Walters starts Thanksgiving week with win at Gobbler Amateur
Jonathan Walters (Gobbler photo)
Jonathan Walters, a Tucson native and collegiate golfer at nearby South Mountain CC, and the overnight leader, fired a 6-under par 65 to win the 2019 Gobbler Amateur at Sewailo Golf Course.
Walters fended off a charge from Alexander Yang (Carlsbad, CA) who shot the tournament-low round of 64. Walters and Yang systematically separated themselves from the rest of the field with three players—Ferdinand Mueller (Germany), Hunter Reed (Encinitas, CA), and Max Sekulic (Phoenix) all tied for third at -4, seven and eight shots back respectively.
WALTERS ON THIS PLAY THIS WEEK: “It was a one-shot-at-a-time week. I made sure to never be over-aggressive and remember to value par.” Walters shot rounds of 70-66-65 to tie the tournament record at 12-under par. “Coming in I wanted to try to keep it at even par. I knew the weather wouldn’t be fantastic. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I didn’t want to set the bar too low. Being a Tucson native I know how this course (Sewailo) can play.” Walters is a sophomore at South Mountain CC in the Phoenix area and prepped at Canyon Del Oro High School in Oro Valley.
ON WHAT THE WIN MEANS TO WALTERS: “It’s stepping onto a big-boy course, a big D1 course. It’s proving to myself and a bunch of other people I can compete at this level, win, and be successful.”
TROON SAGUARO AMATEUR SERIES: The Gobbler Amateur is the second tournament in the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series. The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series consists of five world-ranked amateur golf tournaments throughout the southwestern United States and features top amateur golfers from all over the world.
ABOUT THE
Gobbler Amateur
Founded in 2016, the Gobbler Invitational is a 54-hole
stroke play event with no cut. It is open to male
amateur golfers with an index of 3.0 or less. A variety
of exemption categories are offered, based mostly on
rankings and USGA appearances. The top 10 finishers
will be exempt into
the Saguaro Amateur in January.
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