Around the Green

Logan Philley Wins In Sudden Death at the West Texas Amateur

For the third straight day, players at the 85^th
Annual West Texas Amateur were provided with perfect weather, and ideal scoring
conditions. Although each division had a clear leader going into the final
round, conditions couldn’t have been better for those looking to make a move. In all, 67 players from the three divisions
made the cut and returned to San Angelo Country Club for the final round on
Sunday.

The Super Senior division got started with nine players
returning to fight for the title. Bill Holstead, three-time champion of the
West Texas Amateur (1967, 1977, 1978), started the day with a two shot lead.
Holstead played consistent golf on his first front side making nine straight
pars to start the day. On the back side, he started out with another par on the
10^th hole before making his first bogey of the day on the par-4 11^th.
He would go on to make six more pars between holes 12 and 17 before carding one
more bogey at the 18^th to finish the day with a 2-over par 73. It
wasn’t his ideal final round, but Holsteads 54-hole total of 1-over par, 214, was
enough to give him the championship. Finishing tied for second with the best
round of the day for the Super Senior division was Sam Boyd of Kemah. Boyd also
played consistent golf matching two birdies with two bogeys on his way to an
even-par round of 71, and 54-hole total of 4-over par, 217. With his low round,
Boyd moved up two spots on the leaderboard on the final day. Also tied for
second with Boyd was 2011 Super Senior division champion Michael Hastings. Hastings closed with a 3-over par round of 74.

In the Senior division, Mike Peck of Irving was the
wire-to-wire champion. Peck had a four shot lead heading into the final round
and had no intentions of giving it up. Peck made two quick birdies on holes 3
and 5 to make the turn in 2-under par. He then traded shots with the course on
the back nine making two birdies and two bogeys to finish at 2-under par, 69,
and record his third straight round in the 60’s for the event. Pecks 54-hole
total of 9-under par, 204, was enough to claim the 2013 Senior division title
and gave him a three shot victory over Mac McGee of Midland. McGee made up
ground in the final round posting the low round of the day for the Senior
division. McGee bogeyed the 1^st hole to start the day, but followed
that up with five birdies in the next 17 holes to shoot 4-under par, 67. His
54-hole total of 6-under par, 207, was good enough to finish alone in second
place. Finishing five shots behind McGee and tied for third were Lee Sandlin,
Bob Kearney, and Denny Alexander.

Logan Philley of Robert Lee came into the final round on
Sunday with a three shot lead. Logan made a quick birdie on the par-3, 2^nd,
and then finished the front side making bogey on the 8^th and another
birdie on the 9^th. At 1-under par the for his first nine holes, Philley
put himself in a great position heading into the back nine. Playing alongside
Philley was Michael Culin of Plano. Culin started the day three shots behind
Philley and was looking to make a move. Culin took advantage of the conditions
making birdies on four of his first 6 holes. He would go on to bogey the 7^th
hole, but added another birdie at the 9^th to turn in 3-under and
pull within one shot of Philley. Both players went on to par the 10^th,
and birdie the 11^th. They then matched pars on holes 12 through 14.
Philley then made a bogey on the 15^th to give up sole possession of
the lead when Culin made his par. Both players then made birdies on 16 and 17
before closing with pars at 18 to finish tied with 54-hole totals of 9-under
par, 204. Culins 6-under par, 65, was
the low round of the week. A sudden death playoff was needed to determine the
eventual champion.

The players returned to the 17^th hole for the
playoff with Philley teeing off first. Philleys drive found the middle of the
fairway and put him in perfect position for his approach shot into the green.
Culins tee shot found the right rough and ended up under a tree giving him a
very difficult shot into the green. Philley would hit first and when hole
hunting , sticking his approach to within 8 feet of the hole. Culin then hit a
fantastic shot, given his circumstances, advancing the ball to the greenside
bunker just short of the hole. Faced with defeat, Culin nearly holed his bunker
shot, leaving it just inches from dropping. Taking advantage of perfectly
executed approach shot, Philley calmly stepped up and sank his putt for birdie
to win the sudden death playoff and claim the 85^th Annual West Texas
Amateur Championship.

For a complete list of scores, please visit WWW.TXGA.ORG.