Cody Jaeschke knew that sooner or later, his time would come.

After years of frustrating moments seeing other players enjoy their time in the spotlight, it was Jaeschke’s turn to shine on Sunday at the annual Travis J. Habhab Memorial tournament at Lakeside Golf Course.

Playing from behind in the second-to-last group, the 38-year-old Jaeschke fired a sparkling two-under par 34 in the championship nine to rally and win the first local major of his career. He was joined in the winner’s circle by Andy Scott of Boone, who captured the inaugural senior division crown.

Jaeschke, who grew up in Moorland and owns Jaeschke Trucking in Fort Dodge, has a plethora of career Top-5 finishes to his credit both here and at other regional tourneys. At this event alone most recently, Jaeschke lost in a playoff two years ago and took third last June.

“Finally got one,” Jaeschke laughed. “It felt good to put it all together. You never really know, because there have been years where I thought I played well enough to win but someone just had a better round or tournament. That’s the way this goes.

“You control what you can and hope it’s enough. Fortunately, this time around, it was.”

Jaeschke was at two-under par 70 after the opening 18 holes, trailing previous Lakeside Am champs Eddie Doyle (68), Austin Morrow (68) and Kevin Ault (68). Starting on the 18th hole for the final round, Jaeschke worked his way up the leaderboard with birdies at 10, 11, 15 and 16 to get to six-under par.

A double-bogey at the par-3 17th – his final hole – threatened to derail his chances, but Jaeschke (four-under 104) had still closed two strokes clear of Doyle (106) and five ahead of third-place finisher Cory Cummins (109). Ault (110), Justin Jorgensen (111) and Morrow (111) rounded out the Top-5.

“I had a good day off the tee with my driver, and my putter was working well,” Jaeschke said. “I thought maybe I’d blown my chance with that double on the last hole. Thankfully, it didn’t cost me.

“I didn’t exactly know where I stood (compared to the final threesome) score-wise…you just have to play your own game and see if maybe you can go low and the others slip up.”

Cummins (even-par 36) and Jorgensen (36) also played well down the stretch, but no one else shot better than 38 on Lakeside’s sometimes-treacherous back side.

Scott, the super senior division gold medalist at the Briggs Woods Senior Amateur in Webster City last month, fired a two-under par 70 and then capped his brilliant effort with a three-under 33 in the final nine. At five-under 103, Scott was five strokes clear of runner-up Jim Bryan (even-par 108) in the senior bracket.

The field enjoyed mild temperatures and relatively breezy conditions. The rain didn’t reach the Fort Dodge area until after the tournament had concluded.

This event is held annually to honor Habhab, a 2001 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate who died unexpectedly in 2014 at just 32 years old. Habhab was a long-time Lakeside clubhouse staffer and grounds crew worker.

The Lakeside Amateur was renamed the Travis J. Habhab Memorial tournament a year after his passing in 2015.

HABHAB MEMORIAL LAKESIDE AMATEUR

Open Division

Championship Flight

1. Cody Jaeschke 70-34-104; 2. Eddie Doyle 68-38-106; 3. Cory Cummins 73-36-109; 4. Kevin Ault 68-42-110; 5. Justin Jorgensen 75-36-111; 6. Austin Morrow 68-43-111; 7. Jordan Morrow 72-40-112; 8. Nick Anderson 75-40-115; 9. Austin Vote 73-45-118.

First Flight

1. Dustin Hector, 76; 2. Jared Gross, 76; 3. Brady Dixon, 77.

Second Flight

1. Devin Sullivan, 83; 2. Andrew Berger, 84; 3. Zach Stanley, 84.

Senior Division

Championship Flight

1. Andy Scott 70-33-103; 2. Jim Bryan 71-37-108; 3. Jon Kern 72-39-111; 4. Steve Huss 74-37-111.

1st Flight

1. Greg Sampson, 76; 2. Rick Pingel, 77.