Champions Scott Pitts and Tim Lovell shot 14-under

The duo shot an opening round 62 on Friday at Bandon Dunes and never looked back, finishing with a 16-under score of 270, good for a three-stroke victory over Jack and Jason Anthony, who finished at 13-under 273.

The Anthonys, who began the day five shots off the lead, turned in the lowest final round on Monday, carding a 64 at Bandon Trails, but the deficit ultimately proved too large. Pitts, whose 65 at Bandon Dunes on Friday set the tone for the championship run, closed out the tournament with a 69 at Bandon Trails.

But it was his partner that hit the shot that may have pushed them over the hump to victory. Standing in the 14th fairway with a team 1-shot lead, Lovell hit a shot that could only be described as pure perfection. Anyone that has played the diabolical Coore and Crenshaw hole knows that the two tiered green has about a 10 foot square area to hit to, in order to avoid being bounced left or right into a collection area, bunkers, or worse.

Lovell's pitch was nipped just right, and landed at the top of the slope.

"From the point it landed, that ball seemed to have eyes towards the hole," said Lovell, as he hoped that his team would finally land a skin.

Up until today, they had done nothing but knock other team skins out with their many birdies. But with the skin, and their winner's share plus a new laser rangefinder provided by AmateurGolf.com's new laser partner Cobalt, the pair did not leave empty handed.

Jacob and Mark Phillips finished third at 279 while Bob Erling and Todd Stires climbed into fourth place with a final round 66 at Trails to finish at 5-under 281.

A final round 65 by Peter Davison and Don Miller shot the duo up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth place at 285 with Johan Anderson-Randall Conn.

Davison and Miler shared the Senior title with Conn and Andersson, the defending champs.

Joseph and Joseph Mark Kowalski ran away with the Net Division, posting a 40-under 246 for a 14-stroke victory over Brad and David Hopkins.

The Anthonys prevailed in the Father and Son gross competition with a winning score of 14-under 273. Brad and Davis Hopkins took the Father and Son net prize at 26-under, since the Kowalski's won the overall title.

54-HOLE RECAP

The team of Tim Lovell and Scott Pitts extended their lead to five strokes with one round remaining in the 2021 Two Man Links Championship being contested at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the southern coast of Oregon.

Players were treated to much calmer conditions for Sunday’s third round compared to Saturday, when heavy rain, high winds mixed in with some hail made for trying scoring conditions. “One of the top five worst weather days I’ve ever seen here,” said one longtime Bandon Dunes caddie.

Teeing off in the last group of the day along with their closest pursuers, Jack and Jason Anthony, Lovell and Pitts fired an opening salvo with matching birdies on the short par-4 first hole at Pacific Dunes to increase their lead to three shots in the overall gross. The duo combined for a 4-under 67 while the Anthonys mustered a 1-under 70 only to fall five strokes off the pace.

“The conditions yesterday at Sheep Ranch were obviously very trying,” said Pitts. “We hung in there but we were riding the momentum from Friday’s first round.”

Pitts described Friday’s magical round at Bandon Dunes when he shot a 65 to pace the team to a first round 62 as “one of those days we wished would never end. The hole seemed as big as a wash tub – they were going in from everywhere.”

The low round on Sunday belonged to the father-son team of Jacob and Mark Phillips, who posted a 6-under 65 at Pacific Dunes to move up the leaderboard into a tie for second place. The younger Phillips fired a 5-under 66 on his own ball at Pacific Dunes to move his team into title contention. The Peachtree, Ga. native picked up four front side birdies, ran off three more on holes 11, 121 and 13 and added another on 16. A bogey on the par-5 18th left him at 66 for the day.

The Phillips and Anthonys enter Sunday’s final round tied for the team in the father-son competition with Gregg and Ben Hemphill five back at 1-under. Joseph and Joseph Mark Kowalski maintain their lead in the lead in the net division at 30-under, 10 strokes clear of Brad and Davis Hopkins.

The leaders will wrap up the tournament on Monday with final round action at Bandon Trials. Asked how he and Lovell will prepare for the final round at Bandon Trails on Monday, Pitts replied, “We’re actually going to play some more golf this afternoon over at Old Mac, then grab some dinner and get some rest. We’re just going to have some fun tomorrow and try to cash in on our birdies opportunities when they present themselves.

“I don’t get to play much links golf in northeast Georgia but this is my third time here and second trip with Tim. I fell in love with this place the first time I saw it and it’s really tough to get to from home but it’s well worth the trip. It’s a special, special place.”

SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS

Ben Hemphill, playing Bandon Dunes for the first time with his father Gregg -- the GM of sponsor OGIO -- has already had a gross and net skins with his eagle on No. 13 at Bandon Dunes in round one. Today at Pacific Dunes, the 18-year-old birdied Nos. 10, 11, and 12 at Pacific Dunes, going 2-2-4. We don't see many back-to-back twos on a scorecard very often!

There were plenty of gross and net skins today at both Pacific Dunes and Sheep Ranch. Highlights included:

Both Chris Brauner and his new friend and partner Zach Silver both hit driver on No. 1 at Pacific Dunes, finishing just off the perched green some 310 yards away. (That's a bold play right out of the gate!) Silver holed his pitch for eagle to grab a gross skin early. Brauner and Silver first met on the putting green before the first round after each of their original partners had to pull out due to injury.

Over at Sheep Ranch, Doug Burton also made a skin with an eagle on No. 10, a 375-yard par 4. Asked how he did it, Burton matter-of-factly deadpanned "easy - i drove the green and made the putt." Somehow, we think he may have been a little more excited after the putt went in.

View results for 2025 Two-Man Links at Bandon Dunes