Peter Spittler has been hanging around his hometown of Saline for the past week, trying to figure out how he walked away with the City of Ann Arbor men’s amateur golf championship.

“Some of my friends in the tournament couldn’t believe I won and I was more surprised than anyone when I won it,” he said. “My expectations were so low, I think that’s why I ended up winning. I just went out there to have fun.”

It wasn’t that those friends questioned Spittler’s ability. They just knew the 2010 Saline High School graduate hadn’t played a competitive round of golf in more than a year. And he has no plans to play another in the foreseeable future.

“I just thought it would be fun to take a couple days off work and play in a tournament,” he said.

The tournament got a little more fun when he shot an even-par 72 in the first round at Leslie Park Golf Course. After two days, he was two strokes off the lead and his mindset changed.

“Well, let’s win this thing now,” he remembers thinking. “I think at some point I realized that even though I hadn’t played competitively for a while, I’d spent the 10 years before that playing. The nerves went away.”

Time for golf has been sparse since Spittler graduated from Saline. He’s attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., one of the top aviation and aerospace colleges in the country.

He’s also a member of the U.S. Air Force ROTC program with plans for a career in the Air Force as a pilot or paratrooper.

The responsibilities of school and ROTC kept Spittler from trying out for the Embry-Riddle golf team, which competes at the NAIA level.

Since he’s been home for the summer, Spittler has gotten in a couple rounds each week between his time working as a groundskeeper at Travis Pointe Country Club and completing a chemistry class at Washtenaw Community College.

Those rounds -- plus four or five more back in Daytona Beach throughout the school year -- were the extent of his play since his Saline high school team played in a Division 1 regional tournament in May 2010.

Earlier that same month, Spittler lost Southeastern Conference medalist honors in a playoff against Huron’s Alex Wunderlich. On Sunday at Leslie Park, Spittler led Wunderlich by one stroke as they walked up the 18th fairway.

Spittler put his second shot into the edge of a bunker near the green, from where he says he hit his best shot of the day. He left his chip 10 feet from the hole and birdied for a three-day total of 215 and a two-stroke win over his old rival and friend.

Saline’s Peter Wood finished third with a 218.

There’ll be no more tournaments for Spittler before he returns to Daytona Beach in late August. He already has plans: A visit with his brother, Jack, in Colorado; getting his wisdom teeth pulled and completing another WCC course.

But the Ann Arbor men’s city title has made him reevaluate his golf game just a little.

“It makes you want to play competitive golf again,” he said. “Maybe I’ll play a little more now that I realize I still have it in me. Maybe try out for team at Embry-Riddle if I can handle that and school.“

Rich Rezler is a sports producer for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734-623-2553 or richrezler@annarbor.com.