Gasparilla Senior leader Richard Kerper fired 67 (FSGA photo)
Last year at Palma Ceia Country Club, local resident
Mike Finster ended a run of several runner-up events by finally leaping over the hurdle and
taking the title at the Gasparilla Invitational.
Finster, of St. Petersburg, then called his bogey-free, 6-under 64 at Palma Ceia Golf Club in Tampa, Fla., "the round of my life." And this year, he started off his title defense with an impressive round of 3-under 67 on the par 70 layout. The difference between this year and last year? Three bogeys on the card, that's it.
Finster is T4, two strokes behind
Daniel DeBra (Lutz, Florida) and Michael Stamberger (Briele, NJ) who both posted 65. Both DeBra and Stamberger had 5 birdies against no bogeys. Pretty impressive stuff -- Palma Ceia is relatively short but the greens are small and both players likely had some solid up-and-downs to avoid bogeys.
The duo have a one shot lead over two players, one of them being
Matt Parziale of Brockton, Mass. -- the nation's No. 8 ranked Mid-Am.
Parziale started his round with 3-straight birdies, and finished it with two-in-a-row.
The other 66 was posted by
Benjamin Day of Waterbury, Conn. Tied with the defending champion at 3-under are
Richard Kerper (Oldsmar, FL),
Derek Busby (Ruston, LA), and Evan Hernandez of St. Petersburg.
SENIOR DIVISIONPlaying from the same tees as the Mid-Ams, the seniors are eligible for the overall title -- a format this website approves of especially when many of the "young seniors" can play with the younger guys.
Richard Kerper and Jimmy Jones lead that division after rounds of 3-under 67 while AmateurGolf.com's 2019 Senior Player-of-the-Year
Doug Hanzel is a shot back at 2-under 68.
There are 35 seniors in the field, and just over 100 mid-ams. The 54-hole tournament continues Friday, with the final round being played Saturday.
ABOUT THE
Gasparilla Invitational Mid-Am
54-hole individual stroke play championship
with a
cut after 36 holes to the low 60 and ties. Good
mix
of Florida
players
and national competitors looking for an
early
season
tune up. Played on a traditional, tree lined
golf
course that isn't very long but has small,
undulating
greens.
View Complete Tournament Information