Holcomb wins amateur event

CARROLLTON - When the best players are on the course, William Holcomb elevates his game. The senior on the men's golf team has done just that this week at the Maridoe Amateur Championship at Maridoe Golf Club.

Competing in a field loaded with the top amateurs in the world, Holcomb won the stroke play title on Wednesday by three shots. He fired a final round 69 to take home the hardware. His win also gave him the No. 1 seed in the match-play championship which begins on Thursday.

"It's every bit as hard as any golf you want on a calm, sunny day," Holcomb said to Golfweek on playing Maridoe in this week's cold and windy conditions. "The first day was 35 degrees and freezing cold. That wasn't easy. Yesterday was a little better. Ever since it warmed up, I've been kind of warming up myself."

Holcomb's 69 on Wednesday was one of eight rounds under par for the day and is tied for the low round of the tournament.

The field, which started Monday at 96 players, was selected mostly by ranking and with priority given to U.S. players. The top 150 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (after the U.S. Amateur) were invited in addition to any player inside the top 200 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. Players who made the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur or the Sweet 16 at the Western Amateur – who weren't inside that top echelon of the rankings – were also invited, and so were all Palmer Cup players.

Holcomb, who is currently ranked No. 73 in the World Amateur rankings, advanced to the finals of the North and South Amateur this past summer after making a semifinal appearance in the US Amateur in 2019.

After last season was cut short, Holcomb had the opportunity to finish school and start a professional career, or come back for a second senior season. He chose to return and is making the most of another year playing amateur golf.

After outlasting the field in the stroke play portion of the event, he now begins match play, a format that is starting to become a specialty for him.

"Just keep doing what I know how to do in match play and just fight – that's really what I love doing," Holcomb said of his match-play mindset. "I don't play golf because it's fun, I play golf because I want to win. When you get to play golf in the purest form, like one-on-one basketball, that's really fun."

Holcomb wins amateur event

Players Mentioned

William Holcomb

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