Hot weather perfect for Beach

In the first two rounds of the inaugural Cannon Cup at Spring Creek Golf Course, only a handful of participants were able to shoot par or better.

Entering Sunday’s final round, a one-under round of 71 was the best score on the leaderboard, and only Adam Webb was able to shoot par on Saturday.

Trailing Webb by four strokes, Sam Beach played bogey-free golf to come from behind and win by the tournament by one shot. Beach shot a 74 and 75 in his first two rounds, but was able to put all that behind him.

“I made some pars, birdied one, six and nine, made the turn at three under, and then birdied fifteen,” Beach said. “It might be the first time I’ve ever played a round without a bogey.”

On a day where there was no respite from the sweltering heat, Beach, put in a four-under 68, the best round of the tournament.

“It was hot,” Beach said. “Two sets of gloves, a towel constantly wiping yourself off, lots of water, it definitely affects you. But you’re taking carts, so that kind of cools things off.”

Jerry Burton and Dustin Groves gave the University of Richmond golfer a run for his money. Groves, a Keswick native and Monticello High School graduate, was paired with Beach and was just waiting for an opportunity to take the lead.

After Beach found some water on the 18th hole, it appeared that Groves and Burton had their chance. However, as he did all day, Beach found a way to save par. Groves finished one back from the lead with a 71.

“I just played in the NCAAs so it was more relaxing and not as much pressure,” said Groves, who plays for Wake Forest. It’s not an easy golf course, but it was fun. If I could look and say this is one reason why I didn’t win, it’d probably be my putting.”

Burton also finished one stroke behind Beach to tie Groves for second. It’s a position that Burton has become all too familiar with over the past two months.

In April, Burton placed second in the Greene Hills Invitational in Stanardsville. He did the same this May in the Faulconer Invitational at Lake Monticello.

Western Albemarle High School graduate Nick Little of Radford University, who ran away with Faulconer, finished tied for fourth with Tim Driver at two shots back. Driver was the most consistent player of the tournament, shooting one over par in all three rounds.

The Spring Creek course is packed with long fairways and a healthy mix of sand traps and water hazards that both challenged and appealed to the Cannon Cup participants.

“I love playing here,” Beach said. “The greens are fast but not too fast and there are some generous landing spots on the fairways. But it’s a challenging layout. There are definitely spots where you don’t want to miss.”