Lloyd Jefferson Go goes low at the Dogwood, shooting 67-67-67-66
By Yianni Gogonas
ATLANTA, GA (July 1, 2017) - After weeks of threatening leaderboards on Callaway’s
One Epic Summer Tour, Seton Hall’s
Lloyd Jefferson Go from the Philippines was able to put the pieces together and break through with a win on Saturday in Atlanta. The 2017 Dogwood Champion fell behind early but made a furious charge that would be just enough to edge ahead of the field, winning by one shot over Georgia Tech golfer
Luke Schniederjans.
Related: Dogwood Invitational Daily Video Coverage
Go would begin the day in a three-way tie for the lead, shared with former champion
Dawson Armstrong, who has had plenty of experience at Druid Hills, winning The Dogwood in 2015 and finishing in a tie for second in last year’s championship; and Campbell’s
Gaston Bertinotti from Argentina who was hoping to cap off an impressive 66-68-67 performance with a big win.
Unfortunately for Armstrong and Bertinotti, neither player would be able to conjure the sort of play needed to win in such a strong field, shooting 71 and 72, respectively.
Go would begin the day slowly, giving shots back with bogeys on 3 and 5, the only mistakes he would make on Saturday before catching fire. Birdies on 7 and 8 would take him back to 15-under-par, and one more on the 9th would bring Go into the red numbers for the day.
"I came off a rough start," said Go to AmateurGolf.com's Kevin Cassidy. "I was two over after five holes...hitting it everywhere. But I turned it around, birdied 7, birdied 8, birdied 9, came alive."
Schniederjans, who shot 66 in his final effort was making some noise of his own, playing one group ahead of Go. After starting the back nine with a bogey, Schniederjans would go on to make a birdie on the 12th, following it with an eagle on the par-5 15th. Unfortunately, after another birdie on the 16th, he would stifle his chances greatly with a costly lip-out bogey on the long par-3 17th. He made par on the 18th to finish at 20-under-par.
When asked about his round Schniederjans offered, "It was a great round. I made two eagles. If you would have told me that at the start of the round, I would have been really happy, so I played good golf, just came up short and missed a few putts."
Go continued his torrid pace on the back nine, coming home in 31, ignited by an incredible hole-out for an eagle 2 on the 432-yard 11th hole. Go racked up three more birdies on 14, 15, 17, before making a par on 18 that would wrap up 6-under-par 66, the best of 21-under-par week that he began with three straight rounds of 67.
Go was not looking at the leaderboard as he played the back nine, so he was not aware of his standing as he was making his run. "I holed out for eagle on 11 and I thought the put me in the lead," he said. After making two more birdies and as he was walking off the sixteenth green, he asked where he stood.
Still assuming he was in the lead, he was surprised to hear that he was tied with Schniederjans. But he immediately told himself "I've got to birdie 17 or 18."
His 4-iron on the long par-3 17th settled to within fifteen feet, but it left him with a sharply breaking right-to-left putt.
"I said to my caddie, 'I've got to make this putt. This putt is big. And I drained it.'"
"It's definitely one of the biggest moments of my life."
Go will play in three more major amateur tournaments this summer before returning home to the Philippines and attempting to play his way onto the Japan Tour.
Armstrong would finish in a three-way tie for third with Austin Fulton and
Steven Fisk, who both closed with a five-under 67.
Bertinotti fell into a tie for sixth with first-round leader
Bryson Nimmer and
Benjamin Shipp, who had the low round of the tournament, an eight-under 64 that included an eagle and seven birdies.
Last year's winner
Charles Huntzinger closed with a 69 to finish tied for ninth at 14-under.
A rain-softened Druid Hills course allowed for low scoring all week, as an amazing 22 players finished the tournament in double-digits under par. All 42 players who made the cut finished the tournament under par.
ABOUT THE
Dogwood Invitational
Tournament week is June 2-7 at Druid Hills
Golf
Club
in
Atlanta, Georgia. The entry fee includes
breakfast
and lunch
tournament days as
well
as special events.
The history of this prestigious event extends
back to
1941, when legendary amateur Tommy Barnes
captured his first of five Dogwood titles.
Evolving
with
the times, the modern Dogwood has produced
fine
champions like Webb Simpson (’07), Brian
Harman
(’09), Dawson Armstrong (’15), and in 2019
Brandon
Mancheno. This
evolution can
be
seen also in our course renovations and set-up,
our
relaxed tournament atmosphere, and our spirit
of
social
responsibility.
Players are required to walk during tournament
play
and may carry their golf bag themselves (push
carts are
allowed) or take a caddie. Caddies may be
requested
in advance during registration, or players may
select
one on their own.
Player housing is provided on an as available
basis to
players only, caddies and traveling
companions are not
provided housing.
View Complete Tournament Information