Kenny takes Palm Beach County Amateur
7/13/2014 | by Palm Beach County Golf Association
see also: View results for Palm Beach County Amateur, The Park West Palm
Eddie Kenny of Lake Worth, the second round leader, held off Ethan Marcus, an unheralded teenager from Boca Raton, to win the 39th annual Palm Beach County Amateur
VILLAGE OF GOLF – Eddie Kenny of Lake Worth, the second round leader, held off Ethan Marcus, an
unheralded teenager from Boca Raton, to win the 39th annual Palm Beach Kennel Club/County Amateur
Championship Sunday.
Tied at six under par after a bogey-birdie swing at the 10th hole, Kenny quickly pulled back in front with an eagle at the par-5 11th and a birdie at the par-3 13th. eHH He parred the last five holes at the Country Club of Florida to win by three.
Kenny, 44, a caddy at Trump International in West Palm Beach, finished with 69 for 207, while Marcus, 18, made his third straight 70 for 210. Marcus had played the first two rounds on the opposite course from the presumed top players in the field, the Country Club of Florida Friday and nearby Quail Ridge North Saturday.
Marcus is a recent graduate of the St. Andrews School in Boca Raton and is headed for Nova Southeastern University in Davie on scholarship next month. After Kenny’s surge at the 11th and 13th, Marcus got one back with a three-foot birdie putt at the 14th, but three-putted 18.
“I thought I still had a chance at 18 if I could make birdie but it didn’t happen,” Marcus said. He had started the final round trailing Kenny by two shots. His day was highlighted by a 60-foot birdie putt at the par- 3 eighth hole.
No one else challenged Kenny and Marcus on the back nine. Indeed, no one got better than four under par all day.
R.J. Nakashian of Palm Beach Gardens, the 2004 County Amateur champion and also a caddy at Trump, finished third at 71-212, followed by Bryan Haase of Jupiter, winner of three Palm Beach County Golf Association tournaments last year, shot 69 for 213 and fourth.
Kenny said winning the County Amateur is “the biggest thing I’ve ever won, absolutely. I won the Florida State Mid-Amateur (25-older) in 2007, but the Palm Beach County Amateur is special, especially since I live here. There are so many good players in this county, to win over all these guys is awesome.
He said he has no desire to go for the Champions Tour six years hence. “That would make golf a job, wouldn’t it? No, not a chance.”
Kenny birdied the first hole from 10 feet, bogey the third from the right rough, drove the green at the short, par-4 seventh, then bogeyed the 10th from behind the green. This allowed Marcus to pull even with a 20-foot uphill birdie.
At the 560-yard 11th, Kenny said he “flushed” his second shot, a 3-wood, from 260 yards, to within six feet and made the eagle putt. At the short 13th, he hit an 8-iron that drifted right and rolled down a slope. A nearby bulkhead proved not to be a factor as Kenny bumped his next shot up the hill and down the green, 57 feet into the grain, for what may have been a clinching birdie.
Kenny was also awarded the county’s Public Links title as the low public course golfer in the field. He won the PBCGA Public Links Championship in 2011, the last time it was conduced as a separate event.
Darryl Osler of West Palm Beach was honored as the low scoring senior, 50 years and older, with 217, tied for 10th overall.
Tied at six under par after a bogey-birdie swing at the 10th hole, Kenny quickly pulled back in front with an eagle at the par-5 11th and a birdie at the par-3 13th. eHH He parred the last five holes at the Country Club of Florida to win by three.
Kenny, 44, a caddy at Trump International in West Palm Beach, finished with 69 for 207, while Marcus, 18, made his third straight 70 for 210. Marcus had played the first two rounds on the opposite course from the presumed top players in the field, the Country Club of Florida Friday and nearby Quail Ridge North Saturday.
Marcus is a recent graduate of the St. Andrews School in Boca Raton and is headed for Nova Southeastern University in Davie on scholarship next month. After Kenny’s surge at the 11th and 13th, Marcus got one back with a three-foot birdie putt at the 14th, but three-putted 18.
“I thought I still had a chance at 18 if I could make birdie but it didn’t happen,” Marcus said. He had started the final round trailing Kenny by two shots. His day was highlighted by a 60-foot birdie putt at the par- 3 eighth hole.
No one else challenged Kenny and Marcus on the back nine. Indeed, no one got better than four under par all day.
R.J. Nakashian of Palm Beach Gardens, the 2004 County Amateur champion and also a caddy at Trump, finished third at 71-212, followed by Bryan Haase of Jupiter, winner of three Palm Beach County Golf Association tournaments last year, shot 69 for 213 and fourth.
Kenny said winning the County Amateur is “the biggest thing I’ve ever won, absolutely. I won the Florida State Mid-Amateur (25-older) in 2007, but the Palm Beach County Amateur is special, especially since I live here. There are so many good players in this county, to win over all these guys is awesome.
He said he has no desire to go for the Champions Tour six years hence. “That would make golf a job, wouldn’t it? No, not a chance.”
Kenny birdied the first hole from 10 feet, bogey the third from the right rough, drove the green at the short, par-4 seventh, then bogeyed the 10th from behind the green. This allowed Marcus to pull even with a 20-foot uphill birdie.
At the 560-yard 11th, Kenny said he “flushed” his second shot, a 3-wood, from 260 yards, to within six feet and made the eagle putt. At the short 13th, he hit an 8-iron that drifted right and rolled down a slope. A nearby bulkhead proved not to be a factor as Kenny bumped his next shot up the hill and down the green, 57 feet into the grain, for what may have been a clinching birdie.
Kenny was also awarded the county’s Public Links title as the low public course golfer in the field. He won the PBCGA Public Links Championship in 2011, the last time it was conduced as a separate event.
Darryl Osler of West Palm Beach was honored as the low scoring senior, 50 years and older, with 217, tied for 10th overall.
About the Palm Beach County Amateur
54-hole Individual Stroke Play Championship with a single Open division; the field will be cut to the low 60 + ties after the second round.
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