Castro captures first eGolf victory

ZION CROSSROADS —Another day, another new leader. But the good news for Roberto Castro is that there isn’t a fifth round of the Spring Creek Championship.
On a day where the golf course bit back, Castro put in a 4-under 68 to seize his first victory on the eGolf tour by two strokes.
“I’ve been playing OK all year,” Castro said. “You keep working at things and one week you just happen to see things a more clearly and make fewer mistakes. That’s what you’re working for.”
Castro was the most consistent low scorer in the tournament as he shot all four rounds at least two shots under par.
The Alpharetta, Ga., native and Georgia Tech alumn bogeyed his first hole of the day but it was his only hole over par on the day as he picked up five birdies, three of which came on his last four holes of the day.
“I kind of envisioned the round going like that for me,” Castro said.
Getting through the first half of the round unscathed was the toughest part of the day.
“Today on the front nine the pins were brutal,” Castro said. “There were maybe two or three potential birdie opportunities. I was one under on the front nine which isn’t great but if you look at the scores they’re all about the same.”
“I took advantage of the birdie opportunities on the back nine which was how you had to do this. The opportunities were all bunched up there with nine holes left and whoever took advantage of those was going to win.”
Jess Daley, Jay McLuen and Adams were the tournament’s first three leaders, but each fell back into the field the next day with McLuen and Adams actually following the rise to the top with their worst rounds of the tournament.
Blaine Peffley rode a 4-under 68 to take second place. Peffley was one of the fortunate few who managed the front nine without too much trouble, picking up three birdies on his first six holes of the day.
“I had a feeling the course was going to play difficult when the winds started swirling on the first hole,” Peffley said. “I just wanted to make sure I hit my spots and I ended up with a tap in for birdie on the second hole and almost had a hole-in-one on the fifth hole.”
In the first three rounds it looked like a handful of
players on the eGolf tour had solved the difficult golf course. At least one player shot 7-under 65 each day and Matt Hendrix set a course record with his 8-under 64 on Thursday. With more difficult pin placement and a breeze blowing around, there weren’t any 65’s or 64’s. Fittingly, Castro and Peffley tied for the low score of the final round, 68.
“You can look at almost any mini-tour event, whether it’s this one or Hooters, and the guy who’s leading in the first two rounds probably never wins,” Peffley said. “Pretty much never. There’s just that many talented guys out there and the courses are that hard.”
After a shaky third round, McLuen got back to the kind of golf he had been playing in the first two rounds by putting up a score of 3-under 69 which netted him a tie for third place with Trevor Murphy. Fernando Mechereffe rounded out the top five.