Proof-of-concept: Ryan Terry uses AG to help continue his quest

May 18, 2020 | by Brayden Conover of AmateurGolf.com

Ryan Terry (Submitted photo)

The Nashville resident needed to play - somewhere. He found the Tri-State Masters (Iowa) on AG, entered, and finished runner-up

With amateur golf tournaments slowly making a comeback, good competition can still be hard to find.

Nashville’s Ryan Terry flew out to Sioux City, Iowa to compete in the Tri-State Masters Tournament after finding the tournament on our site.

“The last couple of years I’ve been trying to ramp up my schedule,” Terry said in a phone interview Monday. “AmateurGolf.com has been a great resource for that.”

Related: Here is where amateur golf returned this weekend

The Tri-State Masters is a 54-hole tournament that usually takes place at three courses in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, but due to COVID-19, the three-day tournament was limited to just Green Valley Golf Club in Sioux City, Iowa.

Terry played college golf at Lipscomb University in Nashville from 2010 to 2014. After taking a hiatus to further his career as a financial advisor and heal a torn ACL and meniscus, he still finds time to play competitively around the nation.

Finishing T-11 at the Spirit of America last year and a win at the Florida Azalea Amateur in March, Terry’s game has stayed well-tuned throughout the pandemic. His home club, Nashville Golf & Athletic Club, stayed open minus the driving range which allowed Terry to focus on his short game over the past few months.

With a spur-of-the-moment trip to Iowa, Terry found himself leading the Tri-State Masters after 36 holes. With an opening 68 (-4) and a second-round 67 (-5), Terry was in the final group on a wet, chilly Sunday.

With a three-shot lead to start the day, Terry was focused on the course while paying close attention to the three competitors in his group. With a three-putt bogey on the opening hole, Terry bounced back immediately with a birdie on the second. Terry’s approach shot on the par-five sixth was nowhere to be found.

“I feel like I got a pretty bad break here,” Terry said. “I was in the middle of the fairway on the par-five sixth. I hit my second shot just a little left of the green at this left greenside bunker and I had to draw it around a tree so I couldn’t quite see it come down but it wasn’t any more than 10-yards left of the pin.”

After taking a lost ball and replaying his approach shot, Terry finished the sixth with a double-bogey seven.

Unbeknownst to him, Adam Fields was making a surge from six-shots back in the group ahead of him.

Playing the rest of the round at one-under-par, Terry finished the final-round with a two-over-par 74, Terry was two shots clear of everyone but Fields.

After grinding out a tough 18, Terry was let down when he found out he was in a playoff.

“I didn’t really think I was going to be in a playoff, honestly,” Terry said.

After having to refocus and decompress after such a tough round he was on the ninth tee ready to face off against the hot-hand of the day, Fields.

Unable to shake loose the previous 18-holes, Terry finished his day the same way he began with a three-putt bogey, losing to Fields who tapped in for par on the first playoff hole.

As for what’s next for Terry, he plans to play in the Greystone Open in Tennessee the first week of June. That tournament -- in a throwback to the Hale America Open won by Ben Hogan during WWII -- has become the pseudo-Tennesse Amateur Championship after that event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, Terry will head back to his hometown of Evansville, Indiana for an invitational before playing in the Sizzler Amateur in Arizona and potentially the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst.

About the Tri-State Masters

Proof-of-concept: Ryan Terry uses AG to help continue his quest

54-hole stroke play tournament with Open and Senior divisions. Played on three courses in three states (South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa). This is an Iowa Golf Association points event.

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