PIQUA — It wasn’t easy.

But, Jeff Jennings was the winner of the Echo Hills Handicap Match Play tournament, holding off Brendan O’Leary 3-and-2 Tuesday afternoon at Echo Hills.

Something neither probably would have envisioned when the tournament began.

Jennings came in as the 10th seed, while O’Leary was trying to make history by winning as the 16th seed.

Jennings opened with a 2-up win over Dennis Bradley, defeated Dan Weatherly 3-and-2 and topped Ryan Pearson 5-and-4 in the semifinals.

“Not at all,” Jennings said about expecting to win. “Most of the guys I played, I am pretty even with. Ryan (Pearson) had to give me a couple shots. I was giving Brendan (O’Leary) shots on six holes today. That’s tough.

“You saw how far he hits the ball. Look at the people Brendan beat in this tournament. I played with Brendan earlier this year. He is a different player now. He is just going to keep moving up.”

O’Leary beat top seed and defending champ Brian Deal 3-and-1, topped eighth seed Mike Bosse 2-up and fifth seed Doug Harter 2-and-1.

“It really has been (a great experience), O’Leary said. “It was a lot of fun. You look at it, I played with some of the best golfers out here. I beat Brian Deal, Mike Bosse and Doug Harter. My whole approach to the tournament was survive and advance. This was a good match today. Jeff is a good player. I wish I had played a little better. I felt like I struggled with my 58 degree wedge all day.”

Jennings won the first two holes, but O’Leary answered by winning holes three and four to square the match and for 13 holes, it was back-and-forth.

“Anything can happen in match play,” Jennings said. “That start was crazy. He seemed nervous at the start and I won the first two holes. I told myself there was a long way to go and there was.”

A pivotal point came on the 12th and 13th holes, two holes were O’Leary was getting a shot.

O’Leary won the 12th hole to even the match and they halved the 13th hole.

“To get out of those two holes all square was big,” Jennings said.

On the 305-yard par-4 13th hole, both players hit their drives to the top of the hill.

“I hit a nine-wood (off the tee) to keep it in play,” Jennings said. “I was hoping to get to the top of the hill and fortunately I did.”

O’Leary was just short of the green in two and Jennings was on the front fringe.

“I chunked a chip and then I hit my par putt past the hole,” O’Leary said.

Jennings was able to win 14 and won the par-3 15th with a par to go 2-up.

He closed the match out by winning 16.

“You look at it, 16 is a pretty tough driving hole,” Jennings said. “Sometimes, you just have find a way. Today, I played conservatively a lot and that worked out pretty well for me.”

In a matchup of two golfers who never expected to be playing for the title.

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Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]