By Art Stricklin

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- TCU senior Hayden Springer used an incredible hole in one on the par-3 16th hole late Friday to claim the 115th annual Trans-Mississippi Golf Championship in dramatic fashion at historic Brookside Country Club.

Springer was in a tightly-bunched group including third round leader Justin Tereshko, Jake Marriott and Pierceson Coody when he stepped to the 16th tee on the 148-yard uphill par 3 trailing both Marriott and Coody.

He saw his ball in the air and watched it spin back 35 feet into the hole for an ace which lifted him past Coody and tied him with Marriott. After a Marriott bogey on 17, Springer was in the lead by himself and brought home the oldest non-USGA amateur title in the country with a par on the par 4 18th hole.

The red-haired Springer said he was momentarily in shock when he saw the ball settle in the cup under such dramatic circumstances.

“That was incredible. I was not expecting it,” said Springer. “That was my first hole-in-one in competition. It kind of felt like things were going my way after that.”

"I can't believe it. I've dreamed of this for a long time," @TCUMensGolf senior Hayden Springer shares how much winning the #TransMiss18 means to him. He won by one shot on Friday at venerable Brookside G&CC. Well Played, Hayden! pic.twitter.com/DUHOZXi17o

— Trans-Miss Golf (@TransMissGolf) July 13, 2018

Springer finished the 72-hole competition with a 273 total, 15 under par, one shot better than both Coody and Marriott, who turned in scores of 68 and 69 respectively.

“I was excited to be in the hunt on the back nine and was happy with how I played under pressure,” Marriott said about his second place finish.

He was playing in the second to last group with Springer directly behind him when the dramatic winning shot was struck.

“I heard the roar of the crowd behind me, but didn’t know at the time what it meant. The only thing I could think of was when Jonathan Byrd made a hole in one in a playoff to win a PGA Tour event a few years back.”

Playing in the same group as Springer, Coody, already the winner of two top prestigious junior events this summer, was even more disappointed as he rolled in a nice birdie putt on the 16th only to lose a stroke, and the lead, to Springer with his ace.

Springer had a bogey-free final day at Brookside, once the childhood home of Jack Nicklaus, with nine straight pars to open his round, two birdies and the one 16th hole ace he will long remember.

Springer now adds his name to the Trans-Miss Amateur Championship trophy next to the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. “It’s surreal,” Springer said. “I can’t even believe it.” The Trophy Club, Texas native has already proven he was used to pressure, as he qualified for the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic as a sophomore before transferring closer to home to TCU for his junior senior. He fired his career low score 4-under 212 and a second round 67 in the NCAA Regionals for the Horned Frogs this year.

Tereshko, who led by two shots going to the final round, was trying to win one for the mid-amateurs but slumped to a closing 73 and finished tied for fourth. Also tied for fourth was LSU golfer Jacob Bridgeman, Texas A&M golfer Brandon Smith and Australian golfer Haydn Barron all at 12-under 276 for 72 holes.

Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby was in attendance for Friday’s final round, trying to get to know some of the new and promising golfers for next year’s American team and seeing if he can find a little more Springer dinger drama for a U.S. victory in 2019.

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