Beau & Texas Win The Hayt at Sawgrass CC

There is a lot of golf history at Sawgrass CC in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The club that celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2014 hosted the first five THE PLAYERS Championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has hosted a premier collegiate golf tournament for the last 15 years—The Hayt. In between there was a lot of fun member golf with the club and community living up to its motto—”Ocean to Green and Everything in Between.”

I went over to catch the final round action of the 2015 Hayt. The weather was reminiscent of the days the PLAYERS tournaments were  held with wind and a bit of a chill in the air. A chill that did not cool off the red hot Texas Longhorns from stampeding to victory led by individual medalist Beau Hossler.

Beau as you may recall was the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Open in 2009 at Southern Hills at age 14 and three years later held the lead in the U.S. Open early in the second round at Olympic Club. His three day 4-under par performance (76-66-70) in the wind at Sawgrass CC was reminiscent of some of the best rounds from the PLAYERS days. Many compared it to the 5-under par winning performance by Lanny Wadkins in 1979. The World Golf Hall of Famer’s Saturday round of 68 was characterized by Gary Player as “absolutely unbelievable” and self proclaimed by Wadkins as “one of the finest rounds I have ever played.” Congratulations Beau and Texas Longhorns!

Another Longhorn story, this one with local ties, is that of 2013 U.S. Open qualifier at Merion Gavin Cole. He won the 2011 Junior PLAYERS Championship across the street at TPC Sawgrass on his 17th birthday. After a brilliant 64 on the Dye’s Valley Course he survived The Gauntlet on the Stadium Course to seal the deal. It was good to see Gavin and his parents Mary Ellen and Bob again at Sawgrass CC. My guess is the next time I see him four years out he will be playing on the PGA TOUR back across the street in the PLAYERS!

Another fun time was connecting with Jean-Paul “J.P.” Hebert, my friend from golf broadcasting. Happy he is now the Assistant Coach to Texas Head Coach John Fields after being so on a volunteer basis for several years. Sad we will not be seeing him out on the road in the golf broadcasting world. I will always remember when I first met him at Irondequoit CC volunteering for the Xerox Web.com (Nationwide at the time) and how he made us all laugh with his dry and riveting sense of humor!

Hebert played golf for Texas back in the early 90s and led the Longhorns to a second-place finish at the 1994 NCAA Championship in his senior season. He won the prestigious Monroe Invitational Championship at the Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York.  After seeing Texas alumni Jordan Spieth win the Australian Open up close and personal in Sydney in late November and the team on the fairways of Sawgrass CC, I can’t help but think more great golfers will come out of the Texas program.

Our 29th ranked Ospreys from the University of North Florida, coached by Scott Schroeder, nearly pulled off the win finishing only six strokes shy of Texas while beating the Crimson Tide of Alabama, reigning back-to-back NCAA Division 1 National Champions, by 15 strokes. Dillon Woods and Taylor Hancock finished 2nd and 3rd respectively behind Beau Hossler, the Individual Medalist.

Our Jacksonville University Dolphins finished 9th out of the 15 teams competing in The Hayt. Coach Mike Blackburn has the program on the upswing as the Dolphins captured the Donald Ross Intercollegiate at Mimosa Hills Golf Club in Morgantown, North Carolina. Junior Franck Medale was the Individual Medalist after opening with a school record 7-under par 63. The Dolphins hosted the Sea Best Invitational on the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in early February. Won by UNLV Running Rebels with their John Oda winning Individual Medalist and UNF finishing 4th, Jacksonville University T10.

We are fortunate to have great amateur and professional golf competitions in Northeast Florida hosted by great venues like Sawgrass CC and TPC Sawgrass.

Next year we promise great weather!