea	93	87	180
Markel, Tim	Ann Arbor	96	88	184
McCarthy, Tim	Livonia	96	88	184
Brownlow, Ron	Ann Arbor	93	94	187
Kempfert, Vernon	Ann Arbor	95	95	190
Lundy, Michael	Ypsilanti	101	91	192
Harmon, Mike	Ypsilanti	97	97	194
Faron, Bob	Ann Arbor	105	90	195
Carps, Dan	Farmington Hills	93	102	195
Schielke, Jerry	Ann Arbor	104	95	199
Germa, Jacques	Ann Arbor	100	101	201
Moran, Tom	Ann Arbor	105	99	204
Mac Arthur, John	Ann Arbor	113	101	214
Drake, Kay	Ann Arbor	116	118	234
O'Brien, Gail	Milan	117	130	247
Medaugh, Stephene	Ann Arbor	94	WD
Mihailuk, Mark	Allen Park	94	WD