South Beach Int'l Am: Wind gusts force suspension of Round 3

Update: The third round of the South Beach International Amateur was suspended Friday at 2:20 p.m. Wind gusts continued to strengthen to the point that play could not continue. Tee times for the continuation of Round 3 and the final round start at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. The second-round scoring update is below.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 20, 2018) – Two rounds into the South Beach International Amateur, the leaderboard is no less crowded than it was 24 hours earlier. Four players share the lead at 7 under after battling wind gusts of up to 38 mph to post rounds in the red.

Pierceson Coody, a freshman at Texas, tied for the best round of the day at Miami Beach Golf Club with a 67 to move into a share of the lead with first-round leaders Matt Walker, who plays for Iowa, and Englishman Jake Burnage. Coody’s second consecutive round of 67 went on the board early in the day and moved him to 7 under. Burnage and Walker each followed an opening 64 at Normandy Shores with a 1-under 70 at Miami Beach in the second round. Florida resident Tyler Strafaci, who plays for Georgia Tech, followed his opening of 66 with a 68 at Normandy Shores to join the leaders.

Will Miles, who plays for South Carolina, is in solo second at 6 under after posting an impressive 66 at Normandy Shores to follow up his 69 at Miami Beach. His round of 4 under is especially remarkable considering the constant battering of crosswinds that faced the golfers at the Shores, where scores skyrocketed.

Manuel Torres, who plays locally for Lynn University, is in third place at 5-under par after following up his first-round 66 at Normandy with a 1-under 70 at Miami Beach. Khavish Varadan of Malaysia is tied with Torres. The University of Alabama-Birmingham star fired a 67 at Miami Beach to tie Coody for the best round of the day there.