Bluffton, SC (July 14, 2019) – University of Georgia senior Spencer Ralston carded a final round 63 to get to 19-under to win the 20th annual Players Amateur at the Berkeley Hall Club. Fifty-four hole leader Stewart Hagestad missed his shot at going wire to wire by scoring a final round 75 to lose by one stroke.
Ralston entered the final round 11 strokes and six groups behind the tournament leader, Stewart Hagestad. Ralston had carded eight birdies and one eagle before he hit his drive on #18 behind a tree. He ended up bogeying the hole and thought that had ruined his chance at winning. He went to the clubhouse and waited for the leaders to finish. “I looked on my phone a little bit. We were actually watching Wimbledon as it was coming down to the end.” said Ralston. “I thought that bogey on 18 probably put me out of it by one or two but as we saw, progressing over time, they were kind of struggling down the stretch.”
28-year-old Hagestad broke the course record with his 61 on Thursday. The Newport Beach, CA native entered the final round with a five stroke lead but bogeyed 5 holes including number 18. He needed to par the final hole to force a playoff. He finished at 18-under in a three way tie for second with Ohio State’s Will Grimmer and University of Arizona’s David Laskin.
Ralston’s win earned the Gainesville, Georgia native an exemption in the 2020 RBC Heritage, South Carolina’s annual PGA TOUR event. He told reporters that he is looking forward to the chance to play on the PGA TOUR with his friends and family watching. “You always want people on your side and I’m sure I’ll have some friends and family here. So I haven’t looked at the dates yet but I know I’ll be busy with the spring season. I’m sure it’ll be kind of chaotic in the weeks leading up to [the Heritage] and afterwards. So I need to be in good form.”
Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton also shot a final round 63. He finished the tournament tied for eighth place.
For tournament analytics visit: https://2019playersam.golfgenius.com/pages/4806630959006889683