Z'eagles!
Ziegler makes "bookend" eagles to earn second win of the season
Steve Ziegler of Broomfield, CO (2007) wanted to make sure he earned his second FCWT win on Sunday. Ziegler, who began the day tied with Stephen Carney of Tulsa, OK (2008) for the lead, opened his final round with an eagle and closed it with one The 16 year old junior had quite a day on the course. After opening with an eagle he made 6 pars in a row before making bogey on #8. He quickly bounced back on #9 making the turn at 2 under par. After two holes on the back nine he was back to even par then made par-birdie-birdie to go back to 2 under. A triple bogey on 15 put him at one over, but Ziegler fought back. He made birdie on 16, par on 17 and finished with an eagle on 18 to win by three strokes over Brett Jessen of Ogden, UT (2006). Not only did Ziegler lead the field in eagles with 2, he tied Brandon Barron of Denver, CO (2008) (T3) for most birdies with 9. Barron carded 6 of those birdies in his final round of 69.
Brett Jessen of Ogden, UT (2006)'s second place finish came with two consistent rounds of 72 even par, including a birdie on the last hole each day. This was Jessen's best finish of the season on the FCWT. Finishing tied for third with Brandon Barron was Gunner Wiebe of Aurora, CO (2007), who carded the Low Round of the day with a 5 under par 67. Finishing tied for 5th at +2 were: Jed Dirksen of Hampton, IA (2007), who fired a 1 under par round on Sunday to move up the leaderboard, Alex Johnson of Tucson, AZ (2007), who also moved up the leaderboard after beginning the day tied for 6th and James Gehrke of Albuquerque, NM (2007), who began the day in a tie for 3rd.
In the Boys 13-15 division, Reid Martin of Mukilteo, WA, 2009, fired a final round of 69 (3 under par) to win for the first time this season. Martin began the day in a tie for third and three strokes back of overnight leader Matt Rawitzer of Bellingham, WA (2009)after an opening round of 76. On Sunday Martin carded 7 birdies and an eagle on 18 (his 9th hole) to win. Rawitzer finished in second place at 148, one stroke ahead of third place finisher Landon Tujague of Dallas, TX (2009). Tujague, who won at Bear Creek East in February, earned his fifth Top 5 and third top 3 of the season.
Wyndham Clark of Greenwood Village, CO (2012) forced a playoff with FCWT veteran Dylan Healey of Albuquerque, NM (2012) in the Boys 11-12 division and earned his first FCWT win in his first event. Healey began Sunday's round with a 3 stroke advantage over Clark, but Clark fired a final round of 74 to force the playoff.
In the girls division at the University of New Mexico Junior Golf Classic, FCWT newcomer, Cheyenne Hickle of Gilbert, AZ (2009) came from second place to earn her first FCWT title. Miss Hickle opened with a round of 77 on Saturday and followed up with a 76 on Sunday to win by 6 strokes over overnight leader Alexis Holmes of Lincoln, NE (2008). Miss Holmes finished one stroke ahead of third place finisher Katie Saucier of Bainbridge Island, WA (2007) heading into Sunday's final round. |
