It isn't Tom Schill's crowning achievement in golf, but Sunday's senior victory at the 61st annual Fort Dodge Amateur definitely ranks among the best.

The Gowrie resident posted a four-stroke win over three challengers - including Fort Dodge's Dave Sergeant and Tom Kesterson - to capture his first title as a long-standing participant in the event at the Fort Dodge Country Club.

In the open division, Iowa State University golfer Ben Herrera's furious final-day comeback netted him the championship by a single shot over Algona's Bill Manske and Humboldt High School graduate Jeff Panek.

Bob Niemann of Lake Suzy, Fla. - a former Webster City resident - took the inaugural super senior crown over Fort Dodge's Phil Joselyn and Ken Whitehead of West Des Moines. Niemann posted rounds of 78, 76 and 76 to claim the victory.

The 52-year-old Schill is no stranger to the top of an amateur leaderboard, but his FD Am triumph exorcised plenty of demons yesterday afternoon. Schill never did capture the open division crown here, but does have five runner-up finishes in his bag.

''It feels good to finally get one, considering how many times I've been close here through the years,'' Schill said. ''In golf, you have to play well of course, but you also have to catch some breaks. Fortunately, everything fell into place for me (on Sunday).''

Schill's steady hand guided him around the whipping winds and an inauspicious start. Bogeys at holes 10 and 11 left him at five-over par midway through his round, and at that point, ''I had to calm down, reset and ask myself if I really wanted to get this done.''

He did. Birdies at 12 and 13 got the ball rolling again, and pars at 16, 17 and 18 secured the trophy for Schill when Kesterson double-bogeyed 17 and bogeyed 18.

With the monkey finally off his back, Schill rated the win among his most gratifying amateur moments on the links.

''It's not as special to me as winning with Nate, which will always be my biggest thrill,'' Schill said, referring to the IGA father-son championship he earned with the Prairie Valley High School standout and senior-to-be 10 years ago. ''But it is meaningful because I've had a lot of frustrating moments here. This is such a great course - I have a tremendous amount of respect for (head professional) Steve (Fuller) and his staff, as well as the groundscrew. This is one of the best tournaments around year-in and year-out.''

Schill also thanked ''the queen bee'' of his family.

''I'm incredibly fortunate that I have such a supportive and understanding wife (Rachel),'' Schill added. ''I'm a lucky man.''

Herrera, who just completed his junior year as a regular on the Cyclone squad, trailed by a seemingly-insurmountable 10 shots with only 18 holes left. The 2005 West Des Moines Valley graduate caught fire at the right time, though, carding a three-under 68 on Sunday from the second-to-last group as the final foursome faltered.

''I was a little more aggressive, because being 10 back, I really didn't have anything to lose,'' said Herrera, who has been a regular visitor to the FDCC since early in his junior career. ''I didn't necessarily hit any better (yesterday) than the first two rounds (71 and 72), but I rolled in some putts, which obviously makes a huge difference.''

Herrera, the defending Iowa Masters champ, went from also-ran to contender with an eagle into the wind at the par-five 15th. He parred the rest, and without knowing the exact circumstances of the race, thought he might be able to at least force a playoff.

''I wasn't really sure where I stood, until someone said on our last hole that the group behind us was struggling,'' Herrera said. ''I just wanted to post a good score and see what happened. But yes, I was surprised that I won it outright.''

Fort Dodge's Kevin Ault fired rounds of 66 and 69 to take a four-stroke lead into the final round, but a 78 on Sunday left the Lakeside Course manager on the outside looking in. Manske (73-71-68-212) matched Herrera's red effort yesterday to slide into the runner-up position, which he shared with Panek (70-69-73-212).

Ault, the three-time defending city champ, was fourth, and former FD Am repeat winner Cory Braunschweig (73-70-71-214) finished fifth.

Contact Eric Pratt at (515) 573-2141, or by e-mail at sports@messengernews.net