Finigan Tilly of San Carlos stumbled out of the gate in the final round, but then coasted an 11-stroke victory over Clay Seeber of Newport Beach in the Grapevine Amateur on the North Course at Silverado Country Club and Resort www.silveradoresort.com in Napa.
The Grapevine Amateur is the first tournament in the Saguaro Amateur series.
Tilly, a redshirt junior at the University of Californiawho led by five shots after two rounds, carded four birdies and didn’t make another bogey over the last 16 holes to wind up with a score of 70-69-70—209, 7-under-par, while Seeber finished a 71-73-76—220.
“I think I thought a little bit too much about where I was the first few holes, and where I was in the tournament,” said Tilly, who also captured the 2017 Bayonet Black Horse Amateur in Seaside.
“It was kind of a mental challenge there. And I was able to sort of come back down to just focusing on what I’m doing and staying in the moment. That really helps coming down the stretch. I didn’t make a bogey after the second hole and I was really steady. It started flowing.”
Jeffrey Inouye-Wong of Roseville shot 77-74-71—222 to tie for third with Derek Hitchner of Minneapolis, who finished at 76-74-72—222, and Dallas Hankamer of Temple, Texas, who wound up at 72-75-75—222.
Wenliang Xie of China carded a score of 75-78-70—223 to tie for sixth with Beng Keat Lim of Malaysia, who totaled 71-75-77—223, while Josh McCollum of Upland shot 75-77-72—224 to tie for eighth with Jonathan Tanihana of Sacramento, who finished at 74-76-74—224, and Chase Sienkiewicz of Carmichael, who came in 74-76-74—224.
For complete results, visit https://saguaroamateur.com/field_results_grapevine
