Monroe Invitational: Poole Eyes Back-to-Back Trophies

PITTSFORD, NY (June 15, 2018) - Upon winning the Dogwood Invitational a week ago, Ashton Poole admitted to feeling his legs turn to spaghetti on the first tee. With that title under his belt, though, Poole may feel a little less shaky as he looks to add a Monroe Invitational victory to his resume.

Poole’s third round was relatively uneventful Friday at the par-70 Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, N.Y. He opened with a birdie, then rattled off par after par. A birdie at No. 12 moved him into a share of the lead. He had good looks at birdie at Nos. 17 and 18 but couldn’t convert them. Poole’s third-round 1-under 69 moved him to 2 over for the tournament and he leads Mason Greenberg and Kevin O’Connell by one shot.

Poole recently completed his sophomore season at Virginia. He tied for first place at the Northern Intercollegiate in September when he drained a 45-foot eagle putt on his final hole. That plus the Dogwood title amount to a major feather in his cap and a boost of confidence.

Greenberg, a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt, kept pace with Poole throughout the afternoon until a bogey at No. 18 dropped him to even par for the day and one shot off the pace.

O’Connell, the 29-year-old mid-amateur who led the tournament after Round 2, turned in even par but began to run out of steam on the back nine. There were bogeys at Nos. 10 and 14. O’Connell then finished birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey for 2-over 72.

Bryce Hendrix, last week’s Palmetto Amateur winner, had five birdies in a 2-under 68. Hendrix’s week in Pittsford has been something of a roller coaster. He opened with 69 only to fall back to 77 in a second round plagued by high winds. But Hendrix, 4 over for 54 holes, will enter the final round just two shots out of the lead.

Andy Ogletree, Matthew Lowe and Peter Knade are part of a three-way tie for fifth another shot back at 5 over. Jamie Miller, a mid-amateur from nearby Buffalo, N.Y., is tied for eighth with Ryan Gerard, a rising sophomore at North Carolina.

The best round of the day belonged to Nathan Barbieri, an Australian player who was stroke-play medalist earlier this year at the New South Wales Amateur. Barbieri made five birdies in six holes for a back-nine 30. The round could have been a lot lower but for a double bogey on the ninth hole. Barbieri is only five shots off the pace and in a tie for 11th.