SLIPPERY ROCK — After a rough start, Doug Knox got a grip on himself.

More importantly, he got the right grip on the golf club.

After starting his round with three consecutive bogies and a missed birdie putt, the 50-year-old Slippery Rock resident changed the grip on his putter — and won the 11th annual Butler Eagle Amateur Open golf tournament Sunday at Oakview Golf Club.

Knox carded an even-par 70 to win the one-day event by a stroke over Ken Fair and Geoff Patterson, both of Butler.

The tournament field of 184 golfers was its largest in history, besting the 182 who competed in the 2001 Eagle Open at Lake Arthur Country Club.

“I switched to a reverse grip on my putter maybe a month ago,” Knox said. “It had been working well for me, but not today.

“When I missed a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 16 (after beginning play on No. 13), I had enough. I went back to my regular overlapping grip and got on a roll.”

After his fourth hole, Knox said he “began getting up and down with regularity.”

He three-putted only once, on hole No. 8.

Beginning with No. 18, Knox birdied six of 11 holes to end his round at even par.

Knox became the 10th different winner in the last 10 years of the Eagle Amateur.“I felt good about my score because the wind was picking up on my last hole or so,” Knox said. “I used a 9-iron from 125 yards out and it was heading dead-center. The wind pushed it 15 yards to the left and I wound up with a bogey.“I thought the afternoon guys might have trouble.”He was right.Fair and Patterson both played the morning round. Bill Black had the best score of the afternoon group with a 2-over-par 72.“Morning to afternoon were two different days today,” Black said. “The wind was blowing much harder.“You couldn’t play aggressively in the afternoon. It even affected my putting. On one hole, I was putting down-wind and couldn’t go for it … I was afraid my ball would wind up 10 feet past the hole.”Patterson noticed the change in conditions during the back nine of his round.“The wind was swirling and you just couldn’t read it,” he said. “It was hard to pick the right club. I was glad I played when I did because it was only going to get worse.”Patterson began the day on hole No. 1 and had a chance to tie Knox on the final hole, but missed a four-foot birdie putt.“At the time, I didn’t know what the situation was with the other players,” Patterson said. “I didn’t think it’d matter either way at that point. I figured I’d have to go 2-under for the day to win.”Patterson won the Oakview club championship in 2003. Knox has been a member there as well, but had not competed in the Eagle Amateur for nearly a decade.He wasn’t planning on competing this year, either. He didn’t enter until Saturday.“I played a round here Saturday and shot a 72,” Knox said. “Since I was playing halfway decent, I decided to take a shot at it.”Knox only plays golf on a regular basis during the summer. He is a physical education and driver’s education teacher at A-C Valley and serves as the school’s head athletic trainer as well.“Summer is the only time I have to play golf,” he said.Fair was surprised to find himself among the contenders.“I knew I was playing a good round, one of my best rounds of the year,” he said. “I was 1-under at one point, but wasn’t sure where my score would fall overall.“When someone told me Rob Voltz shot a 74, I started thinking … I might be in this, because Rob’s pretty good.”John Plunkard won the first flight with a 5-over-par 75, beating Frank Rice in a one-hole playoff. Plunkard birdied No. 1 to win the playoff.Pete Brough easily won the second flight with a 79, beating Jim Davidson and Jim Russell by four strokes each.Dave Krason won the third flight with an 85 — two strokes better than Wayne Bell and Marc Nagle — and claimed the seniors (age 50-over) net title as well.