Gahman birdies final hole to win Georgia Mid-Amateur

Nate Gahman trailed by eight through 18 holes, and by three through 36 holes of the 41st Georgia Mid-Amateur. He strung together 15 birdies and one eagle in his closing two rounds to wrap up a come-from-behind, one-shot victory over Chris Waters at Coosa Country Club.

The Albany, Ga. native, who played for Lee County High School and Georgia Southwestern University, posted 74 on Friday and sat eight back of opening-round leaders Waters and Michael Blechschmidt. He flipped the calendar to Saturday and turned in a pair of 32s in the second round to catapult up the leaderboard, three behind 36-hole leader Franco Castro.

On Sunday Dahman would birdie four of the same holes he circled on his card Saturday en route to a 66, capped off by a three at the par-4 18th to reach 12 under for the championship.

Waters' runner-up finish, featuring rounds of 66-70-79, was three clear of a two-way tie for third place that included second-round leader Castro as well as Joseph Kalbac.

Defending champion Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Ga. tied for 10th place, posting scores of 72-68-71. Four-time winner David Noll, Jr. fired 71 on Friday but struggled on the weekend with 74-79 to close out his tournament.

The host club Coosa Country Club was the site of the tournament's inaugural running back in 1982. The winner of the that event, Ross Johnson, was on hand Sunday to present Gahman with the trophy.

Nate Gahman rolls in this bird on #14 to move to 12-under.⛳️🐥

He’s one back of Chris Waters, who is now at 13-under thru 13 holes. Final rd. of the #GSGAMidAm is getting exciting!https://t.co/ZNT0rimdJ0 pic.twitter.com/u5hn6i5iya

— Georgia State Golf Association (@GSGA) May 22, 2022