ATLANTA – Auburn men's golf rising junior Carson Bacha captured the individual crown at the 55th Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta on Saturday.
Bacha obliterated the field with a 266 (-22) total through four rounds of competition, winning the event by five strokes.
"I had a lot of confidence coming into this week," Bacha said. "I played the event last year and really liked the course. It's a course you just need to wedge it and drive it well, and driving is one of the strongest parts of my game. Being my first amateur win, it makes it special because this is a field that's really strong. I knew a lot of the names playing in it."
The York, Pennsylvania native made birdie 21 times and only bogeyed thrice. He also used an eagle in round two and a double eagle in round four to clear the path to victory.
Bacha put the tournament on ice 🥶🧊@CarsonBacha wins the Dogwood Invitational by five shots with a blistering 266 (-22) 😳
— Auburn Men's Golf (@AuburnMGolf) June 11, 2022
📸 Conner Penfold/AmateurGolf.com#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/DvK5AVOwQs
Bacha joins Lee Williams (2003), Michael Johnson (2013) and Brandon Mancheno (2019) as the fourth Auburn golfer to win the Dogwood.
Brendan Valdes, Austin Coggin and Evan Vo also joined Bacha at Druid Hills last week. Valdes shot 280 (-8) to finish tied for 21st. Coggin carded a 287 (-1) to finish 37th and Vo shot 214 (-2) through three rounds before missing the final round cut.
Rising junior Max Johnson also wowed on behalf of the Tigers in a gutsy performance at the 106th Alabama State Amateur Championship at Bent Brook Golf Club in Bessemer, Alabama.
Max Johnson of Lillian finished second, posting 13-under 271 for the Championship and four-under 67 for the day!! Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/yTuFgmCRUm
— Alabama Golf Association (@bamagolf) June 11, 2022
Johnson tied for top honors following four rounds of stroke play at 211 (-13) before falling in the second hole of a playoff to Connor Newton of Coastal Carolina.
The Fairhope, Alabama product matched five bogeys with 16 birdies and an eagle to shoot below par in each of his four rounds, highlighted by a 66 (-5) in his opener.
Ryan Eshleman pieced together four strong outings at the State Am, finishing tied for fourth place at 213 (-11), with his best round coming Friday at 65 (-6).
Hal Dove was the third Auburn man to play at Bent Brook. Dove shot par or better in three of four rounds to finish at even par (284).
Competing in his home state of Florida, rising sophomore Frankie Harris was the final active golfer to hit the links last week. Harris finished second at the 25th Amateur Public Links Championship at The Florida Club, shooting 205 (-11) through three rounds.
What a week to be an Auburn golfer 😏@_FrankieHarris keeps the momentum rolling with a 205 (-11) to take second at the Amateur Public Links Championship! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/JKg7ja8a7x
— Auburn Men's Golf (@AuburnMGolf) June 12, 2022
Also in action last week were program alums Blayne Barber and Jovan Rebula. Barber finished tied for 15th at the Korn Ferry Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am at 15-under in Greer, South Carolina while Rebula carded a 206 (-10) on the Sunshine Tour's KitKat Group PROAM to finish tied for sixth in his home country of South Africa.