FRANKLIN TWP — Par 5's? No problem.

Mike Marron, 37, of Parker birdied the 499-yard No. 15 hole and 531-yard No. 16 Sunday morning at Lake Arthur Golf Club. Those shots paved the way for a 2-under-par 70 and victory in the 20th annual Butler Eagle County Amateur.

And he needed those shots.

“I was able to get up and down on those consecutive long holes. That probably made the difference for me today,” Marron said.

Marron started his round on the par-3 No. 13 hole. He shot par on 13 and 14 before getting the two birdies. He also birdied No.'s 1, 4 and 7.

Marron wound up with a two-stroke victory over surprising Jenna Rinker of Slippery Rock and Nathan Bilski. Bilski won the 2006 Eagle Amateur at Lake Arthur.

Bilski had six birdies on the day and shot the lowest round among the afternoon players.

“I play this course all of the time,” Bilski said. “I'm comfortable with my shots here.”

By contrast, Rinker, 23, had never played 18 holes at Lake Arthur and isn't sure she's ever played the course at all.

“Nine holes in high school, maybe ... But I don't remember it,” Rinker said. “I wish I had done a practice round before this.

“Not knowing the course, I made the wrong club selection off the tee a few times.”

Rinker won the first flight by four strokes over Dan Kos and the women's division by six strokes over Marissa DeCola. She might have finished first overall if not for a double bogey on the par-3 No. 9 hole.

“I totally blew up there,” Rinker admitted. “I chunked my tee shot, then chipped one over the green. It took a couple of miraculous shots after that just to get what I did.

“I haven't played much golf this summer. I'm a sales rep and the spare time just isn't there. I practiced for a while to get ready for this, though.”

Bilski had double bogeys on No.'s 6 and 3 to miss out on the chance to become a second-time Eagle Amateur champion.

He said the par-5 No. 6 hole is the one he'd like to have back.

“I tried hitting my tee shot over the trees to bite off some distance, but I caught the top of a shrub nearby and my drive didn't go very far at all,” Bilski said. “It was an uphill fight from there.”

Ultimately, the day belonged to Marron. He had never won the tournament before, having finished second once. His brother, Chris, was Eagle Amateur champion in 2003.

“The greens were really fast and the course was set up tough today,” Marron said. “Pin placements were tricky enough that if you didn't keep your shots on track, it was awfully hard to make par.

“The practice green seemed fairly normal, but my first putt on my first hole rolled about eight or 10 feet past it. The greens were fast. That adjustment had to be made real quick.”

Marron is a member at St. Jude and Foxburg Country Club.

His uncle, Jerry Marron, 63, of Foxburg tied for first place with Greg Chiappini in the seniors (age 50-over) division. Both shot a 73.

“That's the best I've shot in this event in about 30 years,” Jerry Marron said. “I was pretty happy with it, but I played in the same group as Mike today, so I was playing under the radar.

“He played a great round, making some tough shots.”

Pat Seybert and Brandon Johnston tied for the second flight crown with an 81, but Johnston could not make it back to the course for a playoff. Cory Birckbichler won the third flight with an 80, five strokes better than Ron Vodenichar.

There were 164 golfers registered for the one-day tournament.

