Stanley scorches
County
Amateur
field with final-round 62
Boiling Springs product, Newberry player wins by eight strokes
Published: Sunday, July 20,
2008 at 9:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 9:27 p.m.
With
temperatures in the upper 90s, all of the golfers felt the heat during Sunday’s
final round of the Coca-Cola Spartanburg County Men’s Amateur Championship at
Woodfin Ridge Golf Club.
Nobody was hotter than Daniel Stanley, though.
Stanley, a
Boiling Springs product who began the day two strokes behind leader Kyle
Milner, played the front nine in 6-under-par 30 with two eagles and then came
home in 32 shots for a 10-under 62 — capped off with a short birdie putt on No.
18.
Stanley’s
sizzling final round was good enough for an eight-shot victory.
“That’s about as good as I can play under that set of circumstances. It was
awesome,” said Stanley, a rising sophomore at
Newberry
College.
“I wasn’t thinking of 62. Nobody ever is. That’s just ridiculous.”
Milner, the runner-up, agreed.
He shot a respectable final-round 72 to finish at 6 under but saw early on
Sunday that it wasn’t going to be his day.
“I hit the ball real solid all day long, and my putter let me down,” Milner
said, “but I just flat out ran into a buzz saw. I’ve played in a lot of
tournaments, and Daniel played the best round I’ve seen of anybody. He deserved
to win. He took it.”
Stanley, a member at Woodfin Ridge, was determined to bounce back from a
disappointing 72 on Saturday. He wanted to draw even with Milner as quickly as
possible and then make a charge from there.
Stanley made
his first birdie at the third hole and then followed with an eagle at the par-5
fourth, drawing him even with Milner. After a three-putt for bogey at No. 5,
Stanley reeled off
birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 and made another eagle at the ninth.
“I got off to a good start … which was nice,” he said. “I wanted to put some
pressure on Kyle. I was just hitting it well all day, getting it close and
making the putts.”
Milner drew within four strokes after the 14th hole but then watched as
Stanley made a curling
30-footer for birdie at No. 15, ending any chance of a late rally.
“I wanted to get in a position where he had to beat me, and he certainly did
that,” Milner said. “Sometimes you just got to stand back and enjoy … even
though you’re getting hammered. You just have to enjoy — and certainly have to
respect — it. For a guy that shot 72 (Saturday) and improved by 10 shots in a
day … that’s phenomenal.”
Stanley’s
previous low round at Woodfin Ridge was a 65. He couldn’t have asked for a
better way to eclipse it.
“To win here means a lot because it’s my home course,”
Stanley said. “I knew everybody playing in
it, and I’m glad I got to show everybody how well I can play.”
Taylor Hough chipped in for eagle on his final hole for a 3-under 69 and
third-place finish at 4 under.
Two-time defending champion Mike Gravley capped off an impressive comeback
from a first-round 79 with a 66 on Sunday. He finished fourth overall, one shot
behind Hough.
“I came out a little more focused on the weekend,” Gravley said. “I just hit
it better. I’m happy with the way I played on the weekend.”
