McCurdy makes it a 'War Eagle' day at MCC

(from Montgomery Advertiser)

The yell from the Montgomery Country Club balcony said it all.

"War Eagle!"

It was directed at Auburn University golfer Will McCurdy, who had just tapped in a short par putt on No. 18 to capture the 91st MCC Invitational against a star-studded field.

The last putt may have been easy, but the final round was anything but. McCurdy dueled with his Auburn teammate, Jackson Beindorf, head-to-head for nearly the entire final round. And he also had to hold off the late charges of hard-hitting Reid Merritt of Troy University and Gator Todd, the former Alabama golfer who is the son of former Tide quarterback Richard Todd.

McCurdy closed with a 69 to finish at 6-under 204. Merritt was next at 205, followed by Todd at 206. Both shot final-round 67s. Beindorf slipped late and finished at 207 after a closing 74. He tied Hunter Hamrick (69), Adam West (67) and Matthew Swan (67).

"I scored really well," McCurdy said moments before accepting the championship trophy from tournament co-chairmen Pete Cobb and Hamp Greene III. "I got the most out of my round. When I hit a good shot, I took advantage of it on the scorecard."

About an hour later, McCurdy wandered back to the scoreboard area. He asked MCC pro Mike Shirley if he could have the placard bearing his name and score on the club leaderboard. Shirley gladly pulled it off and gave it to him.

McCurdy, who then left MCC for Auburn to begin school today, said he planned to send it to his parents in Fort Payne. The win obviously was important to him.
"Considering who was in this tournament, all these college golfers, yeah, it may have been my biggest (win)," he said.

The field included seven past multi-champions and four players who will be traveling to Tulsa, Okla., and the end of this week to play in the U.S.Amateur next week: Beindorf, Swan, Hamrick and Blake West (74/214). Zach Primavera, who finished at 212 after a closing 72, is a U.S. Amateur alternate.

For all intents and purposes, McCurdy won the tournament on the par-4 No. 16. McCurdy and Beindorf were neck-and-neck all day and were even going into 16. But Beindorf misplayed a chip, and McCurdy rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt, creating a two-shot swing on what McCurdy called a "bogey-birdie exchange." Beindorf didn't have enough holes to recover.

But the chase wasn't over. Merritt, who had the tournament low score of 64 on Saturday, continued to crush the ball on Sunday. He just didn't convert enough birdie putts to overtake the leaders, a fact not lost on McCurdy.

"Reid hit the ball as good as anyone I've seen in a long time," McCurdy said. "He made it look so easy. If he'd made some of those (longer) birdie putts, it would have been a different story, I can tell you." Merritt, who is about to start his junior year at Troy, hit every green in regulation except two, and he reached the fringe on those. But the only birdie putts he made were short ones.

"I didn't take advantage of some easy putts," he said. "I hit the ball very well. But Will played good. He deserved to win."

Todd, Hamrick, West and Swan all finished near the top but none really mounted a serious challenge on the day. Swan, though, said he had motivation to finish strongly. "I didn't want to get beat by Hunter," Swan joked as he enjoyed some hot chicken wings with his former Crimson Tide teammate after the round.

Hamrick and current Tide teammate Thomas Hugghins nearly defended the Dr. Hamp Greene III Collegiate Cup championship they won at MCC last year. They finished at 191, tied with McCurdy-Beindorf. But the Auburn duo won in a scorecard playoff, giving the Tigers a sweep of the top prizes.

Rounding out the top 10 were Chase Rogers (71/208), Robbie Cotten (69/210) and Smylie Kaufman (70/210). David Stanfield and Bob Dumas defended their four-ball title, beating Jack Doane Jr. and David Fry in a scorecard playoff. Both teams shot 197. Cobb and Jim Caruthers were third at 201.

Other flight winners were Cole Moreland (first, 213), Mike Montgomery (second, 217), Alex Balog (third, 227) and Ethan Frazier (fourth, 233).