Austin takes Jefferson Cup

Heading to the 18th tee under a blistering Virginia sun late Sunday afternoon, Jefferson Cup tournament leader Nick Austin knew that all he had to do was par the final hole to win.
The Richmond youngster, who plays out of Stonehenge Golf Club, had fought off golfing demons and the Jefferson Cup’s strongest field to date, all afternoon long. One more good hole is all he wanted.
Standing off the 18th green was Greene Hills’ Mikey Moyers and former JMU golfer Tim Driver, who had finished a 3-under for the 54-hole event, waiting to see if there would be a playoff. Austin, who will play for the University of Richmond this fall, held a one-stroke lead over his nearest two pursuers.
The leader put his drive just barely off the left side of the fairway, then hit his approach on the testy, par-4, finishing hole about 16 paces above the cup, leaving him a risky, downhill putt.
“I was breathing very heavy,” Austin said. “My heart was pounding about 100 beats in a second, but I was able to keep the first putt on the green, which was my goal.”
His birdie try slid past the cup about four feet. If he made the comebacker, the title was his. If he missed, he would have headed into a three-way playoff with Moyers and Driver.
“I was pretty relieved to see that par putt go in,” Austin said as he claimed the Jefferson Cup title by a stroke and gave himself momentum heading into his freshman season at UR. “It’s good to have a win, especially going into college when it starts to get a little intense.”
Austin had started the final round with a two-shot lead over Old Trail’s Scott Garrison and Farmington’s Paul Kane, while five other golfers were logjammed at four strokes behind him, including Moyers, who was capable of going low.
Don’t think that the pursuers hadn’t noticed that Austin had suffered three shanks and topped a 3-wood en route to a 1-over par, 73, in Saturday’s second round. They were waiting to see if he had shed his problems from the day before, ready to pounce if he faltered.
“I figured if I could just stay away from doubles and triples that I could make a couple of birdies here and there,” Austin said. “I just wanted to try not to do anything too stupid and make those other guys do something spectacular to catch me.”
Austin did just that, by avoiding the “others”
(double- or triple-bogeys) on the day, recording four birdies and five bogeys for a final round, 1-over, 73.
His playing partners, Kane and Garrison, weren’t as fortunate. Both had remained within two strokes of Austin through the fifth hole, but he stretched his lead with a birdie on the par-4 sixth, while Kane bogeyed and Garrison struggled with a greenside grass bunker for a double.
Still, Kane and Garrison stayed in the hunt until the back nine when Kane suffered a disastrous quadruple bogey 8 on the par-4, 11th, then Garrison lost it with a triple bogey 6 on the par-3, 14th island green when his tee shot found a watery grave.
Kane fell out of contention at the 11th when his tee shot drifted left and left him a terrible lie on the bank of a creek bed, which took him three shots to escape, the third finding the pond on the other side of the fairway.
From there, all Austin had to worry about was what lied ahead. News had filtered back that Moyers and Driver were the only remaining challenge, and that both were within two strokes of Austin’s lead.
With that in mind, Austin quickly made a questionable decision, choosing to hit driver at the treacherous, 537-yard, par-5, 15th. His drive found the high heather to the left, which took several minutes to find.
He blasted his second shot from the weeds and into the fairway, then drilled his third shot over the green.
“I had a little adrenaline flowing there, hit it long and made bogey,” Austin said. “Then on (the par-4) 16, I hit a good drive and was only about 110 yards out and missed the green.”
That’s where Austin had one of those come-to-Jesus meetings with himself and said, “OK, I’ve got to calm down here or I’m going to lose.”
He regained his composure, got up-and-down to save par and moved to the 17th tee box, where he heard that both Moyers and Driver had birdied up ahead and had moved to 3-under, one shot behind him.
Austin figured he would have to birdie 17, a 573-yard, par 5, but was right of the green in two, chipped on and safely two-putted for par.
Having learned he owned a one-shot lead, standing on the 18th tee, his mission was clear.
“I just wanted to par 18 and get out of here and I was able to do that,” said the relieved youngster. “I was able to scrape it around. I didn’t have my ‘A game,’ but kept it in play for the most part and was able to make enough pars to hold off Mikey and Tim.”
Moyers, who fired a final round 2-under, 70, finished in a two-way tie for second with Driver, who fired the lowest round of the day at 69.
Kane, who birdied two of the last four holes, finished fourth, four strokes back of Austin, while Phil Mahone and Battle Trophy champion Weston Eklund finished in a tie for fifth, just ahead of Daniel Walker, who will join Austin on Richmond’s team this fall.