Daniel Northington, posing with Tournament Director Steve Hammond and the trophy, shot 70-67-70-71 over four different courses to to capture his second consecutive Austin Men’s City Championship. His two under 34 on the back nine proved to be the winning margin.
The day began with Steve Paterson and Daniel Northington tied for the lead at eight under par. During the final round, the lead was never more than two shots and there were some ups and downs for both Northington and Paterson. Chris Benestante also made a charge and got to within one shot of the lead.
Northington took the lead early in the round with a birdie on #2. He bogeyed 5, birdied 6, bogeyed 7 and double bogeyed nine to turn in two over and six under for the tournament, one shot back of Paterson.
On the back nine, he steadied the ship and made seven pars and two birdies on the back nine. The critical putt came on number 13 where he made a 20 footer for birdie and a two shot lead. He two putted number 17 for the final birdie of the day and went to the 18th tee clear by two. After a pulled tee shot into the left rough and an iron shot played to the back of the green. Northington got up and down for a par to win the title.
Paterson, shown here with his wife and caddy Meredith, made eight straight pars and a bogey to turn in one over. That put him in the lead at seven under for the tournament headed into the back nine. Bogeys at 11 and 12 were costly. A birdie on 17 got him to six under with one hole to play and two shots back. He made par on the 18th.
Meanwhile, Chris Benestante, on the left in this photo, had posted three under on the front nine and was at six under for the tournament. Benestante has played well in a number of tournaments this season and was poised to make a run at the title on the back nine. Bogeys at 13 and 14 derailed the charge. He added a birdie on 18 to finish at five under and tied for third with Chris Hartenstein.
Speaking of Hartenstein…he shot 68 in the final round to finish T3 overall at five under par and capture the low senior title. He has played well this year with a second at the Chester Cup, second at the Central Texas Amateur and now third in the Men’s City. Shown here Steve Hammond and the trophy, Hartenstein leads the Austin Amateur points total in Senior category.
In the Junior Division, Austin Cotton shot 73, 76, 70, 74 = 293, seven over par, to finish T22 overall and win the Junior Division by eight shots over Zach West. Taylor Greenway finished third.
Despite the windy conditions, there were a number of low rounds recorded. Andrew Liu, Chris Benestante, Nick Maynard and Tim Mitchell posted 69. Payne Gniewek, Chris Shive and Jay Reynolds posted 68. Chris Hartenstein, Tyler Elbrect and Jack Cersosimo shot 67. Mike Allen posted the low round of the day and the tournament with 65.
Click here for full field scores.
Congratulations to the Golf Division of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department for running a great tournament. Overall the courses were in good condition and the tournament was administered very smoothly.
