Joshua Hu (Submitted Photo)

Hu, a recent graduate from UC Riverside who is currently pursuing his Master's degree, used a second-round 7-under 65 to tie the 36-hole lead with Krishnav Chopra at 8-under. A final round 3-under 69 helped Hu secure the win.

"My wedge distance control from within 130 yards and putting was working really well during the second round," Hu said. "I was able to hit a lot of shots within 15 feet and made birdies from there."

In the second round, he recorded eight birdies and one bogey, including five birdies in his first six holes.

Hu entered the back nine of the final round down one shot, but he birdied five of the first six holes to go up by two shots entering No. 18. Lazarski made a birdie to put the pressure on Hu, but he clutched up and made a par to secure the win.

"Going into the final round, my mindset was to go out there and enjoy playing in the final group and try to play with a lot of confidence," Hu said. "I set a goal for myself to shoot around 2-under par and finished the tournament with double digits under par." 

Avery Lazarski made a run in the final round with a 4-under 68 but came up one shot short and finished in solo second place at 10-under. Chopra finished in solo third place at 9-under, and Clay Pendergrass finished in solo fourth place at 5-under.

Hu added, "To be honest, I wasn't paying too much attention to the leaderboard or other players in my group during the round. I focused more on getting to the goal I set before the round. Thankfully, I was able to do one better than I expected and win by one shot."

Chandler Barch, Patrick Keeling, Brody Knowlton, and Chase Pickering finished T5 at 4-under to round out the top five. 

The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series was founded in 2017 and is a world-ranked amateur tournament series that is hosting ten tournaments in the 2024-25 season.

This is the ninth year of the Gobbler Amateur, all held at Sewailo Golf Club just outside of Tucson and part of the Casino Del Sol Resort.  The Gobbler Amateur is the fifth event in the 2024-25 Series year and the second event of the winter swing.

The next event will be the Coachella Amateur at Terra Lago Golf Club in Indio, CA.