Rusty Strawn and Jason Enloe won their respective divisions on Wednesday in the Trans-Miss Senior & Mid-Master Championship at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
Strawn, of McDonough, Georgia, survived the difficult conditions, shooting 1-under 215 to hold off Jerry Slagle and Mike McCoy by one stroke in the senior competition. He opened with a 4-under 68 on day one to take a three-stroke lead, but it would be anything but easy for Strawn over the last two rounds.
The No. 4 senior in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Strawn shot 73 in the second round and then fought hard down the stretch to nurse his narrow advantage. Strawn made bogeys at Nos. 11, 13 and 15, coming to the 17th tee tied with Slagle. He would make a birdie there to take a one-stroke advantage – both Strawn and Slagle made a bogey at the last. McCoy, the Trans-Miss president and 2023 Walker Cup captain, had closed in 1-under 35 but came up just short.
It was Strawn’s sixth victory in a WAGR-counting event since the beginning of 2021.
“It was much more difficult. It was hard to get the ball close to the hole from the fairways,” Strawn told tournament officials. “I hit every fairway today, but I just couldn't get the ball close. … On 18, I blew the first putt 8 feet by and ended up making a bogey and I still ended up winning by one, so we’ll take it.”
The field was one of the best of the year as several of the top senior amateurs came to test their game against the former PGA Tour venue. Gene Elliott, the No. 1 senior in the WAGR and Global Golf Post’s Men’s Amateur of the Year in 2021, finished tied for 21st.
In the mid-master category, Trinity Forest member Jason Enloe shot 3-under 213 to win by two strokes over Chris Kamin. Enloe, who resigned as SMU golf coach in early 2020 after his wife, Katie, died in 2018 during a battle with leukemia, birdied two of his last five holes to shake clear of Kamin.
Enloe, a former tour pro, has not played much competitive golf recently, but he proved that he still has the ability to beat top mid-ams.
“I miss pro golf a little bit,” Enloe said. “It’s nice to get the juices flowing under the gun again.”
RESULTS
Mattare Claims Walter J. Travis Invitational Title
Matthew Mattare defeated Brandon Dalinka, 3 and 2, to claim the Walter J. Travis Invitational, played annually at Garden City Golf Club in Garden City, New York. Mattare, who shot 2-under-par 71 in the stroke-play qualifying, beat Brett Cooper, John Hunter, and Conor Casey to make the final match.
Earlier this spring, Mattare posted a top-5 finish at the Coleman Invitational.
Joe Deraney took medalist honors, posting a 5-under-par 67 in Friday’s stroke-play qualifying. He defeated Chris DeJohn, 2 and 1, in his first-round match before falling to Conor Casey, 1 up.
Flight winners follow:
• Devereux Emmett Cup: Mark Costanza
• Charles B. Macdonald Cup: Paul Tucker
• Robert T. Jones Cup: Mike McBride Jr.
• William H. Taft Cup: Griffin McQuilling
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Cup: David Scialabba
The Travis honors an extraordinary man in golf. A three-time U. S. Amateur champion, Travis became the first American to win the British Amateur, in 1904. He later became a publisher and golf writer, as well as a noted course designer. He reworked Garden City, originally a Devereux Emmet design, and Travis’ name is associated with nearly 50 other golf courses.
Staff and Wire Reports