Kyle Cox (UT Arlington photo)
By Shawn Allen
With a five shot lead going into the 18th of the Orlando International Amateur, hosted on the
Panther Lake course at Orange County National, Kyle Cox felt as confident as he ever has, and
he wasn't going to let up.
"I've noticed that when I play more passive, I don't play as well." So Cox took his 53-hole lead
and smoked driver down the fairway, hit a cut shot to pin high, and made an easy two putt to
seal the championship.
Cox, a sophomore at the University of Texas, Arlington, started the day one back of the leader
Luke Gifford. Like he had in the previous two rounds, he played near flawless golf, making two
birdies on the front. By the end of the tournament he totaled 17 birdies and one eagle with
only four bogeys -- three of them coming on the second nine of the second round.
As his playing partners Gifford and Hunter Bott stumbled on the front, each playing it +1, Cox took
the lead and didn't look back. On the 11th hole, arguably the most difficult hole on the course
today, a 225-yard uphill par-3 with a crosswind and the pin pushed to the back left of the
kidney shaped green, Cox hit three wood.
"Hunter and I are similar distances and I saw he hit a really good 2-iron into there and it came
up short. There was no way I could get a 2-iron there, so I hit three wood." He then made the
birdie putt, and the rout was on.
Gifford and Bott bogeyed (or worse) a handful of times on the back nine while Cox made three
more birdies.
"I just felt in control. I just felt I knew where it was going. Being in the fairway a lot helped. It just
felt pretty care free, and that's what I look for. Consistency. Fairways, greens, and try and make
the putt."
The closest challenge came from two groups in front of the leaders. Justin Tereshko, the University of Louisville Assistant Golf Coach (not a bad gig),
started out the round with his hair on fire. He birdied three of the first five holes to take him to
-9, two within the lead. But a bogey on the sixth derailed his chance at a run. He made two
birdies on the back, and added in one bogey, finishing the tournament at -9.
Paul Swindell, one of Tereshko's playing partners, started the day with a bogey to fall to -6 on
the tournament. If a run to the championship was going to happen, Swindell might've taken
himself out of it. But he birdied three times on the front getting to two back. Then on the back,
he played it even, never able to take advantage of the scoring opportunities that many in the
field did the day before.
Incidentally, the third member of the Swindell/Tereshko group was Trevor Johnson, a golfer on
the Louisville team. "It was the first time in my eight years of coaching that I have ever been
paired with one of my players," Tereshko said.
It almost didn't happen. "I saw Trevor had finished [round two] at -7, and I was going into 18 at
-6. If I wanted to be paired with him the next day, I'd have to birdie the last hole." And he did,
giving himself the chance to play the final round with a player with whom he regularly
plays qualifying rounds at Louisville.
The pairings were fun, but it was the championship that mattered. Cox's confidence and
consistency secured the tournament while his group melted away, and Tereshko, Swindell, and
Johnson were just too far back, finishing -9, -8, and -7 respectively.
This is Cox's best finish in an elite amateur field. In February, he finished 5th at the Wyoming
Desert Intercollegiate.
The Orlando International Am, in its 5th year, is the
best event in Central Florida over the holidays. It is played at Orange County National, which
hosted the Korn Ferry Finals, the tournament that determines whether Korn Ferry Tour members will
earn their PGA Tour cards. And the OIA attracts elite amateurs from around the world,
including golfers from 28 different countries and over 20 different universities.
How'd he win such a big event? "I just switched to a cut a couple months ago, and I played
really well." Just like that, he switched. Apparently it worked.
Hopefully he keeps hitting the cut, because he'll need it next year when the tournament returns to Orange County National.
ABOUT THE Orlando International Amateur
The Orlando International Amateur Championship is
an annual golf tournament gathering high-level
amateur golfers from the United States of America
and abroad. 54-hole stroke play championship,
playing 18 holes per day.
Open to low-handicap amateurs, players who play
college golf, players who have qualified for any of
the
current year's USGA or R&A championships, and
those who have the recommendation of their
country’s Federation or Association.
View Complete Tournament Information