NORTH PALM BEACH – Scott Turner of Stuart had planned to play in the Florida Open the past weekend.
Robbie Wight of West Palm Beach probably wishes today that Turner had.
Starting play Sunday tied for the lead, Turner and Wight quickly turned the final round of the 44th annual Palm Beach Kennel Club/County Amateur Championship into a two-man race, Turner finally winning by one at the Lost Tree Club, 69-206 to Wight’s 70-207.
The difference? Mostly, Wight’s double bogey from the trees at the par-5 second hole and his 12-foot birdie putt that spun out of the hole at the par-5 18th. “I thought it was going to lip-in,” Wight said later, “but it lipped out.” And it made Turner’s two-putt par for the win seem easier than it might have been had Wight’s first putt dropped.
“We both played well…nobody folded,” said Wight, winner of the County Amateur in 2015 at Banyan Golf Club.
It was Turner’s first victory in the County Amateur but he has won eight county golf association titles since regaining his amateur status in 2016. “I talked to my coach,” Hammock Creek head professional Rod Curl Jr., “last week and told him I felt I could win if I didn’t do something stupid. I just had the mindset that if it’s meant to be, it will be. I was looking forward to the battle,” Turner said.
Earlier this year, Turner, 35, owner-operator of the Minor League Golf Tour, had his eye on the Florida Open at the Hammock Dunes Club in Palm Coast. But with his wife, Stephanie, expecting their first child Aug. 1, Scott decided about a month ago that it would be better if he stayed closer to home. “She has always been supportive of my golf,” he said. “It’s the least I could do.”
Turner shot 70-67 the first two days and made four birdies and a bogey Sunday. They were still tied at seven under par after 45 holes. On the last nine, Turner birdied Nos. 13, 14 and 16, while Wight birdied the 15th and 16th holes. Overall, Wight, 32, a local attorney, made four birdies and the early double. He scored 69-68 the first two days.
Will Davenport of Palm City was a distant third with 212 after his highest score of the week Sunday, a 73.
Ryan Howison of Jupiter was the low senior with 215, sixth overall after back-to-back 73s on the weekend. A former tour pro, Howison was also the low senior in 2017 at Sailfish Point in Stuart.
And the 73rd annual Florida Open? Sean Dale of Jacksonville was the winner, closing with 63-204. Nick Gabrelcik of Sarasota was low amateur on 65-208, sixth overall. Low from Palm Beach were pros Alan Morin of Lake Worth and Kenny Leech, Boca Raton, tied for 18th at 212.
Next on the Palm Beach County Golf Association schedule: July 20-21, the “Pricey” Stroke Play, hosted by Hall of Famer Nick Price, at Quail Valley GC, Vero Beach; and Aug. 10-11, the Tire Kingdom Stroke Play on PGA National’s Champion course.
View results for Palm Beach County Amateur
ABOUT THE
Palm Beach County Amateur
54-hole Individual Stroke Play Championship with a
single Open division; the field will be cut to the low
60 + ties after the second round.
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