Connor Doyal (Carolinas G.A. photo)
Talk about taking advantage of your new location.
Just a few months after moving from Alabama to Charleston, South Carolina (and playing in his first CGA tournament) Connor Doyal won the 51st South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship. The event was played at WildeWood Club in Columbia.
Doyal won the championship match 3 & 1 against defending champion Nick Mayfield of Rock Hill, South Carolina. Doyal and Mayfield were tied through the first three holes, but after Doyal sank a birdie putt on the fourth hole to go one up, he maintained his advantage throughout the rest of the match.
“The best part of my game this week was my ball striking with my irons," said Doyal. "I didn’t miss a single green with an iron in my hands."
This allowed Doyal to give himself opportunities at multiple birdie putts to give him the lead. During the Championship match, Doyal made five birdies and even an eagle on the 10th hole, with Mayfield matching him.
The overall week, however, was more than birdies and eagles.
“it’s a really tight course and there’s out of bounds right and left on every single hole," Doyal explained. "So it’s stressful to hit each shot.”
In his Semifinal match, Doyal played against Michael Wilson of Elgin, S.C., -- a member of the home course with the members behind him. Doyal won the match 5 & 4 to advance to the Championship match.
Earlier in the week, Doyal had an impressive round during his Quarterfinal match against Eric Nord of Blythewood, S.C., carding five birdies and winning the match 4 & 3.
“I love match play. It’s fun because you get to play a 1v1 match and you get to adjust your strategy a little bit. The big blow-up holes don’t mean anything, it’s only one hole,” said Doyal.
Doyal just recently moved down to the Carolinas at the beginning of March, and this was his first CGA tournament.
When asked what this win means to him, Doyal said “it’s really exciting. Playing against the college kids is really difficult. Once you graduate college, get a job, and open a new chapter of your life, you just have different priorities and I just can’t play golf as much as these other kids can. Just being able to go out there and show that I still have it, it’s really exciting; it’s exhilarating."
The Carolinas Golf Association contributed to this story.
View results for South Carolina Amateur Match Play
ABOUT THE South Carolina Amateur Match Play
Championship format is 36 holes of stroke play to
determine 32 qualifiers for
match play. The defending champion is seeded
number one
for match play if otherwise eligible.
Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has
reached his 13th birthday, is a legal resident of
South Carolina, is a member in good
standing of a club which is a member of the
Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
and has an active GHIN® USGA Handicap Index® at
a CGA member club that
does not exceed 7.4.
View Complete Tournament Information