Coby Welch came ever so close to winning the Colorado Junior Amateur several years ago, but couldn’t quite close the deal.
The 20-year-old from Highlands Ranch (left) hopes to get over the hump in the CGA Amateur, the open-age version of the same tournament.
Meanwhile, former University of Denver golfer Chris Korte will attempt to go out on a high note in his amateur finale by winning the CGA Amateur for the second time.
And 2016 CGA Player of the Year Kyler Dunkle will try to make his outstanding summer of golf that much better by capturing the CGA Am title.
Those are the main three players in the spotlight after Saturday’s third round at Pinehurst Country Club in south Denver, though given the number of rounds of 65 or lower this week, there are others potentially within reach going into Sunday’s final 18.
Welch, the 2015 CGA Boys Junior Player of the Year from The Links Golf Course, grabbed the lead at Pinehurst on Saturday with his second straight round of 5-under-par 65, which leaves him at 13-under 197 overall.
“I’m just going to tee it up (Sunday) and play it like every other round I have,” said the University of Northern Colorado golfer. “We’ll see what happens at the end. If I play well, hopefully I’ll win. But it is golf.
“It would be very cool to be able to win this. I was close many times in the Junior Stroke and never capped it off. That would be cool to be able to do it now.”
Korte (left), who won this event in 2015 and the CGA Match Play in 2017, trails by two after a round of 68. He shot a 4-under 31 on the front nine, but went 2 over on the back despite making a 12-foot par save after being in the trees on No. 18 Saturday.
“I started out really hot and the game felt awesome,” the 21-year-old said. “The swing got a little loose on the back nine. I got out of trouble really well from behind some trees here and there, like 18 after punching out. But it was a pretty disappointing back nine. It was a grind for sure. The front nine felt super easy. Hopefully I’ll get more of that tomorrow.”
Also at 199 was 36-hole leader Dunkle, from The Club at Pradera, who three-putted twice in the final six holes to shoot 70. The University of Utah golfer went eagle-birdie-bogey on his final three holes. His 12-foot eagle on 16 came after a drive of more than 410 yards.
“I feel horrible,” said Dunkle, who made 19 birdies the first two days combined but just three on Saturday to go with the eagle. “I missed a lot of shots in really bad places. Out here, especially with some pins they had today, you had to be on the correct side the green if you weren’t going to be close. I put myself in some really tight spots and had hard chances at up and down, and my short game wasn’t where I wanted it to be.”
Both Dunkle (left) and Welch have qualified for this month’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, while Dunkle was low-amateur at the CoBank Colorado Open last weekend. Korte, meanwhile, will be turning pro before the Web.com Tour Q-school starts late this month.
In other words it should make for an interesting final day at Pinehurst.
Korte is trying to become the first repeat winner of the CGA Amateur since Kane Webber (2002 and ’03).
“This is my final amateur event. I’m turning pro at the end of the month for Web.com Q-school,” Korte said. “It would be amazing to go out with a bang like that.”
To this point, only three players in the field have shot in the 60s every round this week — Korte (65-66-68), former Colorado State University golfer Dominic Kieffer (67-69-68) and Welch (67-65-65).
“I hit it really well today,” said Welch, whose only bogey in the last two rounds combined was due to a three-putt from 15 feet off the fringe on No. 12 Saturday. “I scored well. I didn’t really feel like I putted great. But I scored very well for the way I putted today. I hit the ball very well, so it kind of help even it out.”
Two other players maintained some hope at the title with 6-under-par 64s at Pinehurst on Saturday. Griffin Barela (left) of Bear Creek Golf Club stands at 202, while Michael Tait of Raccoon Creek Golf Course went bogey-free and checked in at 203.
So what should we expect from Sunday’s final round?
“This course can yield a lot of really low scores,” Dunkle said. “If the three of us (in the final group — Welch, Korte and Dunkle) don’t play the way we want to and someone else throws up a number … You can be within seven shots here and have a chance. I think it’s really anyone’s game. But it will be nice to play with the same guys I did today and knowing that we’re all close. I think it’s going to be really fun, really back and forth because all three of us have been playing pretty good this week. There’s lots of birdies being made.”
Added Korte: “Coby and Kyler are great players. Kyler bombs it and he hit it next to the greens on a lot of these par-4s and reaches all the par-5s, so he’s going to make a lot of birdies regardless. And Coby is a great player, so I’ve just got to go out not make mistakes and make a few putts and I think I’ll do just fine.”
For scores from the CGA Amateur, CLICK HERE.
For Sunday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
