Cotton States Invt'l: Massa's birdie flurry wins it
Univ. Texas/Arlington photo
MONROE, La. (June 28, 2008)--University of Texas-Arlington junior Bobby Massa birdied four of the first dozen holes at the W.E. Cole Cotton States Invitational to open up a lead he would never relenquish at the Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe, La.
"I was hitting my driver well, and I was making my putts," Massa told the Monroe News Star. "I started the day a little tight, but just took a deep breath, and I was fine after that."
Massa was 4-up over University of Arkansas senior Will Osbourne through 12, when Osbourne birdied 14, then cut the lead to 2-up on the 16th when he took advantage of a Massa bogey while staring at dormie-3.
Massa bogeyed the 17th hole as well, but Osbourne couldn't make him pay for it, bogeying as well and giving Massa a 2 & 1 victory.
"There are a lot of wedge shots, a lot of opportunities to place the ball. In match play it's all about making birdies," Massa told the News Star.
It was his third appearance Massa, who faced his toughest match in the second round when he needed 20 holes to defeat local golfer Bob Cooper.
He defeated co-medalist Hudson Johnson easily in the quarterfinals, 5 & 4, then topped Ryan Haseldon 1-up in the semis.
ABOUT THE Cotton States Amateur
Originally played in 1949 as the Bayou
DeSiard Labor Day Golf Tournament, the
tournament's
name was changed to the Cotton States
Invitational in 1951 by the club's young head
professional, W. E. "Winnie" Cole. He felt that
the
name better reflected the main states that the
tournament's players originated from (and a
move
to
mid-summer made the name a necessity later
anyway). Little did Cole know that 27 years
later, in
1978, the event would be renamed again,
forever to
be known as the W. E. Cole Cotton States
Invitational Golf Tournament.
Past champions of this highly competitive, yet
festive
tournament include Don January and Hal
Sutton. Gil
Morgan, David
Toms and many other PGA Tour players have
also
competed. The tournament field field is limited
to 96
amateur
participants
having a verified USGA Handicap Index not
exceeding 0.0. Long a match play event, the
format was changed in 2021 to 72 holes of
stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information