MIROMAR LAKES, Fla.- The 47th Florida Senior Open was nothing short of exciting, and at the end of the three rounds it was David Schuster who overcame a two shot deficit to capture the victory and raise the well-deserved trophy. Schuster fired a seven-under par, 29 on his final nine holes to finish with a tournament total of 11-under par, and outlast the field by four strokes. Schuster takes home a $12,000 check along with his victory.
Miromar Lakes Beach and Golf Club played host to this championship. The course features generous fairways, with difficult greens, and lush grass. Steve Vicellio stated, “The approach shots are key to getting around Miromar Lakes, the greens are really hard and it’s hard to get it up and down if you miss it in the wrong place because they are all elevated.”
In addition, Garrett Willis explained, “Just put it in play. This golf course is gettable because the greens are so good and the fairway complex is amazing, hitting off this turf allows you to really control your ball, and pinch the ball, control the spin, and trajectory.”
Indeed, the course set up perfectly for an exciting event. The leaderboard remained tight throughout the three days. Skip Kendall fired the low first round posting a seven-under, 65. He dropped six birdies on the back nine to post a 30 and hold the lead by one stroke over David Hronek.
When asked about his first round Kendall said, “I struck it really nicely and didn’t really miss any greens. I hit it a little closer to the hole on the back nine and took advantage of the opportunities that I had.”
Kendall finished the second round where he started, in first place. However, he would share his lead with Garrett Willis who fired a second round, 68 to move four places up the leaderboard. Hronek would still sit only one shot behind Willis and Kendall heading into the third and final round of the event. The lead pairing would be set for the final round comprising of Willis, Kendall, and Hronek. All eyes would be on the three contenders as the battle commenced for the trophy.
However, it would be the players that sat further down the leaderboard that began to make a charge in an ever changing leaderboard. First, Mark Mielke, who would start the day at four-under par, tied-for-fifth, birdied three out of his first five holes to get to seven-under-par and in a tie with Kendall. After making yet another birdie, Mielke would take a two shot lead over Kendall. Furthermore, playing in the same group as Mielke, Jeff Williams would insert himself into the picture rolling in a 14-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole to get to six-under for the championship and in a tie with Kendall and Willis, still only two shots back of Mielke. In addition, Brad Adamonis moved into a tie-for-second place after taking advantage of the two par-5’s on the front nine. Adamonis carded an eagle and a birdie on the respective holes to move to six-under-par overall. The leaderboard would remain unpredictable through the first nine holes as each player fought for the lead and attempted to make a run.
Yet, everything changed on the final nine of the event. With the lead groups making their way through the back nine, an untimely double bogey from Mielke would drop him to six-under-par, while a birdie from Kendall would vault him back into the lead at seven-under-par. The players kept trading off leads while bogeys and birdies happened almost simultaneously, it seemed as though a breakout performance was needed in order to win this championship outright.
At last, a break out performance is exactly what unfolded on the final nine holes. David Schuster, who would start the day at five-under-par, solo fourth place, made the turn at one-over-par and only four-under as a tournament total. Something sparked within him as he made a birdie on the eleventh hole, only to follow that with two more birdies on the twelfth and thirteenth holes. He then extended his run with consecutive eagles on the fifteenth and sixteenth holes, followed by a birdie on seventeen. His lone blemish of the nine came on the last hole of the day where he bogeyed after failing to get up and down from just off the back of the green, yet he still fired a seven-under-par, 29 to post a final round score of 66. Schuster outlasted his competition by four strokes.
Schuster said, “It feels fantastic to win. It was a great day.” He further explained, “No change in mindset on the back nine. Just got my game going and was able to make three birdies in a row and then two eagles and a birdie.”
Joe Alfieri and Chad Ibbotson tied for low-amateur honors each with a tournament total of two-under par. Bob Mathers secured third place with a tournament total of two-over par.
