Alabama amateur makes golf history
Golf history was made yesterday at the Boys State Junior Championship when Bobby Wyatt shot an unbelievable 14-under par round of 57. Wyatt will be turning 18 this weekend and is wrapping up his final junior championship. He is three time defending champion of the state championship which was played on his home course at the Country Club of Mobile.
Wyatt flew through the par-71 6628-yard course, picking up 12 birdies, five pars and an eagle in his record breaking round. Wyatt made 23 putts in total and on the front nine shot a nine-under 26. Wyatt also broke his own low; his score on Wednesday were five strokes better than his previous low of 62 set at a Louisiana tournament.
“It was unbelievable,” Wyatt said. “I got off to a fast start with birdies on my first two holes, then was 3-under through the first four holes."
After nine holes, he was nine under par. "People are congratulating me as I made the turn, but I knew there was a lot of golf to be played . . .I had to take a few extra practice swings on the 10th tee to get my focus back.”
Wyatt scored birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, at which point he realized he was in a position to score 59 “and I sort of relaxed at that point.” Wyatt continued onto the par-five 13th hole for another birdie. He used a hybrid to hit the ball from the fairway bunker and onto the green over a little creek and then putted from 20 feet away for an eagle and much praise.
Birdies were achieved on the 16th and 17th holes as well after a pivotal par shot on the 15th. At the 18th hole he tried for another birdie but had to settle for par. Wyatt is heading to the University of Alabama in the fall with playing partners and future roommates Michael Johnson and Trey Mullinax.
Wyatt’s round broke the course record which was jointly held by Zac Doran and Jonathan Dismuke, both of whom shot a 63 at the 2003 Labour Day Invitational. Wyatt’s round broke the record for lowest round ever in the State Junior Championship, previously 61 by Glenn Northcutt in 2004. If that isn’t enough, his round also broke the record of lowest score on any other Alabama Golf Association state championship and is the second lowest round in the history of golf.
"I was definitely aware of where I stood in my round the whole way around. I tried to act like I was even par making the turn, wanted to make some birdies, and wanted to think in increments (of holes) that I still had to play. I kept releasing the putter head well and kept making putts."
The only other player to score a lower round in a tournament was Homero Blancas in 1962. Blancas scored a 55 at the Premier Invitational in Longview, Texas, and was also an amateur at the time he achieved this record. Blancas continued to play with the PGA through the 1960’s and 70’s but couldn’t beat his own 15-under par on the 70 hole layout. The course measured just over 5000 yards and was played over the same nine holes twice.
In the past, two 56’s were recorded in friendly play as was one 57. In the professional game the lowest recorded score was 58, achieved by Jason Bohn at the 2001 Canadian Tour’s Tour Championship, Shigeki Maruyama in the qualifying round for the 2000 U.S. Open and by Ryo Ishikawa on the Japanese Tour earlier this year.
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