Tyler Cozad comes through for his third EDGA Amateur Championship since 2017

Tyler Cozad and Mike Wolfe, the winner and near-winner of this year’s Marquette Savings Bank EDGA Amateur Championship, each cited a popular two-word sentiment about their conclusions to Sunday’s final round.

That’s golf.

Wolfe was three holes away from winning his first career EDGA major. The McDowell graduate, the tournament leader at 4-under par overall going into Sunday, was at 5-under by the time he approached the course’s 16th hole.

Wolfe held a two-stroke lead over Cozad, one of his playing partners, and three over Drew Deimel, his other.

“In my head, I thought Drew and I were playing for second place at the turn,” Cozad said. “I honestly thought that this was Mike’s tournament. He deserved it. He played well enough to win it and probably should have won it.”

Wolfe didn’t. The former Allegheny College golfer inexplicably sustained not one, but two penalty shots.

A bogey six on the 16th and double-bogey six on the 17th dropped Wolfe to 2-under going into Lake Shore’s unique par-3 18th.

Although he parred it, the damage was done.

Cozad, with a 54-hole score of 4-under 212, won the tournament for the third time since 2017. Deimel, the Amateur’s 2010 medalist, finished second at 3-under.

Alex Weir and Wolfe tied for third.

“Mike played great all week,” Cozad said. “He was fantastic, but he made a couple slipups down the stretch that unfortunately for him put me in front.”

“And Drew only lost by one, so any one of us could have won.”

More: How an EDGA Match Play victory negated three recent losses for Gannon golfer Ryan Ferry

Agonizing ending

There were no physical or mental yips down the stretch, according to Wolfe. Neither the 16th nor 17th holes were problems during his first and second rounds, as he parred them each day.

“I knew I had the lead (going to the 16th) and was up by a couple (shots) on the other guys,” Wolfe said. “I might have left one or two birdies out there (Sunday), but otherwise I was playing solid. I thought the (penalty shots) were actually two good shots, but I still had lost balls.”

Wolfe’s penalty on the 16th was for an errant drive. The one on the 17th was for his approach shot to the green, which has a cavernous creek guarding it.

Although Wolfe’s ball cleared that hazard, an ensuing search for it proved futile.

More: Which District 10 boys golfers will emerge? These are golfers to watch this season

Closer to history

Cozad, 32, joined elite company when EDGA president Dave Hewett handed him the tournament’s trophy before the other players and fans behind Lake Shore’s clubhouse.

The North East graduate, who formerly competed for South Carolina’s Southern Wesleyan University, became the sixth person who won the Amateur three times. Tom Amendola, Brett Kieffer, Ron Coleman, Austin Romeo and Tim Dunlavey were the others.

Amendola, Kieffer and Coleman, who made Sunday’s cut and finished at 10-over 226, are enshrined in the EDGA Hall of Fame.

Cozad is one away from matching Ellery Tarbell’s record of four Amateur victories since the 103-year-old tournament switched to stroke play in 1961.

Tarbell, a 2022 EDGA hall of famer, recorded his between 2005 and 2011.

Cozad also captured the 2017 Amateur title at Lake Shore. His second was in 2019, when he defeated former Mercyhurst University golfer Adrien Larsen in a playoff at Downing Golf Course.

Cozad was aware how fortunate he’s been to emerge victorious in three Amateurs against fields that have included Wolfe, Deimel, Weir and other local golfers who are in their prime.

“There’s so many guys here who can go low,” Cozad said. “I mean, look at Sean Sculley. He played great (with a closing round of 67) when you looked down the leaderboard. There’s a lot of guys here (Sunday) who can win.”

More: District 10 high school scoreboard: Golf tees off first week of 2023 fall seasons

EDGA Amateur results

Results for the Marquette Savings Bank EDGA Amateur Championship at Fairview Township’s Lake Shore Country Club:

Tyler Cozad 70-72-70-212

Drew Deimel 75-66-72-213

Alex Weir 73-70-71-214

Mike Wolfe 72-68-74-214

Shaunak Rama 74-73-69-216

Evan Rowane 73-72-71-216

Matt Barto 74-71-72-217

Patrick Kelly 78-73-69-220

Sean Sculley 77-76-67-220

Ted Grassi III 75-72-74-221

Jimmy Callaghan 76-74-72-222

Giovanni Delorenzi 75-76-71-222

Kyle Westfall 74-74-75-223

Ryan Ferry 73-78-74-225

Phil Pedano 80-70-75-225

Mike Garcia 74-70-81-225

Ron Coleman 79-73-74-226

Ryan Deimel 76-74-78-228

Maclain Detrick 75-77-77-229

Rick Carlotti  81-72-77-230

Bob Paris 79-72-80-231

Isaiah Swan 77-73-81-231

Ron Richardson 80-73-80-233

Brett Folga 77-76-WD

Missed the cut

Elijah Ruppert 80-74-154

Dave Spitzer 80-75-155

Andrew Simon 78-77-155

Michael Wareham 84-72-156

Brock Watson 84-72-156

Dylan Flinchbaugh 80-76-156

Rob Nicotra 76-80-156

Anthony LaBoda 84-73-157

Michael Capotis 79-78-157

Billy Colbert  78-79-157

Jon Merriott 78-79-157

Mark Peters 77-80-157

Eric Wildauer 75-82-157

R.C. Chase 75-82-157

Nick Petrarca 81-77-158

Cade Utegg 77-81-158

Tim Weyand 79-80-159

Dustin Coleman 87-73-160

Logan Sauer 85-75-160

Michael Dinner 81-79-160

Nathan Feltmeyer 80-80-160

Mark Majewski 76-84-160

Jason Golembiewski 84-77-161

Daniel Leek 84-77-161

Zac Bihler 3-78-161

Paul Demyanovich 78-84-162

Abe Holmes 73-89-162

Zach Henry 89-74-163

Andrew Klein 86-77-163

Ethan Bennett 82-81-163

Lucas Marsh 81-83-164

Jacob Wolak 84-82-166

Michael Stoddart 89-78-167

Scott Klein 88-79-167

Tanner Sliker 85-82-167

Tim Linhart 81-86-167

Jack Costello 84-84-168

Joe Schmitt 87-83-170

Anthony Tupek 86-84-170

Mark Noce 92-81-173

Scott Simonsen 91-82-173

Brandon Zapolski 88-87-175

Nicholas Quinet 99-83-182

Jesse Watkins 84-WD

Dean Rainville WD

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Tyler Cozad wins third EDGA Amateur Championship since 2017