Round 3 Recap

New Day, New Winner:  Itterman forces playoff, takes home title

Round One of the Tucson Classic got underway under partly cloudy skies with some windy conditions.  Three players carded rounds of even par in the Boys 16-18 division on Friday to co-lead going into round two:  Zach Sanders of Overland Park, KS (2009), David Erdy of Boonville, IN (2008), and Brandon Jaffe of Scottsdale, AZ (2009).

On Saturday, Anthony Aicher of Wausau, WI (2009), who made 14 pars on Friday, carded another 14 on Saturday and fired a round of 2 under par 71 to take the lead.  He had a two shot advantage over Ben Itterman of Carlsbad, CA (2010), who began Saturday's round tied for 5th.  Both players knew going into Sunday's final round it would be good competition.  Aicher had already won this season at Notre Dame and Itterman was a 2005-06 FCWT All-American. 

On Sunday, Itterman fired the Low Round of the day with a 3 under par to finish at 218 and tied with Aicher who posted a final round of 72.  The players headed for number 10.  Anthony pushed his drive a little, but both boys had wedges in.  Anthony hit it to 12 feet and missed the putt.  Ben hit it to a tap in distance and won with a birdie and took home the title.  Not only did Aicher earn 2nd place honors, he carded the most pars on the weekend with 41. 

Ben Juffer of Des Moines, IA (2009) took home 3rd place with rounds of 76-73-72-221.  Other players who posted a final round under par were:  Andrew Carlin of Kingman, AZ (2008) with a 71 (-2) and Matt Rawitzer of Bellingham, WA (2009) who began the final round tied for 10th and finished tied for 6th with Carlin, Zach Sanders of Overland Park, KS (2009) and David Erdy of Boonville, IN (2008).  Philip Bagdade of Eugene, OR (2008) and Paul McNamara III of Palos Verdes Estates, CA (2009) who began the day at 149 finished tied for 4th at 222.

In the Boys 13-15 division, local player Ben Esparza (2010) took the first round lead with a round of 73 and built on that lead on Saturday by firing a 3 under par 70.  On Sunday, he sealed his win with a final round of 75 that gave him a 6 stroke victory over Nicholas Torrance of East Lyme, CT (2010).  Torrance fired the Low Round on Sunday with a one under par 72 that moved him from 4th to 2nd.  Torrance led this division in pars with 37 while Espraza led this division in birdies with 12.  Colin Pratt of Santa Fe, NM (2010), a first year FCWT player, finished in 3rd place after finishing T6 at The Ridge in October.  Four players finished tied for 4th at 230: Charlie Marshall of Lake Forest, IL (2010), Alex Vetnar of Glendale, AZ (2010), Peter Marshall of Lake Forest, IL (2010) and A.J. Cadamagnani of Athens, OH (2009).