Austin closes in on Cup title

Nick Austin hasn’t found himself in this position very often during his young golfing career.

An incoming freshman on the University of Richmond’s golf team, Austin will walk onto the tee box at Birdwood Golf Course this afternoon with a two-shot lead in the annual Jefferson Cup, with a parade of grizzled veterans and young lions nipping at his soft spikes.

The Richmond native followed an opening round 6-under 66, which included nine birdies, with a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round. Still, he managed to fight off myriad problems, including a bout with golf’s dreaded “S word,” to complete his two days of stroke play at 139.

Old Trail’s Scott Garrison, a veteran player seeking his first local title, and Farmington’s Paul Kane, a former Battle Trophy champion, each recorded two of only five below-par rounds Saturday to move into a tie for second at 141. Garrison put together a 2-under 70, and Kane, who struggled with his putter, managed to come in at 1-under 71.

In all, there are eight players within five shots of Austin, including two-time Jefferson Cup champion David Passerell, who fired the lowest round of the day with a 69, along with another past Jefferson Cup titlelist Phil Mahone, both at 143. Also set at that total were Daniel Walker — a future teammate’s of Austin’s — Greene Hills’ Mikey Moyers and JMU’s Nick Biesecker.

Battle Trophy points leader Wes Eklund bounced back from Friday’s 76, shaving off six strokes for a 2-under 70 and was seven strokes off the pace.

Austin got off to a rough start on the front nine and had to overcame a sudden case of the shanks, one of the most feared words in golf, to hold onto his lead.

“I three-putted the first hole, so I got off to a bogey early,” Austin said. “Then, I hit a shank on No. 2, and that wasn’t good.”

He managed to block out the hosel shot and birdied the next two holes. But his troubles weren’t over.

The leader suffered two more shanks, back-to-back on holes 7 and 8, leading to bogeys on both, causing him to lose his lead momentarily.

An unwritten rule in golf is that when a player suffers that many shanks within a couple of holes, they should leave the course immediately and seek professional help — from his bartender.

That option wasn’t available to Austin, who is too young to have a bartender. So he had to bear on, and he managed to reach the 15th hole at 3-over.

Keeping his poise, he birdied No. 15 from 12 feet, got up-and-down at 16 for par, took advantage of a drive he bombed on 17 and birdied, then barely missed a birdie on the testy, par-4, 18th to finish 1-over for a day that could have ended much worse.

“Those three shanks, they were all easy shots,” Austin said. “It was a 7-iron on a par-5 from the fairway, then a gap wedge and an 8-iron. I was kind of getting worried. Oh, yeah, and I also topped a 3-wood. That didn’t help.”

Normally, those kinds of woes would send a golfer to the nearest bar, but Austin kept his composure and was last seen headed to Birdwood’s driving range to work out the problems.

“Fortunately I didn’t let those shots get the best of me. I blocked out those shanks before double-tying my shoes and putting my hat on backwards and stuff,” Austin said, referencing a scene from the golf movie “Tin Cup,” in which Kevin Costner’s character overcame the shanks with those described remedies (and a visit to his friendly bartender) at the U.S. Open.

Should he manage to ward off such evils on the golf course today, he will be holding off a capable list of pursuers waiting to capitalize on the youngster’s mistakes.

Passerell, who won this event in 2003 and 2004, has cut back on his competitive schedule this season, but is still capable of pulling off some old magic. After opening his round on Friday with a bogey, followed by a triple bogey, he has played the last 34 holes at 5-under and stands only four shots back.

Lots of eyes are on Moyers and Eklund, the only two players with a chance to win the 19th annual Battle Trophy, symbolic of the area’s amateur player of the year. Eklund owns a 19-point lead heading into today, but can only lose his lead if Moyers wins the event and Eklund finishes outside the top 10.

Eklund, who plays for Radford University, was tied for 10th heading into today’s final round.

The top 16 players (or alternates) in the Battle Trophy final standings after today’s final event will be invited to compete in next weekend’s third annual Central Virginia Match Play Championship at Spring Creek Golf Club.

Final standings will be published in Monday’s edition of The Daily Progress.