Cameron Reed wouldn’t let himself believe he could win the Jacksonville Amateur Championship on July 21 until Ambrose Kinnare’s seventh shot disappeared into the hole at the par-5 18th hole at the Sawgrass Country Club.
Even when Kinnare needed to sink a miracle 40-foot putt from off the front fringe just to force a playoff, Reed convinced himself there would at least be a playoff.
“I really thought Ambrose would make it,” Reed said. “He’s a good player.”
Kinnare didn’t, the final crushing blow for the 16-year-old rising Tocoi Creek High sophomore who had been in command of his game for 53 holes.
With a one-shot lead over Reed, who was in the clubhouse at 7-under-par 209, Kinnare pulled his drive into the water on the left of the 18th fairway and never recovered, making a double bogey that delivered the 65th Jacksonville Amateur to Reed, a Ponte Vedra High graduate and rising sophomore at Furman University.
Cameron Reed trailed by six shots with 10 to play
Reed (69), who trailed Kinnare (73—210) by six shots through the first eight holes on a sultry but windy day at Sawgrass, birdied the first three holes on the back nine and five of the first seven, combined with Kinnare’s bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10, to twice tie for the lead.
Kinnare seemed to have the tournament locked up with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 to give him his final lead. Even when he bogeyed the short par-4 16th hole after pushing a driver off the tee into the water, Reed didn’t apply any more heat, making a bogey at the 17th and missing a 10-foot birdie attempt at the last.
Then came the 18th hole. Kinnare’s drive traveled only about 180 yards before crossing over into the hazard. After he dropped, he hit his third shot into the fairway, then dumped his fourth shot into the right bunker set back from the front of the green.
Kinnare didn’t make it all the way to the putting surface with his fifth shot, forcing him to make his sixth for a playoff.
Watching from the bank overlooking the 18th green was Reed, who said he was feeling “very conflicted.”
But after the tournament, he held the huge JAGA Amateur trophy with pride — especially since he is the second member of Ponte Vedra High state championship teams to win the tournament, following former teammate Danny Erickson last year.
“We’ve all pushed each other a lot,” Reed said. “It’s very competitive at Ponte Vedra and I think our guys winning the last two years speaks volumes about our program and depth.”
Reed disqualified himself last year
Reed had another reason for feeling especially joyful with his victory: He trailed Erickson by only one shot at the Timuquana Country Club entering the final round last year, but after returning home that afternoon, he looked at his hole-by-hole scores on the JAGA website and realized he had made a mistake on his scorecard, signing for a par at the 17th hole when he had made bogey.
Reed called tournament director Cary Helton and disqualified himself. Erickson went on to out-duel future University of North Florida teammate Luke Balaskiewicz for the victory.
“I was playing really well that week but I had no choice [to disqualify himself],” he said. “It sucked but I’m very happy right now.”
Kinnare: ‘I played 52 good holes’
Kinnare shared the first-round lead with Braude and had a two-shot lead entering the final round. After failing to get up-and-down for par at No. 9 and three-putting No. 10, he rallied with three bogeys among his next five holes.
Two of them were spectacular. He drove his tee shot pin-high at the 297-yard par-4 14th and two-putted from the fringe for birdie, then held a pitching wedge against a swirling wind at the par-3 15th, to a pin cut hard to the water on the left, and dropped the ball 4 feet from the hole to set up his last birdie of the tournament.
Kinnare said he would second-guess himself only for hitting driver at No. 16, but not at the 18th, even though all he needed was a par to win.
“[No.] was just me and the driver,” he said. “It was two bad swings. I played 52 pretty good holes … it was a good week. Every tournament has a lesson you can learn.”
Andrew Morgan, Toby Ragland post low rounds
Two players made significant moves up the leaderboard in the final round.
Bolles graduate Andrew Morgan shot 67 with one bogey and shot up 13 shots from a tie for 24th to a tie for 11th at 1-over. Toby Ragland, who played at Bartram Trail and the University of Florida, birdied five of his holes on the back nine, his front nine, then turned and birdied three in a row before settling for a 68 that moved him from a tie for 30th to a tie for 16th at 3-over.
Former UNF player Joe Stepnes also continued his remarkable turnaround from a first-round 82 that was 10-over par and put him in a tie for 65th. He took 15 shots off that number with a 67 in the second round, then shot 69 in the third round to tie for 13th at 2-over.
Jacksonville Area Golf Association Amateur Championship
At Sawgrass Country Club
Cameron Reed 69-71-69—209
Ambrose Kinnare 67-70-73—210
Maxwell Morgan 72-69-69—211
Will Braude 67-72-73—212
Cooper Franklin 72-72-69—213
Landon Durham 73-66-75—214
Henry Robards 69-70-75—214
Luke Balaskiewicz 68-75-73—216
Danny Erickson 71-74-71—216
Andrew Morgan 74-76-67—217
Sam Geise 73-73-71—217
Ian Lentz 72-73-71—217
Joe Stepnes 82-67-69—218
Tyler Brown 73-75-70—218
Colton Swartz 71-73-74—218
Toby Ragland 77-74-68—219
Zach Lee 74-69-76—219
Matt Kleinrock 76-69-74—219
Evan Raynor 72-73-75—220
Styles Smith 70-75-75—220
Kaden James 76-74-70—220
Ryan Nicholson 74-75-72—221
Jeff Golden 75-75-72—222
Dylan Frein 75-75-72—222
Lance LaCombe 74-77-72—223
Ryan Houck 72-79-72—223
Elliott Mehler 74-73-76—223
Turner Hersey 72-76-76—224
Adam Waller 75-76-73—224
Matt Glass 76-74-74—224
Tanner Millar 72-76-78—226
Lexus Keoninh 72-77-78—227
Chuck Kirk 73-78-77—228
Noa Bridges 75-75-78—228
Barton Abstein 77-74-77—228
D.J. Waller 75-77-76—228
Nate Mosby 74-77-78—229
Noah Ochab 73-78-79—230
Luis Rivera 76-75-79—230
Ethan Grossman 79-72-80—231
Michael Smith 77-75-78—230
Matthew French 75-77-81—233
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Cameron Reed rallies from six back at Sawgrass to win Jacksonville Amateur
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
