AIKEN, S.C. — Just a week after winning the North & South Men’s Championship at Pinehurst, Tyler Strafaci continued his winning ways, taking the 45th Palmetto Amateur.
The Georgia Tech golfer was a model of consistency all week, shooting 68-66-67-69 over 72 holes for 10-under par. He finished one shot ahead of both Greyson Porter (Florida State) and CJ Easley (Auburn).
Strafaci began No. 18 maintaining a one-shot lead over Porter and Easley. His tee shot didn’t help that endeavor, as it landed near the cart path between the fairway and driving range. He made the decision to take relief in order to get the ball back on the grass for his approach shot, which paid off as he landed it 10 feet from the pin for a birdie opportunity. A two-putt secured him the title.
“If my dad was caddying, he probably would’ve told me not to take relief, because I had a clear shot. I’d rather have grass under my ball and I had to hit a five-yard draw just to get it at the pin,” he said.
Strafaci missed a four-foot birdie putt on No. 15 and got a glimpse of the leaderboard as his group passed the clubhouse on the way to No. 16 tee. He finished the week 2 under on the first nine and 8 under on the second, so he knew there wasn’t time to get comfortable as there were strokes to be had on the final three holes.
“My goal every day was to get to at least 2 or 3 under heading into 14, because you can make birdies on pretty much every hole coming in. I got off to a horrible start and hit it close the last three holes, but my speed was so bad I just wasn’t feeling good with the putter,” he said.
“I saw I had a two-shot lead going into 16 at 10 under and you still don’t feel safe because you can birdie the last three pretty easily. Both Greyson and (Easley) birdied 17, so they had chances on the last hole to get to 10. I thought I’d have to play the last three at 1 under.”
While Strafaci was the only member of the field to break 70 each round, he admitted struggling with the putter during the week despite hitting the ball very well.
“I hit the ball phenomenally this week, just didn’t have a good feel for the greens out here, didn’t make many putts,” Strafaci said. “That kind of explains my slow start the last two days, I was 2 over on the front side both days and couldn’t make a putt. I hit it really good on the back and it was mostly ball striking. To win this golf tournament, with the great course and great field, means a lot.”
Having no practice round heading into the tournament steepened the learning curve for many in the field new to Palmetto Golf Club. Strafaci said what helped him was the fast greens at Pinehurst the week prior.
“I was fortunate enough to play Pinehurst No. 2 last week and those greens are very severe. If I wasn’t putting on those greens coming into this, I would’ve had more of a learning curve. It took me a couple days to get used to the course and then it was mostly just figuring out how to make a putt.”
Another name that made waves at Palmetto this week was 16-year-old Caleb Surratt. The NC State golf commit shot 32-31 for an opening-round 63 and followed it with a 66 on Thursday. He struggled a bit as the week went on, but still managed a top-10 (T-7th) finish.
Charleston Southern golfer and Aiken Native Jake Carter (1 under) was the highest local finisher at 18th. Besides Carter, the lone local player to make the cut was Dane Burkhart (6-over, 35th).
As the day wrapped up, Tournament Chairman Brad Crain made a point at the trophy ceremony to thank the volunteers and medical professionals for their hard work, given the extra precautions and manpower needed with the current health crisis.
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