Tag: Caleb Surratt

Ukrainian Misha Golod three shots off lead at Terra Cotta Invitational

Misha Golod has captivated the golf world since escaping the war-torn country of Ukraine to the U.S. in March.

NAPLES, Fla. — A pair of familiar faces are near the top of the 26th annual Terra Cotta Invitational after the first round.

Defending champion Caleb Surratt, an 18-year-old University of Tennessee commit, is leading, and Ukrainian Misha Golod, who has captivated the golf world since escaping the war-torn country to the U.S. in March, isn’t too far behind at Naples National Golf Club on Friday.

Surratt, from Indian Trail, North Carolina, was 3 under before a bogey at No. 8, but he bounced back with three straight birdies on Nos. 11-13 and added another at No. 15.

He made two difficult pars on Nos. 9 and 10 before getting that first birdie from 15 feet. Surratt bogeyed No. 16, then parred the last two to finish three strokes ahead of Golod.

“It’s kind of discipline, I think I know what it takes around here to play well and I kind of stuck to that same game plan, no matter how great things were going or bad things were going,” Surratt said. “I think it’s important to not get too aggressive, but play aggressively smart around here.”

Golod’s story was first told in Golf Digest in early March, and from there the golf world rose to the occasion to raise funds and awareness to help him get out of the country. He arrived in Orlando on March 11, and received a scholarship at the David Leadbetter Academy and received housing accommodations. A Leadbetter instructor is with him in Naples this weekend.

Golod was an honorary starter at the Players Championship shortly after coming to America, and then got to take in practice rounds at the Masters and attend the Golf Writers Association of America banquet in Augusta a few weeks ago.

The 15-year-old had only played one golf tournament in a few months, but shook off any rust for one day at least. He bogeyed three of his first five holes, but sank a 25-foot, breaking birdie putt at No. 7, a challenging par save at No. 8, and birdied Nos. 9 and 10 to get to even par. Golod saved a bogey on No. 11, but responded with birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16, then parred the last two for a 70.

“I’m obviously delighted with the score, and to make a comeback,” Golod said. “It’s awesome to make that comeback to get to 2 under par. Hopefully I give myself a chance on Sunday.

“I was pretty much as relaxed as I could but because obviously I’m probably one of the youngest players in here, and it’s the first time playing in this tournament and I’m just happy and having fun. We’re just out there smiling all day long, so it was awesome.”

Nicholas Prieto, a 17-year-old from Miami, is in second, a stroke behind Surratt. Ben James, a Virginia commit from Connecticut, is in third after a 69. Canadian Jean-Philippe Parr is tied for fourth with Golod. Luke Poulter, and a University of Florida commit and the 18-year-old son of tour pro Ian Poulter, is tied for sixth at 71 with Florida State commit Luke Clanton of Miami Lakes.

Lucas Fallotico, one of several FGCU men’s golfers in the field, is the top local player, tied for 13th at 1 over par.

The second round is Saturday, with leaders teeing off at 10:12 a.m. ET The final round is Sunday.

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2022 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley featured number of firsts, including playoffs and a girls’ field

This year’s Junior Invitational will be memorable for multiple reasons.

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — By the time the gold jacket ceremony rolled around Saturday, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley had seen a number of firsts for the event.

For the first time in the tournament’s history a playoff was required to decide a champion. If that wasn’t enough, both boys and girls fields went to one-hole playoffs. Indian Trail, North Carolina product Caleb Surratt took the gold jacket for the boys and Denmark native Amalie Leth-Nissen secured the girls’ title.

This was Surratt’s first start in the Junior invitational and his last, as the University of Tennessee commit will be heading to college in the fall.

“I can’t really process it yet. Golf isn’t what defines me and it’s not what makes my self worth go up or down, nor my confidence,” he said. “On the other side of that, it is pretty amazing on my golf life and will definitely give me some confidence moving forward. It shows me that my good golf is good enough, still.”

Leth-Nissen, on the other hand, will always exist in the record books as the first girls’ champion of the Junior Invitational. That fact was still sinking in after the trophy ceremony.

“I’m so honored and thankful for this and it’s also my first international win, so this is huge for me,” she said.

Surratt entered the final round leading after a Thursday 67 and Friday 65 (the low round of the tournament). Luke Potter (who shot 68-66 in the first two rounds) trailed Surratt by one stroke through 17 holes Saturday, but an errant tee shot on No. 18 left the door open for Potter.

“There was a lot of wind off the left and I kind of rushed that tee shot, wanted to get it in play and then I hit it right,” Surratt said. “Unfortunately I had to punch out and I actually hit a really good punch out where I could get a wedge in, but it clipped the last branch and into the rough. From there, we were just trying to get it into the playoff.”

After losing a lead and going into a playoff scenario, that situation can cause many a competitor to fold. For Surratt, it was important to take it one shot at a time and put the past in the rearview mirror.

“I kind of just kept telling myself I need to roll with the punches,” he said. “That was my thought all week and finishing bogey-bogey in regulation and one of them not being a bad shot, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in that and carry it over. I felt like we did a great job of resetting. It was just awesome to see how it worked.”

Heading into Saturday, it appeared University of Southern California commit Bailey Shoemaker was going to run away with it. Leth-Nissen was riding the momentum of a Friday 68, but she still began the day seven shots back — that was until a birdie putt on No. 18 and the first of two memorable fist pumps from the 17-year-old.

“I think going into this round, I was seven shots behind and I didn’t even think about winning. It was just all about working on my own game and trying my best. Going into 18 one shot behind, knowing I had to make that birdie, so my adrenaline was really pumping on that putt. It was such a relief to pull that down.”

The playoff on No. 18 began similarly to the regulation hole, but Leth-Nissen had a bit of trouble lining up her approach shot. She stepped off the ball a number of times to swat away a few bugs, but it didn’t shake her as she landed the shot on the backside of the green within 10 feet of the pin. A putt and another fist pump later, she was a champion.

Following the putt, several of Leth-Nissen’s peers rushed out on to the green and doused her with bottles of water in celebration. One of the finer aspects of this tournament is that lifelong friendships can be found amongst the fierce competition.

“It’s really nice because hopefully in the future we will see each other on tours and stuff, so already getting friendships here is really important,” she said. “It’s really nice that Sage Valley makes us feel comfortable and makes that happen for us.”

Friday’s second round was briefly interrupted with the threat of inclement weather in the afternoon. Lightning wasn’t in the area, so tournament officials decided it was safe enough for players to resume play. What players found, however, were swirling winds on the second-nine, creating a new set of challenges for an already difficult course.

“It definitely got longer,” Leth-Nissen said after completing play Friday. The shots to the green were a bit more difficult, because it was hard to find out which way the wind was coming with the trees and all, so you have to be better at your short game.

This event was three years in the making, as the SVJI Sports Foundation had originally announced the addition of a girls’ field back in 2019. The addition was supposed to start in 2021, but had to be pushed back a year due to COVID-19 concerns. This week showed the competition was well worth the wait.

“Sometimes I feel like, ‘Should I even be here?’ It’s crazy to think on 24 girls would be invited to this,” Virginia commit Jaclyn LaHa said Friday. “To be one of the first 24 girls is a privilege and it’s really nice.”

Seven of the 24-player Junior Invitational girls’ field will also be competing in the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur at the end of the month: Leth-Nissen (1st), Shoemaker (1st), Alexa Pano (3rd), Megha Ganne (2nd), Jeong Hyun Lee (1st), Shannon Tan (1st) and Avery Zweig (1st).

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There may be no hotter player in junior golf than Caleb Surratt, the recent PGA Junior champ now cruising through the U.S. Junior

Is there a junior player on a better streak than Caleb Surratt right now?

Not surprisingly, doors flew open for Caleb Surratt when he learned how to win. After a 2020 golf season during which Surratt appeared in the final pairing in the final round over and over, but never came home with anything to show for it, something clicked in April at the Terra Cotta Invitational.

“I’ve got to disconnect from results and not waste my energy on reacting to shots,” Surratt explained. “I felt like I used to try to control everything that happens. Just kind of in that final round (at Terra Cotta) is when it finally clicked, I’m going to put all my energy into my process over the ball and then wherever the ball goes, goes.”

It’s an epiphany that took quite a bit of time. Surratt has spent lots of energy with swing instructor Chase Duncan in Raleigh, North Carolina – near the Surratts’ home of Indian Trails, North Carolina – working not only through the finer points of closing but also improving his golf swing and finding a process that works for him.

Scores: U.S. Junior Amateur

He used to get lazy over shots, he remembers, and sometimes come down under plane, which caused him to lose his posture at the ball. It was a move, he said, that was “not very high-competitive profile.” Add that fix, which has taken quite a bit of work plus physical and mental maturity, and Surratt’s presence on leaderboard after leaderboard isn’t all that surprising.

Surratt’s is one of the great growth stories in junior golf right now. He’s the recent Western Junior champion and entered this week’s U.S. Junior off a win last week at the Junior PGA Championship.

“I really want to win the U.S. Junior, to be honest with you,” Surratt said when asked for his next goal. “That was the goal at the start of the year, and I’m still in a position to do that.”

At the Country Club of North Carolina this week, there have been many mini wins. Rounds of 70-67 set him up with the No. 5 spot on the bracket. He narrowly dispatched Daniel Choi in the first round of match play, 1 up, and took down Rowan Sullivan in the next round by a more comfortable 5-and-4 margin.

Remarkably, given his resume, this is Surratt’s debut in the U.S. Junior. He has seemingly been in the conversation at every major junior event for a year: runner-up at the 2020 Dustin Johnson World Junior, third at the 2020 Ping Invitational and runner-up again at the 2020 Jones Cup Junior. He has top-10 finishes already this year at the Scott Robertson, Team TaylorMade Invitational and Wyndham Invitational.

“I just think, over the years, I feel like I’ve really just matured physically,” he said. “My body has gotten a lot stronger and I’ve been able to hit a lot of different shots but mainly I feel like I’m working with some great coaches now.”

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As Surratt moves toward a college career at Tennessee (he has verbally committed for the fall of 2022), he’s also looking at ways to break through on Tour. He narrowly missed Monday qualifying into the Palmetto Championship earlier this summer and has played Monday qualifiers for the Wells Fargo and Wyndham Championship, too.

Despite an early-week announcement that the Junior Ryder Cup has been canceled this fall because of COVID-19 reasons (the European team will not travel to Whistling Straits in light of the lingering pandemic), Surratt can expect some facetime with the Ryder Cup team, too.

Surratt was the first player named to the junior team last week when he won the Junior PGA Championship at Kearney Hills in Lexington, Kentucky. He called making the team a lifelong goal, and is thankful U.S. team members will still be invited to Whistling Straits for the event.

“I’m honestly really happy they’re still making it happen that way we can still go hang out with all our friends and have a great week and still feel like it’s truly going on even though Europe won’t be able to come,” he said. “I’m excited for the experience, I think it’s still going to be really good.”

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Terra Cotta Invitational: Tennessee commit Caleb Surratt edges Georgia commit Maxwell Ford

Caleb Surratt, a 17-year-old headed to NC State, was able to finally put away Georgia-bound Maxwell Ford with 15-foot birdie putt on 18.

NAPLES, Fla. — Caleb Surratt had made just two bogeys and a double bogey in 47 holes of the 25th Terra Cotta Invitational presented by Workday.

But bogeys on Nos. 13 and 15 dropped him into a tie with Maxwell Ford with three holes to play.

Surratt, a 17-year-old headed to Tennessee, and Ford, an 18-year-old going to Georgia, struggled over the next couple of holes, and when Ford left a 40-foot birdie putt 10 feet short on No. 17 and missed it, Surratt carried a one-shot lead to the final hole at Naples National Golf Club on Sunday.

Surratt finished in style, draining a 15-foot birdie putt to win by two.

“It was definitely a tough finish for all of us — the wind started getting up,” Surratt said. “It’s a great finish with a birdie on 18; it felt really good. I’ve been working really hard for a long time and been close a lot of times, and it feels great to finally get it done.”

Ford made another bogey, so Surratt ended up with a two-shot victory at 3-under 213.

“Being tied with three holes and two holes to go, you can’t really ask for much more experience-wise,” Ford said. “You had a chance to win the tournament. I really don’t think I hit that many bad shots coming in.”

Surratt, who is from Indian Trail, North Carolina, was the only golfer in the field of 70 top amateurs to finish under par.

“One thing for me was realizing that I’ve played great golf all week — I think I’ve had the least bogeys in the field,” Surratt said. “When I make a bogey and initially be really mad, I would just try to keep the perspective that how great you’re really playing. You’re not throwing that many shots away, and just keep plugging along like you have been.”

Surratt, whose dad Brent was his caddie, had the lead from wire-to-wire, shooting a 3-under 69 in the first round, and going into the final round tied with 18-year-old Cohen Trolio. But he never gave it up.

“It kind of felt like he didn’t really miss a shot,” said Ford, who is from Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Sunday wasn’t a good one for the Southwest Florida contingent, three of whom were in striking distance of the lead.

But James Tureskis of Florida State, who started in sixth, stumbled to a front-nine 49 on the way to an 85 and tied for 40th. Sam Kodak, an FSU commit, shot a 78 and tied for 16th. Jack Irons was in the top 10 with four holes to play but played them 5 over and finished 14th at 6-over 222. Ryan Hart, who plays for Florida, had the best round out of them, with a 2-under 70 to end up tied for 24th. He was one of only four players to break par in the final round.

Florida Gulf Coast University golfer Van Holmgren, coming off winning the ASUN tournament title Tuesday, ended up tying for 10th at 221 with an even-par 72.

Carl Santos-Ocampo, a former Community School and Notre Dame golfer, did have a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th from 169 yards with a 7-iron, and shot a 77 to tie for 40th.

Surratt birdied No. 9 to close a painstaking, three-hour front nine by the final group to take a three-shot lead to the back. And he seemed in control before the middle of the back nine when he went over the par-4 13th in two and couldn’t get up and down, then missed a 3-foot par putt on the par-5 15th.

Ford, whose twin brother David withdrew with a back injury, had caught a break on the hole when his third shot rolled into the collar of the green, and into rocks guarding the greenside water hazard, then caromed back where he could putt it. He two-putted to move into the tie.

On No. 16, a par 4, both players went over the green – Ford from the fairway and Surratt from the pine straw left. Neither got up and down.

On the par-3 17th, Ford’s shot ended up 40 feet away and left his birdie putt well short, and Surratt just missed his 15-footer.

Ford’s miss gave Surratt back the lead, and he played the 18th perfectly, laying up, and then hitting it to 15 feet.

Trolio, an LSU commit, went to the back nine tied with Ford at 2 under, but played the back nine 3 over to finish in third at 1-over 217 with former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Scott Harvey.

Now Surratt goes back to high school to play in the state tournament series there, and plans on trying to qualify for the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship in a couple of weeks.

“I know I can compete on this level with my good golf,” Surratt said. “I have in previous amateur events. That makes it even better to get it done. We’ve worked on a lot of things that we thought would make the difference and they did this week so it feels amazing.”

Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/