Brandon Massey
(TXGA Photo)
FORT WORTH, TX (November 5, 2017) - Brandon Massey shot 3-under 68 in the final round to win the Legends Junior Tour’s Texas Cup Invitational at Ridglea Country Club’s North Course.
Massey, a Ridglea Country Club member, finished at 5-under-par overall and two strokes ahead of the field. Massey started the day two strokes back of the leader and got his second round going with a birdie on the par-5 first. He played up and down through the rest of the front nine, carding two birdies along with three bogeys, including the par-5 ninth where he watched two chip shots roll back to him.
Walking up to the 10th tee however, the Fort Worth native struck a 3-wood on the 385-yard par 4 and dialed in a wedge shot to six feet and made the putt for a bounce-back birdie. Four pars followed the birdie on 10 and then Massey made a birdie on the par-3 15th and another birdie on the par-5 18th to get to 5-under overall.
“That was a big bounce-back birdie on No. 10,” said Massey, “I was pretty heated with myself after making bogey on No. 9.
Playing in the penultimate group on Sunday, Massey took advantage of the par threes by making birdie on three of the four holes on the par-71 layout. This is Massey’s first win on the Legends Junior Tour and his second time playing in the Texas Cup. He finished tied for eighth in last year’s event at Mira Vista Country Club.
“It was nice playing at my home course and getting to sleep in my own bed each night,” answered Massey when asked about playing at his club. “The greens are very tricky and subtle out here. You have to pick your spots on the greens and not go past the hole.”
Austin’s Trey Bosco and Kingwood’s Damin Strydom finished in a tie for second at the Texas Cup. Bosco tied the low score on Sunday with a 3-under 68. The Baylor commit was 1-over heading to No. 9, but made three consecutive birdies on holes nine through 11.
“I just stayed aggressive today and hit the ball really well,” said Bosco after his round. “I hit two good 3-irons on Nos. 10 and 11 and made birdie putts of eight and 10 feet.”
Bosco added two more birdies on his round, including the 500-yard 18th to finish at 3-under 139 overall.
First-round leader Strydom matched his scores under par from the first round, but saw more bogeys on his card in the second round. Strydom was 1-over through seven holes, but back-to-back birdies on eight and nine got him back under par on the day at the turn. The Kingwood native bogeyed No. 10 and No. 13, but made birdie on the 280-yard 14th. Three straight pars and a bogey on No. 18 dropped him back to 3-under overall and into a tie for second.
Flower Mound’s Dawson Lewis matched the low round of 3-under on Sunday and finished tied with Granbury’s Jake Holbrook for fourth place. Lewis made four birdies to only one bogey in the final round, while Holbrook scattered five birdies and three bogeys in his round.
Austin’s Matthew Denton finished sixth at 1-over 143, while Dallas’ Shayler Dance, San Antonio’s John Keefer, League City’s Andre Jacobs, Bee Cave’s Nathan Petronzio, Prosper’s Matthew Griggs and Spanish Fort, Ala.’s Padraic Sim finished tied for seventh at 2-over 144.
This was the first year Ridglea Country Club has hosted the Texas Cup Invitational. The event spent the last four years at Mira Vista Country Club, just south of Ridglea CC’s location in Fort Worth. Ridglea’s North Course spans out to 6,477 yards with bermuda greens that have subtle breaks all throughout.
The Texas Cup is ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golfweek. Players finishing in the top half of the field will earn points towards the LJT Player of the Year standings and top finishers will earn performance stars for the American Junior Golf Association.
The Legends Junior Tour finishes up its 2017 season with the Jackie Burke Cup matches at The Cascades on Nov. 11-12. The Jackie Burke Cup features 24 players competing for the north Texas squad and the south Texas squad. Players earned their way into the matches by earning points in the Player of the Year standings. The matches will start on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:20 am.