Orlando, Fla. – Kiko Francisco Coelho of Miami captured the 26th Amateur Public Links Championship with scores of 69-67-64 at Dubsdread Golf Course.
Round One
Prior to round one, there was a three hour and forty-five minute rain delay that left players wondering if they were even going to be able to touch a golf club on the first day. After careful consideration, players were sent off in a shotgun at 11:15 A.M. Friday morning and there were some low scores.
Alex Medinis fired a first round bogey free 63 (-7) to grab a hold of the lead by 3 over Joe Alfieri. Multiple others continued to come in under par, but nobody was able to match Medinis.
Round Two
When day two rolled around, Medinis was able to hold the lead, but there were multiple players right on his tail. John Houchin shot the round of the day with a five-under 65. The 2016 champion, Alfieri and the 2011 champion, Bill Anderson sat at five-under par after 36 holes.
Final Round
In the second to last pairing, Kiko Francisco Coelho and Bill Anderson teed off at 9:27, knowing they needed to make birdies to catch Medinis. However, Houchin of Stetson University was able to rattle off three birdies to start the round, grabbing the early lead. Houchin continued to lead the field through 10 holes. Making a charge up the leaderboard, Coelho birdied his first hole. A birdie on seven left him with a front nine score of two-under. Birdies on 11, 13, and 15 gave him a tie for the lead with Houchin, but danger loomed near for the Stetson golfer.
After hitting his tee shot right on the par-3 15th, Houchin’s ball took off up the cart path, eventually leading to out of bounds and making a score of triple bogey. Coelho, not knowing at the time, stuck to his game plan and stayed steady coming in. “I did not look at the leaderboard until 18,” Coelho said after the round. “Once I looked at the leaderboard, I decided to lay up on the last hole [par 5 18th]”. A birdie on the last secured his victory by two shots over Alex Medinis. Medinis gave it his all however, birdieing his last hole to finish at eight-under par for the three rounds.
“It feels awesome man, it has been a while. I have just been working really hard and it feels really good to get it done today,” Coelho said after realizing he became the Public Links Champion. Coelho looks to ride this momentum into his junior year at Arizona State University.
