Mid-amateur Brett Patterson’s steady final nine holes helped him win the Giles Invitational.
Matt Pochily, Giles invitational
In the second annual Giles Invitational, named after legendary amateur Vinny Giles and played on the Giles-designed Kinloch Golf Club in Virginia, Brett Patterson won the mid-amateur division and Rick Stimmel won the senior division on Sunday.
In a field of 60 mid-amateurs, Patterson shot 66-72-71 (7-under 209) and finished one stroke clear of Sam Beach and Stephen Behr. It has been a great start to the year for Patterson, the two-time reigning Mississippi Mid-Amateur champion. He also won the Snedeker Memorial in March. Last year, Patterson finished 47th in the Giles Invitational.
“This is definitely the biggest win of my career,” Patterson said. “More than anything it’s such an honor to be surrounded by so many good players. Every player in this field has the ability to win this thing and fortunately three days lined up for me.”
“To be able to win a tournament with the Giles name attached to it is an honor of a lifetime to say the least.”
Brett Patterson
After making eight birdies and two bogeys in the first round, Patterson had an erratic second round, with five birdies and five bogeys. The last two bogeys came on the 16th and 17th holes, which cut his lead to two strokes at 6-under.
Patterson started the final round with a birdie on No. 1 to push his lead to three. But he made bogey on the ninth hole while his playing partner Behr birdied it, a two-shot swing. Suddenly, Patterson’s lead was only one stroke at the turn.
Behr rattled off nine straight pars to end his day. He made only two bogeys in the entire tournament, with the last coming on No. 15 in the first round.
But it wasn’t enough. Patterson finished the tournament with nine straight pars of his own to clinch the title.
“To be able to win a tournament with the Giles name attached to it is an honor of a lifetime to say the least,” Patterson said.
In the 30-player senior division, Stimmel shot 73-66-73 (4-under 212). Stimmel was the only player in the division to shoot under par and won by five strokes. The victory is the latest achievement in the former No. 1-ranked senior amateur’s career, which includes several other wins, a runner-up finish in the 1997 U.S. Mid-Amateur and a brief lead after seven holes in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
“I knew about the Giles last year but I didn’t get the invite so I was pleasantly surprised this year when I did,” Stimmel said. “To take full advantage of it coming out with a win was really special.”
After a 1-over-par first round, Stimmel turned on the jets in the second round. He shot a senior division-low round of 6-under 66 with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys. Entering the final day, he had a commanding lead at 5-under, six strokes clear of his closest competitors.
However, he struggled early on Sunday and played the front nine in 3-over par. This included a streak of three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 7-9. Meanwhile, Mike Sposa rocketed up the leaderboard. After playing his first nine in 1-under, he birdied Nos. 10-12 at the same time Stimmel was in his bogey streak, cutting Stimmel’s lead to two strokes.
“That was like pure survival today,” Stimmel said. “That place was playing so hard and so difficult. I’ve played in the U.S. Open before and to be honest with you that is as hard if not harder than the U.S. Open that I played in.”
Stimmel stopped the bleeding with birdies on 11 and 13, increasing his lead back to four. When Sposa bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16, the chase was over. Jack Larkin Sr. finished second at 1-over, while Sposa tied for third with Mike McCoy at 2-over.
Everett Munez
