Garrett Engle of the University of Chattanooga of Tennessee entered the final round with a one-shot lead and started with pars on the first six holes at The Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., and was looking for that spark to punctuate the round.
On the par-5 No. 7, he found it.
From 173 yards out, Engle sunk his second shot to make a double eagle albatross, and he recorded four more birdies on the back nine to shoot a final round 6-under 66 to finish 22-under and win the prestigious invitational by five shots.
Engle was consistent all week, shooting rounds of 67-67-66-66 to get to 22-under. Engle is ranked No. 176 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
"I had a pretty good number, and the pin was in the middle of the green, so I knew I was going to go right at it," Engle told the Back of the Range on Instagram. "I actually hit it a little thin, so I was a little worried it was going to be short and was yelling at it to fly, and I saw it roll up and disappear, so I thought it was three or four feet over the slope, but we got up there, and Maxwell (Ford) came running up the hill and started pointing at the hole."
Engle added, "At that point, I was just trying to calm down a little bit because it was pretty exciting."
2022 champion Carson Bacha also made an albatross on No. 7 in the final round two years ago.
Engle actually made a bogey on the next hole, No. 8, but bounced back nicely with four birdies on the back nine to win by five shots. Engle played No. 7 at 6-under on the week, with an eagle in the third round and a birdie in the first.
Shubham Jaglan of South Florida and Bruce Murphy of Tennessee finished T2 at 17-under. Cooper Schultz of Kansas State finished in solo fourth place at 16-under, and Nathan Franks of South Carolina finished 15-under and in solo fifth place.
"I was really excited to have the opportunity to come out today and do something special," Engle told the Back of the Range. "I knew a lot of guys were going to push me even after the albatross, so it was important that I stuck to my game plan all day."
Engle added, "I played super conservative today and let the birdies come to me, and it worked out well.
Maxwell Ford of North Carolina and Aiden Kramer of Georgia Tech finished T6 at 14-under. 2023 champion Hunter Logan of Mississippi State finished in solo eighth place at 13-under.
Ford has had success at The Dogwood before, finishing T2 last year.
The history of this prestigious event extends back to 1941 when legendary amateur Tommy Barnes captured his first of five Dogwood titles. Evolving with the times, the modern Dogwood has produced fine champions like Webb Simpson (’07), Brian Harman (’09), Dawson Armstrong (’15), and in 2019 Brandon Mancheno.