Barry Babbitt captures Eastern Amateur

PORTSMOUTH, VA (July 16, 2017) - Recent Rollins College graduate Barry Babbitt came from behind on the final day to finish 16-under and capture the 61st Eastern Amateur hosted by Elizabeth Manor Golf & CC. Babbitt began the final round 11-under and two off the 54-hole pace set by Myles Creighton of Radford University but he quickly erased that deficit with a 3-under 32 on the front nine that included four birdies and just one bogey. The front nine birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 7 and 8 pushed Babbitt to 14-under and the lead. Babbitt moved his tally to 15-under with a birdie on the 10th and then reached 16-under following his sixth and final birdie of the round on No. 13. For the week Babbitt remarkably did most of his damage on the par-4's, playing the holes in 13-under. Arizona State's Ryan Douglass matched the round of the day with a 6-under 64 to finish in second place at 14-under. Douglass got to 14-under after his sixth birdie of the day on the 14th hole but a double-bogey on the 15th proved costly as he birdied the 16th and 18th hole to end up two back. 54-hole leader Myles Creighton, from Canada, placed third at 13-under while Matt Murlick of Virginia and Virginia Brandon Yoon shared fourth at 12-under.