FINAL RESULTS (BIRDIEFIRE) | FINAL RESULTS | GRAYSON GILBERT INTERVIEW
NEW ORLEANS – Grayson Gilbert won the 2021 Colin Montgomerie Invitational on Wednesday afternoon after two sudden death playoff holes with HBU's Marcelo Trevino at the Augusta Pines Golf Club.
Entering the day leading by four strokes, and still with a lead on his 12
th hole of the day - disaster almost struck when the sophomore triple bogeyed on hole three before another bogey on hole four dropped him down to third place. He battled back and sank a 15-foot birdie putt on hole six to take a brief one stroke lead heading into the final hole.
The Monroe native came close to winning the tournament outright on the final hole but his birdie attempt from 15 feet hit the hole before spinning out and forcing sudden death playoffs with Trevino. Both golfers tallied the same score on hole 10 before moving on to the par 5 hole 18. Grayson's tee shot landed him on the edge of the sand, but an outstanding approach shot landed him within range of an eagle. Two putts later Grayson was the tournament champion.
Gilbert's tournament victory is the first individual 54-hole Championship by a Privateer since he won the 2018 Battle in the Big Easy as a freshman, and the first at a non-UNO hosted tournament since Oscar Zetterwall won the 2010 Sun Belt Championship. Grayson becomes the first Privateer with two tournament victories since Ken Looper won three between 2007 and 2009. He becomes just the sixth Privateer golfer to win multiple events since 1993 (Casey Crain 4, Kenji Murayama 3. Ken Looper 3, Jose Toledo 2, Adam Cornelson 2).
As a team the Privateers finished in eighth place out of 14 teams with a score of 904. Despite a rough start on the first day the Privateers' young golfers improved on day two. Second-year freshman
Thomas Artigas improved his score by nine strokes between rounds two and three, while junior transfer
William Wargen (five strokes) and true freshman
Dwayne Heron Jr. (three strokes) each improved on day three as well.
UTGRV claimed the team Championship with a score of 876.
The Privateers return to the course on March 22-23 when they head back to the Lonestar State for the Big Texan at Comanche Trace in Kerrville, Texas.
NOTES
- Gilbert and
Brady Bennett's eagles during the event were the first two eagles of the year for the Privateers.
- Heron's third round 74 was the best of his young career, and a nine stroke improvement between the first and third rounds - the best of any Privateer in the event.
- The Privateers finished the event 2-3 against the Southland.
- The tournament was the first completed 54-holes of the season for UNO after weather forced the first two tournaments to be complete at 36-holes.
FINAL RESULTS
8 New Orleans 304, 300, 301 | 905
T1
Grayson Gilbert 69, 70, 74 | 213
T38
Brady Bennett 75, 73, 80 | 228
T48
William Wargen 78, 80, 75 | 233
T51
Dwayne Heron Jr. 83, 77, 74 | 234
65
Thomas Artigas 82, 87, 78 | 247
HEAD COACH JEFF LORIO
"What an event for Grayson. He needed one of these to build his confidence. I've always thought he is one of the better players in the conference but sometimes it just takes a gutsy performance like today to prove it to yourself. To come back and win after making a triple bogey and a bad bogey on back to back holes is a testament to his toughness. I couldn't be more pumped up for him!"
(on the team's improvement today)
"It was a much better team effort today. Proud of the guys who struggled yesterday as they bounced back and put up solid rounds today. This week has been a great learning experience for our young team and I'm excited about the rest of the semester."
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