Another great performance by Murrayshall man in Florida

Gavin Dear wins Dixie title by
two shots

Perth international golfer Gavin Dear has become the first Scottish winner of the Dixie men's amateur championship in the 78 years of the prestigious Florida festive period tournament at Heron Bay Golf Club, Coral Springs.
Dear (pictured right by Tom Ward Photography), who won the Eisenhower Trophy men's world amateur team title with Wallace Booth and Callum Macaulay in Australia in October, had two shots to spare in the end after carrying a five-stroke lead into the last of the four rounds.
The Murrayshall Golf Club member was able to hold on for victory despite shooting a two-over-par 74 for a 15-under-par total of 273.

"Hold on" does not, perhaps, give the true picture because Gavin had seen his lead shrink to two shots after 10 holes when his nearest rival and playing partner, Vaughn Snyder, birdied the ninth and 10th.

But Dear responded to the pressure in fine style and, with the help of some birdies, pulled away again from the field to be four strokes clear with two holes to play. He deliberately took no chances at the 17th and 18th, being content to bogey both, safe in the knowledge that he had enough shots in hand.
His earlier rounds were 70, 62 and 67.
Vaughn Snyder finished runner-up with a 71 for 275.
Tournament director Jeff Hunt said this year's field was three times stronger than last year. Dear, scoring the biggest individual win of his career, might just about rise into the top 50 of the R&A World Amateur Rankings on the back of his victory over a field of mainly American college circuit players.
He is currently ranked No 59.

Later, Gavin Dear E-mailed the following comments to Scottishgolfview.com

"The scoring was much higher on the final day, as the whole course was playing in a strong cross wind. The greenkeepers double-rolled the greens, making them much quicker than the previous three days, and also very treacherous.

"I started off with two pars, bogeyed the third, but birdied four and five. I then four-putted the seventh for a double bogey. I also bogeyed the ninth to go out in 38. My playing partner Vaughn Snyder holed two very good putts on 9 and 10 to birdie both and get to within two shots of me.

"I managed to birdie 13 and 14 to extend my lead to four shots. I then bogeyed the 15th but birdied the 16th, restoring my four-shot lead. I then just avoided the water on both the 17th and 18th, playing very safe and finished with two bogeys for a 74 to win by two shots

"I was delighted to win obviously, but also to play well on the back nine, hitting the correct shots at the right time and making a few putts along the way."
Previous winners of the Dixie men's amateur championship include Frank Stranahan, Lanny Wadkins, Andy Bean, Hal Sutton and Jesper Parnevik.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
par 288 (4 x 72)
273 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) 70 62 67 74.
275 Vaughn Snyder (Ohio State Univ) 69 65 70 71.
276 Brinson Paolini (Princess Anne CC) 66 70 72 78, Romain Wattell (Bussy-Guermantes, France) 72 69 78 67.
277 Brady Exber (Las Vegas) 69 66 74 68.
278 Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State Univ) 69 67 74 68.
279 Brandon Detweiler (North Carolina State Univ) 72 68 69 70, David Chung (Stanford Univ) 70 67 73 69, Julian Suri (Bartram Trail High School) 70 71 69 69.
280 Byeong-Hun An (Bradenton Academy) 71 63 72 74, Mu Hu (Florida Univ) 72 66 69 73, Will Wilcox (Clayton State Univ) 72 68 68 72, Michael Herbert (Circle Christian School) 75 63 72 70, Brooks Kopka (Florida State Univ) 70 71 69 70, J C Home (North Florida Univ) 73 64 75 68.