“I’ve struggled a bit this year from a golf perspective, so it was to finish my tournament year with a wind,” mentioned an elated Womble. “It gives me confidence, hopefully rolling into 2024.”
Womble possessed a one-shot lead after the first round of competition over Jared Howard of Charlotte, N.C., and again coming into Saturday’s third and final round. The lead quickly disappeared, however, in today’s round after Womble made a double bogey on holes two and three.
“Yeah, definitely a challenging start,” said Womble. “After that, I was able to settle down, I made about a 25-footer on four, that really jump-started my round. The putter was red hot the rest of the day, and that catapulted me to making nine birdies on the last fifteen holes.”
Howard also stumbled at the beginning of the day, opening with a double bogey and bogey. He would steady the ship the rest of the way to finish second with a 6-under, 210 total. Joshua Martin of Pinehurst, N.C., made an eagle on 10 to move up the leaderboard and secure third place, finishing at 5-under, a 211 total.
The third lead group member, Cyrus Stewart of Raleigh, N.C., played well to begin the day but struggled down the stretch with three bogeys on his back-nine to finish at 3-under. Matt Schall of Matthews, N.C., would also shoot 3-under overall to tie Stewart.
Forest Creek was a beautiful backdrop, even as weather conditions toughed up over the final two days. The first day of Fall brought with it some chilly rain and high winds scattered throughout the third round, and the course crew worked tirelessly to give the golfers a fantastic, conditioned course.
“There’s a lot of dog leg rights and driver opportunities, and I tend to hit a power fade off the tee, so I feel very comfortable out here,” added Womble. “The greens were also perfect and very fast, which I like to see, just felt very comfortable all around.”