|
Seeing
Red
Stewart
Whitt’s record-breaking 62 leaves Coosa Country Club,
himself in awe
By Sarah Hunninghake
Lisa
Whitt could only stand and watch, her eyes half-closed and
half-open, as her son, Stewart, putted for birdie on the 18th
hole of the AGJA Henry-Griffitts Rome Junior Classic.
“Now
tell me when it goes in,” Lisa Whitt said, her hands
shaking with nervous anticipation.
|
Stewart Whitt lines up his birdie putt at the 18th
hole. Whitt drained the seven-footer to seal his 10-under-par
62.
|
Whitt
sank the 7-foot putt to finish the final round with a 10-under-par
62, tying Allen Doyle’s Coosa Country Club course record
and setting a new American Junior Golf Association boys’
record for the lowest score in a round.
Afterward,
Coosa Country Club buzzed with excitement at the unbelievable
news. Fellow players approached Whitt to offer their congratulations,
and some spectators even asked for his picture by the scoreboard.
Despite this, Whitt seemed unfazed by the activity; he could
only shake his head in amazement.
“This
is crazy,” said Whitt, who jumped from a tie for 10th
place after the second round to a second-place finish for
the championship. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. The first
thing I said to myself was, ‘Wow!’ I couldn’t
believe what I did.”
Whitt,
who went 72-73-62—207 for the tournament, made birdie
on seven of the final nine holes, including four-in-a-row
on Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 14. He had 10 birdies for the round
and 17 for the tournament.
Although
Whitt said he struggled to hit the ball consistently early
in the round, his luck took a turn for the better on the 423-yard,
par-4 seventh hole. Sitting to the left of the green on his
third shot, Whitt got up-and-down to save par.
“After
that, it was like a light bulb went on,” the 17-year-old,
senior-to-be said. “I never really felt pressure because
I never thought I would be able to be up near the leaders.
It went through my head a few times what I had a chance to
do, but I never got nervous.”
Playing
in his first AJGA event, Whitt qualified for the Henry-Griffitts
Rome Junior Classic because he won a Southeast Junior Golf
Association event at The Legends at Huntsville. However, going
into the tournament, he said he never expected to win.
“I
just came to get some experience,” said Whitt, whose
previous best score was a 66 he shot in March at Canebrake
Golf Club in Athens, Ala. “I knew if I played well, I
could have a good showing. But I never expected this in the
least.”
Coming
home to Athens, Ala., population 18,967, was a well-received
homecoming for Whitt. For a town that didn’t have an
18-hole course until less than two years ago, Whitt’s
record-breaking round gave Athens reason to boast.
“A
lot of people that don’t know anything about golf have
congratulated me,” said Whitt, who qualified for the
Rolex Tournament of Champions with this second-place finish.
Even
now that the tournament is over, the magnitude of Whitt’s
accomplishment still hasn’t sunk in.
“It
still really doesn’t seem like it happened,” he
said. “It’s still a shock.”
|
