John Hunter of Spring, Texas, weathered the storm of a quadruple bogey on the par-3 third hole, made three birdies in his last seven holes to force a playoff and then defeated Chris Wheeler with a birdie in sudden death to win the Carlton Woods Invitational this past Thursday in The Woodlands, Texas.
First held in 2006, the 54-hole tournament contested at The Club at Carlton Woods has long boasted one of the top mid-amateur fields each year. The Houston-area event is known for difficult conditions, an unrelenting course and a relatively high winning score. That trend held true again this year as Hunter and Wheeler finished at even-par 216, taking starkly different routes to get there.
Meanwhile, Hunter and Wheeler got their respective trains back on the tracks.
Hunter, a local player who won the Champions Cup with partner Brad Segreto last year, opened the tournament with a 4-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead into the second day. He struggled to a 3-over 75 in the second round and would head into the final round tied at 1-under with Wheeler, who had done nearly the opposite by starting sluggishly with a 74 before posting a 69 the second day.
The final round would get off to a wild start. Hunter, a former college baseball player at Purdue, hit a foul ball off the third tee into the back bunker, played a poor pitch-out attempt that didn’t escape the bunker and then hit his third shot into the water on the other side of the green. He pitched on and two-putted for a 7. Wheeler, the 2019 Texas Mid-Am winner, hadn’t done much better, recording a double bogey on the hole.
Joseph Deraney, the 2018 champion and a top mid-am, began his day one stroke back and then eagled the par-5 fourth while Hunter and Wheeler flailed behind him. He suddenly had a three-stroke lead and appeared destined to take control of the tournament, but he proceeded to bogey Nos. 6, 7, 10 and 15 while failing to make a birdie the rest of the way. A triple on the par-3 17th sealed his fate and sent him tumbling to a tie for sixth.
Hunter immediately responded with birdies at Nos. 4 and 5 to match Wheeler at 2 over. Momentum would shift back to Wheeler over the next handful of holes; Hunter made three bogeys in a five-hole stretch and stood on the 12th tee three strokes back of Wheeler, who had gone 1 under in the eight holes since his double bogey at No. 3.
But down the stretch, Hunter chipped away at the deficit. He birdied Nos. 12 and 13 to get within one before the two players exchanged pars on Nos. 14, 15, 16 and 17. Hunter went for the green on the par-5 18th, and Wheeler was forced to lay up. That proved to be a key difference as Hunter had a tap-in birdie, and Wheeler had to settle for a two-putt par from 20 feet.
That forced a playoff back at the 18th. This time Wheeler went for the green and Hunter had to lay up, but Wheeler left himself in a difficult spot and couldn’t get up and down for a birdie. Hunter hit his approach to around 12 feet and made the putt to win the tournament.
Robert Funk of Canyon Lake, California, won the senior division with an even-par 216 total. Funk began the day with a six-shot lead and kicked away a few shots down the stretch in a final-round 76, but he still had enough breathing room to beat runner-up Mike Lohner by two strokes.
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports