Will Davis saw an opening in the Jacksonville Amateur. He took advantage and ran with it
Will Davis and Jeff Dennis were tied for the lead in the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Amateur Championship with five holes to play on a sweltering Saturday at the San Jose Country Club.
Davis then caught the break he was looking for.
“It was just a matter of taking the opportunity,” said Davis, a Wolfson graduate and rising junior at Davidson.
Davis nearly holed a bunker shot at the short par-4 14th hole and tapped in for a birdie, while Dennis, whose drive landed in a horrible lie in the left bunker, had to scrape for a par. That gave Davis a one-shot lead that he would never relinquish on the way to a 67 and a five-shot victory over defending champion Jason Duff in the 62nd edition of the Amateur.
Round one, hot golf on a hot day: Will Davis, Jeff Dennis share the lead
Round two, Dennis takes charge: Three bogeys in a row? Stifling heat? No problem for Jeff Dennis
Last year's champion: UNF sophomore Jason Duff fires bogey-free 64 to win Jacksonville Amateur by 11 shots
Davis (67), who turned 21 years old on Sunday, won at the course where he grew up — and where he still works in the cart barn during the summer.
San Jose actually gets a lot of mileage out of the Davis brothers.
Indeed, not long after he shot 69 in Friday's second round, Will Davis grabbed a quick bite and went to work washing carts.
His brother Sam, a sophomore at Yale, finished the tournament on Saturday at 1-over 217, gave his brother a quick congratulatory hug, and then had to race to the barn to start his shift.
“This place means a lot to me and my family,” he said after posting a 14-under-par 202, with all three rounds in the 60s. “It’s pretty cool to win here.”
Eagle putt at No. 17 closed it out
While Davis’ bunker shot at No. 14 gave him the lead for good, he delivered the dagger at the par-5 17th, with a cut 4-iron into the wind from 187 yards out onto the green. The ball rolled up and nestled 4 feet from the hole, and he drained the eagle putt to leave no doubt.
“When I hit the fairway there, I knew I had a good chance,” he said of any inclination to play it safe with what was then a two-shot lead after he parred No. 15 and Dennis three-putted for bogey. I could play No. 18 without much pressure after that — but I was still nervous.”
He missed the fairway right at No. 18 but still found the putting surface and two-putted from 18 feet to close it out.
Dennis had 'cold' putter
Dennis, the assistant golf coach at the University of North Florida, had a two-shot lead over Davis to begin the day. But he made one birdie at the second hole and couldn’t conjure up another for the rest of the round as he shot 75 to finish third at 8-under.
“He definitely went out and won the tournament,” Dennis said of Davis. “I didn’t have my best stuff. My putter was hot the first two days and then it went pretty cold.”
Dennis agreed that the 14th hole was the turning point.
“He makes an easy birdie and I’m basically hoping to get it out of the bunker anywhere,” he said.
Duff surges to second with eagle-two
Duff (69) played solidly in his title defense and made an eagle-two at No. 14 after driving the green and sinking the putt. He played his last five holes 3-under.
Creekside graduate Andrew Riley (71), who is transferring to UNF this fall, finished alone in fourth at 7-under.
Big moves from behind landed three players among the top 10. Bartram Trail and Liberty University graduate Max McKay (66) shot 5-under 31 on the front nine and Episcopal graduate Sam Ohno (66), now playing at Dartmouth, birdied his first two holes, lifting themselves into a tie for fifth.
Jackson Klauk (66), a Nease graduate who signed at Jacksonville University, eagled No. 6 and had three other birdies on the front and finished in a tie for sixth with Bartram Trail and University of Florida graduate Toby Ragland (70) at 5-under.
Seven of the top-eight players are from First Coast high schools and six of the top-eight played junior golf in the North Florida Junior Foundation.
Jacksonville Area Golf Association
62nd annual Jacksonville Amateur
At San Jose Country Club (par-72, 7,027 yards)
Will Davis 66-69-67--202
Jason Duff 67-71-69--207
Jeff Dennis 66-67-75--208
Andrew Riley 67-71-71--209
Max McKay 73-71-66--210
Sam Ohno 74-70-66--210
Jackson Klauk 75-70-66--211
Toby Ragland 68-73-70--211
Sam Geise 67-69-76--212
Tyler Brown 70-76-68--214
Panormitis Karatzas 72-72-70--214
James Tureskis 73-70-71--214
Danny Erickson 75-71-68--214
Max Barile 71-74-71--215
Nate Mosby 75-72-68--215
Adam Waller 75-72-69--216
Thomas Salatino 72-72-72--216
David Palm 71-71-74--216
Sam Davis 74-68-75--217
Jeff Golden 72-69-76--217
Zach Lee 74-70-73--217
Evan Raynor 71-75-72--218
Graham Nichols 73-74-72--219
Chuck Kirk 77-72-70--219
Andrew Stewart 78-71-70--219
John Ambrose 72- 73-75--220
Adam Vermut 73-75-72--220
Clay Tucker 75-72-74--221
Michael Smith 75-74-72--221
Luke Cusick 76-73-72--221
Alex Dienes 77-72-72--221
Mark Spencer 75-71-76--222
Andrew Morgan 72-76-74--222
Raines Holmes 73-77-73--223
Johnny Tucker 75-73-76--224
Tomas Cavanagh 73-77-74--224
Kevin McDonald 76-71-78--225
William Shrewsbury 76-71-78--225
Suttanit Tangyihgyong 68-81-76--225
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Will Davis wins the Jacksonville Amateur at his home course of San Jose
