Hudson Weibel wins W.E. Cole Cotton States Amateur in a playoff
Hudson Weibel (Cotton States Amateur Photo)
After making a bogey on the par-5 14th hole,
Hudson Weibel of Dallas, Tex., thought his chances at winning the 2023
W.E. Cole Cotton States Amateur were out the window.
However, after making birdies on Nos. 16 and 18, Weibel was able to force a playoff with
Cameron Bonner of Cantonment, Fla. Bonner made a birdie on hole No. 16 and parred Nos. 17 and 18 to finish at 10-under.
Weibel came into the final hole down one shot and was able to make a birdie at the last to force the playoff.
Weibel then won on the first playoff hole with a bogey, with Bonner making a double bogey. Both players were in trouble off the tee and had to scramble for the rest of the hole.
Weibel was the only golfer that shot under par in all four rounds of the tournament.
"I didn't put myself in any tough spots," Weibel said about his consistency. "I hit the ball well all week. I got off the tee well, which was huge because you can get some tough lies out here and weird lies, which can cause some bad shots, so playing out of the fairway was great and gave me a lot of birdie opportunities."
Weibel added, "I didn't have those stressful 8-10 footers for par."
Playing four rounds fairly stress-free was key for Weibel to stay mentally focused on each hole and each day.
"It is huge," Weibel said, adding about keeping the ball in play. "You aren't really building up that scar tissue and you are basically keeping yourself light. It helps you stay pretty stress-free."
Wheaton Ennis of Eagle, Idaho and
Hunter Battles of Tuscumbia, Ala., finished T3 at 8-under. Battles was 10-under total through 16 holes of the final round but made bogey on Nos. 17 and 18 to fall out of contention.
ABOUT THE
Cotton States Amateur
Originally played in 1949 as the Bayou
DeSiard Labor Day Golf Tournament, the
tournament's
name was changed to the Cotton States
Invitational in 1951 by the club's young head
professional, W. E. "Winnie" Cole. He felt that
the
name better reflected the main states that the
tournament's players originated from (and a
move
to
mid-summer made the name a necessity later
anyway). Little did Cole know that 27 years
later, in
1978, the event would be renamed again,
forever to
be known as the W. E. Cole Cotton States
Invitational Golf Tournament.
Past champions of this highly competitive, yet
festive
tournament include Don January and Hal
Sutton. Gil
Morgan, David
Toms and many other PGA Tour players have
also
competed. The tournament field field is limited
to 96
amateur
participants
having a verified USGA Handicap Index not
exceeding 0.0. Long a match play event, the
format was changed in 2021 to 72 holes of
stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information