Peter Uihlein PREVAILS! Final round 66 gives him second title of season The Sea Island Junior Golf Classic opened on Saturday to temperatures in the mid to high 50s with wind gusts of 10-15 miles at the Plantation Course on Sea Island. By early afternoon the temperature rose to the mid 60s with winds still gusting. On Sunday, the players teed it up under overcast skies with win gusts of 10-15 miles per hour and temperatures in the low 60s. The golf course was in spectacular condition on Saturday as Brad Schneider of Valrico, FL (2007) opened with 3 consecutive pars, made bogey on the 4th hole but quickly came back with a birdie on the 5th hole and never bogeyed again to finish at 4 under par and the lead after round one. Schneider entered Sunday's round with a 2 stroke advantage over the Golfweek/Titleist # 2 ranked player in the country Peter Uihlein of Bradenton, FL (2008). Peter, who entered this event 1-0 on the FCWT after a win at Bermuda Run in November, carded a 2 under par round on Saturday, with only one bogey. That put him 2 back of Schneider and 2 ahead of 3rd place entering Sunday's final round. As is customary for Peter, on Sunday he came to play! A birdie on the first hole, while Scheider made bogey, quickly eradicated Brad's lead. But being Peter, that wasn't enough. You don't get to be #2 in the country by just playing your opponent. Peter followed with a birdie on # 2 while Schneider made par. His next birdie came on the par 4 5th hole. Just before making the turn, he carded his only bogey of the day on #9. Four birdies on the back nine (11, 12, 14, and 18) brought him to the scorer's table at 6 under par 66 for the day, where he said he "left a few out there." Peter was most proud of his par on the 7th hole (which played arguably as one of the toughest holes of the FCWT) after hitting a knockdown 8-iron from 120 into the wind. While the day may not have ended the way Brad Schneider would have liked, this was not a defeat for him. His second place finish was his best of the season and to a superb player. He now has three Top 5 finishes for the season and is currently ranked #86 in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings. Finishing in a tie for third place at +6, 5 strokes back of Schneider, were: Tal Everett of Sea Island, GA (2006), who began the day in a tie for third,Chris Piumelli of Vero Beach, FL (2007), Bud Cauley of Jacksonville, FL (2008), and Dylan Raines of Phoenix, AZ (2007), who all began the day T8 after opening rounds of 76. Jackson Beindorf of Vero Beach, FL (2008), the defending champion of this event, finished in a tie for 7th with Bryant Hare of St. Simons Island, GA (2006). Seth Reeves of Duluth, GA (2009), who is quickly making a name for himself on the FCWT, finished in 9th place and Eric Shaw of Longwood, FL (2007) and Rick Stout III of Pollocksville, NC (2006) finished in a tie for 10th.
At the end of Saturday's opening round in the Boys 13-15 division, Michael Cromie of Cary, NC (2010) and Matthew Schovee of Englewood, CO (2008) were tied for the lead after posting opening rounds of 4 over par 76. Michael, who has two wins already this season at Back Creek and Bermuda Run, struggled a bit and fell back while Matthew finished tied for the lead with Gregory Carrier of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (2009) who entered the final round in 3rd place, 1 stroke back of the leaders. So it was off to a playoff where Carrier made par on the first hole to claim the title. Shay Womack, Jr. of Marietta, GA (2008) carded the Low Round on Sunday of 75 to move from 5th to 3rd place on the leaderboard. Overnight co-leader Michael Cromie of Cary, NC (2010) and Daniel Stringfellow of Roselle, IL (2010) finished T4 at 159. |
