GABRIEL SALVANERA WINS SONORAN AMATEUR AT WHIRLWIND GOLF CLUB

Chandler, AZ—After a gutsy 20-foot par save on the first playoff hole (hole 18), Gabriel Salvanera (San Tan Valley, AZ) won the inaugural Sonoran Amateur at Whirlwind Golf Club over Angelo Marcon (San Francisco, CA).  Both tied at -14 through 54 holes.  Salvanera, Marcon, and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, CA) battled all day, with Sugimoto leading most of the way.  Marcon closed with four straight birdies on holes 15-18 and Salvanera birdied 15, 16, and 17, before a bogey on 18 moved he and Marcon into a tie.  Sugimoto double-bogeyed the 16^th hole and despite a birdie at 17 finished two shots back at -12, in a tie for 3^rd with Shea Lague (Jamul, CA) who closed with a final round 65.  Trey Bosco (Austin, TX) and Jared Strathe (Owasso, OK) finished three shots out of the playoff at -11.  36-hole co-leader Hudson Weibel (Dallas, TX) shot a final round 72 to finish in 7^th place.

In the playoff (on the 18^th hole), both Marcon and Salvanera hit their tee shots into separate bushes.  Salvanera had to take an unplayable lie.  After good approaches, both players had par putts.  Salvanera putted first and he made his 20-foot putt.  Marcon’s putt to tie slid off to the left to give Salvanera the victory, giving him his second victory in as many months on the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series as he captured the Desert Amateur at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in early December.  Salvanera is a member of the Arizona State golf team and was an NJCAA All-American at nearby South Mountain Community College during the 2019-20 season.

SALVANERA ON THE WIN:  “I would like to say that first off that none of this would be possible without God, my family, friends and coaches.  After shooting 9-under the second day and seeing the leaders were only 10-under through 36 holes, I knew I just needed to post a good score today to win.  Throughout the final round, I was playing decent up until the last hole when I made bogey and ended up in a playoff.  During the playoff we both hit it into the bushes and we were able to get it on the green to have putts for par.  Over the putt I just told myself to put a good stroke on it and let gravity do the rest.  Fortunately it went in and I was able to secure the win.  Now I plan to use this momentum to get ready for the spring season and make some noise with my boys.”

NOTES:

-LOW SCORES: A total of 48 players in the field finished at even par or better.  Sunday’s final round featured a low round of 64 (-8) by Connor Adams.

-RESULTS:  Full results can be found at www.2022SonoranAmateur.GolfGenius.com or 2022SONORAN on the Golf Genius app and are also attached to this email

-WEATHER:  It was another beautiful day in Chandler as fully sunny skies and calm winds prevailed over Whirlwind.  The high temperature was 74 degrees

-GOLF COURSE:  Whirlwind Golf Club’s Devils Claw.  Host of the 2021 Palo Verde Amateur and multiple amateur and professional championships

TROON SAGUARO AMATEUR SERIES:  The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series is a world-ranked amateur tournament series that hosted 10 events in the 2021-22 schedule.  The Sonoran Amateur is in its inaugural year and is the first tournament in the 2022-23 Troon Saguaro Amateur Series.  The next event will be the Palo Verde Amateur at Whirlwind on the Cattail course May 23-25.  The full Series schedule and Player of the Year standings are available at www.SaguaroAmateur.com as well as at www.2022TSAS.GolfGenius.com.