Ford Goldasich (photo courtesy Kyle Dawson, Aiken Standard)
Ford Goldasich held a slim one-shot lead heading into the final round of the 48th Palmetto Amateur.
The Homewood, Alabama, golfer didn’t waste any time expanding that lead, and he cruised to a four-shot victory over Sihan Sandhu of Ashburn, Va., on Sunday at The Reserve Club at Woodside.
Goldasich made an eagle and two birdies on his opening nine, and he led by five with nine holes to play.
"It feels good to get the job done for the first time in summer," Goldasich told Kyle Dawson of the SC Aiken Standard. "I got my first big win earlier in the fall at UAB's tournament, kind of got things rolling in the right direction. Glad to get back on top."
Goldasich's brother Jack, who is a golfer at Alabama, was on his bag for the day. Jack played in the event this week but missed the 54 hole cut
He played his incoming nine in 1-over fashion, and it was good for a closing 68 and a 72-hole total of 16-under-par 268.
Goldasich recently completed his senior season at Lipscomb University.
Sandhu opened with a pair of bogeys and could not gain much ground on Goldasich. Sandhu finished with an even-par 71 and a 12-under total of 272.
“It felt nice,” Goldasich told Dawson about his eagle. “I mean, I just kind of played steady golf the first three holes and everybody around me was making bogeys. I hit a great drive down there and had 6-iron in, just hit two great shots and then the last roll over the front edge felt great. It felt really good.”
Reece Coleman (69) of Anderson, S.C., placed third at 11-under and JonErik Alford (72) of Roswell, Ga., was fourth at 10-under.
Collin Adams (67) of Charlotte, N.C., and Randall Hudson (69) of New Bern, N.C., tied for fifth at 9-under.
Aiken resident Brian Quackenbush tied for seventh after posting 1-under 70, his fourth consecutive day of breaking par.
Bradley Goldstein (71) of Highland Park, Ill., Marshall Meisel (70) of Chevy Chase, Md., and J. Holland Humphries (72) of Austin, Texas, rounded out the top 10.
ROUND THREE RECAP
Lipscomb's Ford Goldasich took advantage of a short rain delay to storm ahead of the pack and head into the final round of the Palmetto Amateur with a one shot lead.
Goldasich finished 5 under par on his last 10 holes, including an eagle on No. 9 right after the stoppage of play.
“I was getting on 8 tee, felt really, really mad, I just three-putted from a foot off the green,” Goldasich told Kyle Dawson of the SC Aiken Standard. “Get up there, teeing up my ball and the horn blows, so we had to go to the safe house for about an hour. Get back up there on 8, hit a good drive and just made a par. (I) got those two (shots) right back pretty easily, and then just had three good holes on the back. The rest was solid.”
Goldasich then birdied holes No. 13, 14, and 15 to secure a round of 5 under 66 after shooting back to back 67's.
“I have taken advantage of that one pretty nicely,” he told Dawson about hole 9 with a laugh after his eagle. “Just get it in play. Yesterday, I did not have a good birdie there. I drained like a 50-footer for birdie. But, yeah, I don’t know what it is. Hopefully I can do the same thing tomorrow.”
North Carolina commit Sihan Sandhu shot 6 under 65 to move just one behind the lead and recent Ohio State graduate JonErik Alford followed up to 67's with a third round 68 to sit in solo third place at 11 under.
ROUND TWO RECAP
When first-round leader Carson Brewer (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) failed to find the magic of his 63 (he double-bogeyed the first hole and things got worse en route to a 76) the door was wide open for new leadership at the Palmetto Amateur.
Two players -- JonErik Alford (Roswell, Ga.) and Ford Goldasich (Homewood, Ala.) -- had already done some of the heavy lifting with rounds of 67 on Thursday, and they duplicated those efforts on Friday. Another named Reece Coleman (Anderson, SC) shot the round of the day of 64 and joined them at the top as the tournament heads for its final round on Saturday.
ROUND ONE RECAP
Florida State signee Carson Brewer, from Ponte Vedra, Fla., shot 8-under 63 to lead the 48th Palmetto Amateur by four shots after the first round.
Brewer birdied three of the first four holes and eagled the par-5 fifth hole to shoot a 31 on the front nine.
In his round, Brewer made seven birdies, one eagle and one bogey en route to the 63.
“So yesterday was the first time I played it, and we actually had to leave due to the weather after 13,” Brewer told Kyle Dawson of the Aiken Standard about his practice round. “And 16 through 18 is a pretty difficult stretch, so seeing that for the first time today - I was very aware of what was going on."
Brewer added "I mean, 17, the tee shot and the layup on a par-5 was very difficult. Most par-5s, if you lay up it’s not too difficult of a shot, but on that hole it is.”
The Hollow Creek course at The Reserve Club at Woodside is the host for this year’s edition while Palmetto Golf Club undergoes re-grassing.
The course played more strategic than long today, putting an emphasis on being in the fairway.
“Honestly, I think I hit driver three, maybe four times today,” Brewer told the Aiken Standard. “I played really conservatively off the tee. Step one today was just to play out of the fairway, so I made sure on every hole whatever I was hitting I was comfortable so I could hit it in the fairway.”
Ford Goldasich (Homewood, Ala.), JonErik Alford (Roswell, Ga.), Sam Jackson (West Columbia, S.C.), Kyle Haas (Winston Salem, N.C.), Collin Adams (Charlotte, N.C.), Brian Quackenbush (Aiken, S.C.) and Sihan Sandhu (Ashburn, Va.) make up the seven way tie for second place at 4-under par after the first round.