<B>Butler Eagle County AmateurChampionship Flight</b>Mike Marron 34-36-70Nathan Bilski 37-35-72Greg Chiappini 38-35-73Jerry Marron 37-36-73John Brough III 38-36-74Matt Eshelman 38-36-74Jim Hepler 35-39-74Mark Marion 37-37-74Jeremy Plaisted 37-37-74Sean Wright 39-36-75Dave Hungerman 37-39-76Pat Preston 39-37-76Bob Yuhas 38-38-76Jake Bowser 35-42-77Rob Voltz 37-40-77Mike Brady 38-40-78Marissa DeCola 38-40-78Brian Giesler 40-38-78Justin Maskal 38-40-78Dave Ruffaner 39-39-78Bob Shakely 37-41-78Ken Fair 37-42-79Maurice Ferentino 38-41-79John Hook 38-41-79Frank Hulick 42-37-79Chuck Moody 39-40-79Brad Posey 39-40-79Bill Black 40-40-80John Carpenter 40-40-80Ryan Collins 39-41-80Ted Marron 37-44-81Jeff Byrns 41-41-82Leo Marron 40-42-82Travis Shingleton 38-44-82Ross Bondo 43-40-83Chud Carless 41-42-83Steve Steighner 41-42-83Gene Seezox 42-42-84Greg Brandt 42-43-85Nic Leone 40-45-85Ryan Pinkerton 42-43-85Gary Shingleton 40-45-85Henry Bartony Jr. 44-43-87Randy Giesler 43-44-87Ed Wall 47-40-87William Tegethoff 43-46-89Henry Bartony III 39-55-94<B>1st Flight</B>Jenna Rinker 37-35-72Dan Kos 38-38-76Don Clark 38-40-78Tom Watson 38-40-78Doug Simmons 41-38-79Todd Simmons 40-39-79D.J. Ealy 41-39-80Linda Murrman 38-42-80Brent Ohl 41-39-80Dave Korn 40-41-81Larry McFeely 42-39-81Adrien McWilliams 39-42-81Frank Pinto 36-45-81Jim Frye 41-41-82Kurt Fuhrer 41-42-83Frank Lefevre 42-41-83Alan Miles 40-43-83Jeff Scott 41-42-83John Brough Jr. 41-43-84Pete Brough 41-43-84Dan Lemmon 42-42-84Joe Malloy 39-45-84Austin McCarren 44-40-84Rich Botti 41-44-85Patrick Hohn 39-46-85Mike Kaczmarek 40-45-85Brady Randall 42-43-85Ed Glover 41-45-86Jared Farabee 44-42-86Tim McLister 45-41-86John Mohr 42-44-86Scott Choura 40-47-87Larry Gizienski 45-42-87Frank Rice 48-40-88Mike Scarver 43-45-88Tim Hunter 43-46-89Carl Miller 44-45-89Ed Mokos 41-48-89Bob Rezzetano 42-47-89Jim Ellis 47-43-90Rick Scott 47-43-90Jeremy Bennett 45-46-91Jon Cross 42-49-91Larry Goettler 47-44-91Larry McWilliams 43-48-91Jim Reeder 44-47-91Gary Walos 46-46-92Jon Bard 47-46-93Don Hartshorn 48-46-94William Moulis 49-53-102Neal Sanders 52-51-103<B>2nd Flight</B>Pat Seybert 41-40-81Brandon Johnston 41-40-81Rory Page 44-40-84Bill Uram 40-44-84Dennis Gallagher 41-44-85Keith Long 42-43-85Mike Kanai 44-41-85David McPeak 42-43-85Nelson Johnson 42-44-86Steve Beck 44-44-88Bill Smith 46-42-88Sharon Goncz 43-46-89Jason Steyer 43-48-91Dan Waltman 40-51-91Diane Young 47-45-92Brandon Simmons 47-46-93Don Leslie 48-47-95Sam Oesterling 48-47-95Bob Jarecki 46-50-96Gary Wallace 51-48-99Ryan Stankovic 51-49-100James Johnston 54-52-106<B>3rd Flight</B>Cory Birckbichler 42-38-80Ron Vodenichar 42-43-85Matt Steighner 43-43-86Donna McClymonds 43-44-87Mark Iarrpino 42-47-89Steve Newcomb 42-49-91Dan Stewart 43-48-91Britton Simmons 45-47-92Denny Kelly 45-48-93Mark Stulginsky 44-50-94Brenda Lemmon 46-49-95John Capers 49-48-97Glen Fleming 48-49-97James Hulings 45-52-97Joe Birckbichler 50-48-98Neil Dorsey 50-48-98Brenda Kiley 46-52-98Frank Schiralli 51-48-99Jim Weifenbaugh 50-49-99Nick Parison 48-52-100Frank Hawryliak 52-49-101Denny Hemphill 50-52-102Tony Malacaman 50-52-102Carol Trainor 450-52-102Carolyn Cajka 52-51-103Art Rauschenberger 53-50-103Ken Randall 51-55-106Earl Duffey 54-53-107Jerry Tebay 51-58-109Justin Mendel 55-56-111Robert Ryder 53-61-114