Nick Rubino (Submitted Photo)

Rubino carded rounds of 70-68-69 to get to 9-under and hold off the field.

"On Wednesday and Thursday, the ball striking was really good," Rubino said. "I didn’t make a lot of putts, but if you ball strike it well around there, some putts are bound to fall."

Rubino added," (Today) was almost the opposite. The ball striking left me a little bit, but my chipping and putting were really solid today, and it helped me get the job done."

Rubino made a double bogey on No. 15 to fall into a three-way tie with Steyn and Langham. Langham took a brief lead after a birdie on No. 16, but a bogey on No. 17 saw all three golfers tied at 8-under, standing on the final tee box. 

Rubino stuck his approach shot to four feet, and the other two golfers had two 15-foot putts for birdie that they missed. Rubino sank his short putt to secure the win.

"It gives me a lot of confidence going forward, just knowing that I can post scores like that and play good golf," Rubino said about securing this win. "Hopefully, I can do more of that in the summer and bring some of that summer golf into my collegiate schedule in the fall." 

The summer golf grind never stops, as Rubino got in the car and went straight to Pinehurst to play a North & South Amateur qualifier the next day.

The Rice Planters Amateur was the inspiration of amateur golfer Dick Horne. During his first Porter Cup at the Niagara Falls Country Club in 1973, Horne befriended the tournament's chairman Dick Harvey.

Harvey encouraged a receptive Horne to develop his own southern tournament and, consequently, shared enough useful information with other Porter Cup officials to get Horne started in the South. The Rice Planters quickly grew to become one of the top amateur events in the country.