His buddies – the competition – kidded Andrew Emerson after he and partner Antonio Serrano earned a one-stroke victory Friday at the Kansas Golf Assn.’s Mid-Amateur Team Championship.

Emerson, of Kansas City, Kan., has played in tournaments with some of the same golfers for years, and his first victory at a Mid-Amateur was reason for some jawing.

“I’ve played in a lot of these things and had a lot of close calls,” Emerson said. “All of my cronies have won one, and now I finally got one.”

The third and final round at Alvamar Country Club was a close call. The teams played a fourball format, meaning both partners played each hole and the lower score was recorded.

After 17 holes, there was a three-way tie for first place between Emerson/Serrano, Jay Hepler/Tyler Shelton and Andy Smith/Berwyn Sasek. Emerson said he knew his team needed a birdie on No. 18 to win.

“It was either birdie the hole or go to a three-way playoff,” Emerson said.

Smith and Sasek already had posted a 6-under-par 210, and both Emerson/Serrano and Hepler/Shelton, playing together, needed par to tie.

Emerson’s tee shot landed in the fairway 89 yards from the hole, and a sand wedge from there left a 41â2-foot putt for birdie, which he sank for a 3-under 69. Hepler/Shelton made par, finishing at 210 and sealing the win for Emerson/Serrano.

“He made the putt of the year,” said Serrano, of Springfield, Mo.

It wasn’t that easy all day. Emerson/Serrano bogeyed Nos. 12 and 13 and fell one stroke off the lead. Birdies on Nos. 16 and 18, though, were enough.

“We three-putted 12 and 13, and we really leaking oil at that point,” Emerson said. “I was starting to get pretty nervous.”

“We didn’t play good, but we played good enough to win,” Serrano said. We were one-legged all day. Whenever I played bad, he played good, and when he was playing bad, I played OK.”

Second-round leaders Sid McKnight and David Rismiller finished fourth at 211 after a turbulent third-round score of 2-over-par 74.