Cole Bradley Captures the First Coast Amateur

JACKSONVILLE, FL (January 15, 2018) - At last year's inaugural First Coast Amateur, winner Brandon Mancheno posted a 13-under winning total at Amelia National Golf & Country Club, going 54 holes without a single bogey. This year at Hidden Hills Country Club, the cold, windy conditions allowed Cole Bradley (W. Lafayette, IN) to post three straight over-par rounds and still win by one. The Purdue University freshman, who only took up the game of golf the fall before starting high school, shot rounds of 74-73-73 (+4) in a tournament where the danger of a high score was ever present in the difficult playing conditions. Bradley started the final round with a one-shot lead and was seemingly in a comfortable position, one under for the day with four holes remaining and a par five coming up. But two straight bogeys brought him back to the field, just as Jack Comstock (Jacksonville, FL) of North Florida was making three birdies on his final five holes to post a target score of 5-over 221. Comstock was +5 through 3 holes, making a quad on the third hole, but went -4 the rest of the way to give himself a chance at the win. Jonathan Keppler (Marietta, GA) of Florida State birdied the 14th hole and needed one more birdie to tie Bradley, but in the end couldn't overcome two double-bogey 7s on his scorecard. Keppler settled for a runner-up finish along with Comstock. UCLA commit Bryan Wiyang of Malaysia finished fast, making birdie on two of his final four holes to finish at +6. Jacques Wilson (Minnetonka, MN), a Charleston Southern senior, had the best chance of anyone to catch Bradley, and in fact pulled even when Bradley bogeyed 15 and 16. Still even on the 18th tee, he stumbled home with a double-bogey that dropped him to +6 and into a fourth place tie with Wiyang. Chase Baldwin (Jacksonville, FL) finished tied for sixth at 7-over 223, which was good enough to win the inaugural Mid-Amateur championship. In just two years, the First Coast Amateur has established itself as a strong early-season amateur event. This year's field represented 14 states, 26 colleges and 5 countries. The tournament is conducted by the Jacksonville Area Golf Association.