Through the first two rounds of the Greater Cedar Rapids Open Pro-Am Golf Tournament played at Hunters Ridge Golf Course last week, Marion's Bill Hoefle had just about everything working. Playing in the Open Professional Division, he shot an opening round 2-under 70 on a rainy Friday and followed that up with a nifty 3-under 69 on a soggy Saturday.

That was good enough for Hoefle to find himself 5-under par and in a five-way tie for 15th place while facing some pretty gritty full-time pros looking to capture a $20,000 top prize, with 18 holes left to play on Sunday afternoon.

On the front nine in Sunday's final round, he shot a 3-under 33 to slide up the leaderboard to 8-under for the tournament. Then the wheels fell off.

Hoefle struggled to a 6-over 42 on the back for a round of 75, which relegated him to a five-way tie for 34th with a 54-hole total of 2-under 214.

"I felt really good (making the turn) and after the next four holes I didn't feel so good anymore," said Hoefle, a business teacher, head sophomore basketball coach and assistant boys' golf coach at Linn-Mar.

Hoefle's final round Sunday started brilliantly. He birdied No. 1, No. 2 (a par-5) and No. 5 to move to 3-under for the round after the first five holes. He parred-out over the remainder of the front, but couldn't have possibly known what the back-nine held.

A former pro with experience on both the PGA and Nationwide tours, Hoefle double-bogeyed No. 10, took another double-7 on the par-5 No. 12, and followed that up with a double-6 on the par-4 No. 13. He bogeyed the par-3 No. 14 before shooting 1-under - thanks to a birdie on the par-5 No. 17 - over the final four holes.

The problems started when he lost a ball on No. 10 and things snowballed from there.

"Looking at what they shot to win today, if I shot a 67 or 68, I'm in the top-five," Hoefle said. "I guess that's why I'm not playing for a living anymore."

What Hoefle loves to do is coach basketball and golf.

"I love being the (sophomore) basketball coach and the (assistant) golf coach - I'll be that until Coach (Steve) Kahler is done and I'll take that over," Hoefle said. "I really enjoy that part of my occupation. The teaching and the in-classroom stuff is good and I enjoy that, but I really enjoy the coaching."

Hoefle, 40, used to play a lot of local pro tournaments, including the prestigious Waterloo Open. He also has participated in U.S. Open qualifiers in May and might play in the Iowa Open this year.

"I enjoy the competition," Hoefle said. "A day like today makes me realize why I don't do it (on a full-time basis) anymore, but it's cool to play against those 23-, 24-, 25-year-olds, and they say, 'Oh my gosh, how am I getting beat by this 40-year-old?'

"It can bring the best out of you and it can bring the worst out of you," he said of the competition. "How you deal with that, hopefully, is an example for others. I probably wasn't the best example today for others, but I never gave up. For four holes I wasn't very good, but for 50 holes I was just about as good as anybody out there."

Andy Winings of Brownsburg, Ind., won the Open Professional Division of the tournament with a 12-under 204. He went 64-69 on Friday and Saturday before finishing with a 71 on Sunday. The win was good for a $20,000 paycheck.

Gregory Mahony of Tequesta, Fla. (205) and Steve Friesen of Scottsdale, Ariz. (206) rounded out the top three in the Open Pro Division. Jack Newman of Des Moines and defending champion Sean McCarty of Solon each shot 212 and tied for 20th for the highest finish among players who still call Iowa home (Hoefle's 214 ranked fifth in that category.)

Jerry Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., an Oskaloosa native and PGA Tour regular who qualified for this year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and Dave Rummells of Kissimmee, Fla. (a West Branch native), finished fourth and 14th, respectively.

Former Linn-Mar prep and recent Wake Forest University graduate Marc Gladson returned to the GCRO for the first time as a professional, and shot a 1-under 72-71 in the first two rounds, but missed the cut by one stroke.

Linn-Mar golf coach Steve Kahler of Marion shot a 10-over 226 and finished in a tie for eighth in the Amateur Division. Chad Kellogg of Marion finished 10th with a 16-over 232.

George Gartelos, Ryan Schrimper and Bradley Neuville of Marion all missed the Amateur Division cut. Nate Dunn of Hiawatha won the Amateur Division, followed by Chris James of Cedar Rapids, Chad McCarty of North Liberty and Dan Holterhaus of Hiawatha.