Around the Green

The latest golf-related news, notes, and feature stories from the TGA.

Neeley Wins by Ten at the North Amateur Championship

Mansfield, TX
Sunday brought players back to the Walnut Creek Country Club Pecan Course for
the final round of the 2013 North Amateur Championship presented by UST Mamiya.
The field was met once again with clear skies, hot temperatures, and a
difficult golf course.

Luke Neeley , a member at Walnut Creek, came into the final
round at 5-under par and with a five shot lead. He had many great players
behind him, but with his course knowledge, he had no intentions of letting
anyone back into the picture. Neeley started the day with six straight pars
before finishing out the front side with birdies on the 7th and 9th
holes to turn in 2-under. He quickly made another birdie on the 10th
to move to 3-under for the day and 8-under for the tournament. After pars on
holes 11 through 14, Neeley made another birdie at the par-4 15th,
but quickly gave it back with a bogey at the 16th. Looking to finish
strong, Neeley made a par on the difficult 17th, and finished a
fantastic week of golf with a birdie on the 18th to shoot a final
round of 4-under par, 66. Neeley finished the championship with a 54-hole total
of 9-under par, 201, and won by a commanding 10 shots. Neeley was the only
player to finish under par for the championship, and his final round 66 was the
low round of the week.

Finishing alone in second place was Colby Harwell of
Robinson. Harwell entered the day five shots behind Neeley and was unable to
make up any ground with only one birdie on his card for the final round.
Harwell’s final round of 1-over par, 71, gave him a 54-hole total of 1-over
par, 211. Finishing one shot behind Harwell and alone in third place was first
round co-leader Brandon Scott. Scott had two birdies and three bogeys on the
day to shoot 1-over for the round, and 2-over for the championship. Rounding out
the top five are Mike Lohner of Southlake and Ted Waldrip of Arlington. Lohner fired
one of the three under par rounds for Sunday shooting 2-under and moving him
into a tie for 4th. Waldrip was unable to overcome four bogeys on
his backside and shot 2-over for the final round.

For full results, please visit www.txga.org.