Griffin Rhoads of Huntington Beach rode a brilliant second round to a seven-stroke victory over Niall Shiels Donegan of Mill Valley in the Seventh Gobbler Amateur at Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.
Rhoads, who plays college golf at Arizona, posted a score of 75-63-67—205, 11-under-par, while Donegan, who has committed to Northwestern, was second at 69-73-70—212, followed by Alex Cobb of Brentwood, Tenn., at 67-75-71—213, and Steven Wang of Coto De Caza at 76-74-64—214.
After struggling to a score of 4-over for the first 17 holes in round one, Rhoads made a birdie on the final hole that started him on an incredible run of 15-under over the next 37 holes to pull away for the victory.
“I’m out here all the time and know the guys here well,” said Rhoads, who also won the Bayonet Blackhorse Amateur Championship earlier this year in Seaside. “It’s good to represent not just the U of A, but Sewailo as well.
“The first round was more of a mental issue. I wasn’t hitting the ball badly, I was just beating myself up. The second round I just stuck to my process and kept trying to get lower and lower. Honestly, today it was easier coming off that big day with the big lead.
“There was no reason I shouldn’t have been confident. It was definitely nice to have the cushion.”
Matthew Almajano of Fremont posted a score of 75-70-70—215 to tie for fifth with Wesley Erling of Colorado Springs, who wound up at 75-73-67—215, and Warner Beach of Fresno, who finished at 73-72-70—215, while William Musson of Fresno totaled 74-73-69—216 to tie for eighth with Ryan Abuan of Temecula, who finished at 71-71-74—216.
Tyler Kowak carded a score of 77-73-67—217 to finish in a big tie for 10th with Jack Gilbert of Houston (74-77-66—217), Matthew Lin of Orinda (74-74-69—217), Henri Nakashima of Japan (74-73-70—217), Hunter Swanson of Denver (72-75-70—217), Nicholas Mouser of Fresno (76-70-71—217), Seth Bearden of Crowell, Texas (73-72-72—217) and Jake Koppenberg of Bellingham, Wash. (72-73-72—217).
The Gobbler Amateur was the sixth tournament in the 2022-23 Troon Saguaro Amateur Series. The next event in the Series will be the Desert Amateur on Dec. 2-4 at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
For complete results, visit https://2022gobbleramateur.golfgenius.com/pages/8619629092565715132
