10 again

LeCroy matches 10-under-par mastery of ACC from 2022, makes it back-to-back Wilfred Galbraith Invitational championships

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

Ten makes a perfect score in some sports. As a measure of under-par golf, it’s close to perfect for three rounds at Anniston Country Club in tournament conditions.

Score Jacob LeCroy 10 under par for the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational for the second year in a row, and call him a back-to-back champion.

The recently graduated University of South Alabama golfer and star of Donoho’s 2018 state-championship team finished with three consecutive birdies to go 3 under par for Sunday’s final round. It put him at 10-under-par 200 for the tournament, matching last year’s subversion of the mark.

He beat fellow ACC member Freeman Fite by six strokes after Fite closed within two with six holes to go. Ty Cole, one of three first-round co-leaders who stood within two shots after the second round, finished third at 3-under-par 207.

Birmingham’s Trey Rouse, who plays for Stephen F. Austin University, rounded out the day’s final group, shooting a 69 to finish at 208.

How did LeCroy feel about matching his 10-under number from last year?

“Well,” he said with a sheepish grin, “it tells me I didn’t get any better. No, I’m kidding.”

LeCroy led by two strokes coming into Sunday. The edge quickly moved to three when Cole bogeyed No. 2 and stayed there until he ued the driver for the first time of the day, drove to the edge of the No. 7 green, chipped to within 3 feet and birdied to make it a four-stroke lead.

A Cole bogey plus Fite’s 8-foot birdie putt on 8 moved Fite ahead of Cole and alone in second place and within three strokes of LeCroy.

Cole answered by chipping to within a foot of the hole to set up a birdie on No. 9, and his 20-foot birdie putt on 10 moved him back to within a tie for second, three strokes back.

Fite’s birdie on 11 plus LeCroy’s bogey on 12 closed the gap to within two shots, and LeCroy had two big saves to keep it from getting closer.

His drive on No. 13 settled directly under the lone tree on the left side of the fairway, but he chipped left of the green and used a curved embankment to settle on the back edge. Two putts later, he had par.

His tee shot on No. 14 settled in the bunker just right of the cart path between 12 and 13. He hit out of the bunker to the back-right side of the green and two-putted to save par again.

After a par on 15, LeCroy accelerated to the finish, with birdies on 16, 17 and 18. His approach on 18 parked about a foot right of the hole, prompting cheers from the gallery up the hill, by the club building.

It was a strong finish to a weekend that saw him go 67-66-67.

“I”m tickled to death,” LeCroy said. “I’m really happy with how I played. …

“I don’t think I had a three-putt all week, and that’s huge out here. I don’t know if anybody else can say that, and that’s just special.”

Fite, another ACC member, joined the three-way tie for the lead after the first round, shot a 70 on Saturday to fall four strokes off the lead then rallied with a 69 on Sunday to emerge in second place.

“The putts that I needed on the front just didn’t go down, on 4 and 5,” Fite said. “I really needed both of those to kind of get close, and then on the back, I just didn’t leave myself in good places.

“After 11 and 12, coming in, the best look I had was a chip on 14. I just didn’t give myself a chance to make anything.”

Fite called finishing second “disappointing” but likes the way he’s playing.

“I’m playing more this year than I have in a long time,” he said. “I’m playing well, and I’m enjoying it. I’m not just kind of going through the motions like I have.”

Complete scores

Championship A Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Total
Jacob LeCroy	67	66	67	200
Freeman Fite	67	70	69	206
Ty Cole	67	68	72	207
Trey Rouse	68	71	69	208
Garrett Burgess	70	69	70	209
Brennan Clay	74	72	72	218
Landon Straub	74	75	70	219
John Rollins	74	75	72	221
Chandler Wilborn	73	75	75	223
Ott Chandler	74	73	79	226
Gary Wigington	78	71	78	227
Jaylon Ellison	69	76	WD	WD
Championship B Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Total
Andrew Brooks	74	78	70	222
Jeff Chapman	71	79	76	226
Jonathan Bailey	74	76	76	226
Scott Martin	75	75	78	228
Jeremy McGatha	77	79	74	230
Chris Cox	73	79	78	230
Chip Howell	77	77	78	232
Hank Smith	76	79	78	233
Rob Svensen	79	76	78	233
Jonathan Pate	79	74	80	233
Timmy Woodard	76	75	84	235
Chad Key	79	77	81	237
Mark Durden	77	79	81	237
Matt Rogers	80	76	84	240
Championship C Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Total
Tanner Wells	78	79	76	233
Greg Shultz	76	82	76	234
Will Reaves	82	76	76	234
Vance Lewis	74	83	83	240
Matt Hunter	81	82	79	242
Kenny Wright	81	79	87	247
Ryan Huff	81	79	88	248
Cam Hurst	82	84	84	250
Andrew Morris	82	82	88	252
Keaton Borrelli	81	84	89	254
David Kyatt	82	83	WD	WD
Senior Division Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2		Total
David Sanders	73	80		153
Don Springer	76	77		153
Dennis Staples	79	81		160
First Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2		Total
Charlie Smith	78	69		147
Jack Svensen	74	73		147
Ryan Powers	75	75		150
Mike Wiedmer	77	76		153
Clay Calkins	76	78		154
Taylor Morrow	76	78		154
Cain Hollingsworth	74	81		155
Will Broome	80	77		157
Ted Heim	78	82		160
Bradley Elliott	80	81		161
Eric Lett	80	82		162
Dru Davenport	78	84		162
Brian Woodfin	77	88		165
David Smith	76	WD		WD
Second Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2		Total
Rusty Whitlow	81	78		159
Graham Morrow	81	78		159
Tyler TenEyck	82	79		161
Caleb Morrow	82	79		161
Trey Hopper	84	79		163
Billy Thompon	81	82		163
Eric Stringer	84	86		170
Austin Elliott	82	88		170
Greg Rainey	83	87		170
Kyle Glover	82	91		173
Corey Mize	82	91		173
Joe Hedgepeth	83	94		177
Third Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2		Total
Matt Hartdegen	86	81		167
Carson Chandler	85	82		167
David Coffey	86	82		168
Christopher Sprayberry	88	82		170
Houston Black	86	85		171
Taylor Vera	88	84		172
Andrew Gunnels	85	87		172
Trey Stone	86	87		173
Chase Thomas	87	88		175
Mark Cotton	88	88		176
Henry Pritchett	86	92		178
Matt Greer	86	93		179
Taylor Jones	88	92		180
Zach Limberis	88	93		181
Chance Haywood	87	94		181
Jimmy Ulrey	85	WD		WD
Fourth Flight
Player	Rd. 1	Rd. 2		Total
Sean Kline	91	85		176
Heath Waldrop	92	88		180
Kenneth Willingham	91	90		181
John Lindsey	96	88		184
Chase Arnold	89	96		185
Mark Gaines	94	91		185
Lucas Boozer	94	91		185
Kolby Slick	94	92		186
Keith Hutcheson	99	96		195
Scott Jimmerson	105	95		200
Marlee Hedgepeth	109	97		206
Adam Benefiel	107	105		212

Related Posts

• 
  Soccer roundup
• 
  Softball roundup
• 
  Faith prevails

You must be logged in to post a comment Login