Eoff struggles early, rallies late to win ASGA title

Benton’s Austin Eoff (above) beat defending champion Seth Garner of Hot Springs and Fort Smith’s Bryon Shumate on the third hole of a playoff Saturday at the Country Club of Little Rock to claim the ASGA amateur title. The golfers tied at 1-over 214 in regulation after Eoff closed the day with a 77, his highest round of the tournament.
Benton’s Austin Eoff (above) beat defending champion Seth Garner of Hot Springs and Fort Smith’s Bryon Shumate on the third hole of a playoff Saturday at the Country Club of Little Rock to claim the ASGA amateur title. The golfers tied at 1-over 214 in regulation after Eoff closed the day with a 77, his highest round of the tournament.

As Austin Eoff watched his tee shot on No. 13 hook left into a grove of pine trees Saturday afternoon, he thought a comfortable lead he had built over the previous two days had finally withered away at the Country Club of Little Rock.

But there Eoff was about 90 minutes later, tapping in an easy birdie putt on the third playoff hole to outlast defending champion Seth Garner and Bryan Shumate to win the Arkansas State Golf Association championship in his second time entered in the event.

"It was definitely not a good day until the last four holes," said Eoff, who was able to crack a smile after he shot a final-round 6-over 77 that caused him to blow the four-stroke lead he had entering Saturday's final round.

Eoff, 20, didn't find a rhythm until it was almost too late. After a double-bogey 6 on No. 13 in which his tee shot went so far into the trees that he had to re-tee, Eoff changed strategies. Rather than trying to hit a fade off the tee, Eoff said he wanted to hit a draw, a shot he doesn't normally try, and things started coming together.

After the double bogey on 13 left him and playing partner Wesley Harris tied at 3-over, Eoff parred 14, birdied the par-5 15th, parred 16 and 17 and birdied No. 18 to join Garner and Shumate, who were playing a group ahead, in the playoff.

"I just couldn't find anything," said Eoff, a Benton native who will be a junior at Purdue. "My go-to shot is a fade. It wasn't working. I don't like to draw it, but I just kind of said 'Whatever, I'm just going to have to draw it because I don't have the fade today.' So the rest of the way I just did that. Because I had nothing else."

The adjustment came just in time for the playoff, but it came after Eoff shot a 5 over 40 on the front nine to fall back in the pack. Eoff entered the final round at 5 under, four strokes ahead of Brice Howard, who finished in a tie for seventh at 6-over 219. Eoff's lead withered away as he bogeyed Nos. 4 and 7 and double bogey on Nos. 5 and 8.

Garner, who entered the final round at 2 over said he didn't think even if he played well that Eoff would struggle enough for them to tie in regulation.

"I thought it was just to get more pro shop credit," Garner joked about his final round.

But around the 12th hole Garner, 21, heard a whisper that the leaders weren't playing well. Garner said he never heard a specific score, but knew his opening might have been created.

"I thought 'Well, I better get going,' " said Garner, who birdied the par-5 18th to move to 1-over 214.

Shumate, 45, started Saturday at 2 over and didn't think his 1-under 70 in the final round was good enough, either. In fact, he walked off the 18th green planning to hand in his card, climb into his car and head home to Fort Smith thinking Garner had edged him by one stroke.

But the card that Shumate was keeping in his cart missed one of Garner's strokes, and they both were at 1 over.

"Seth said, 'hey, you better stick around,' " Shumate said. "I didn't even know."

All three players parred 18th to start the playoff before moving to No. 1. There, all three missed birdie putts that would have won the tournament for any of the three before the playoff went back to 18.

There, Eoff's tee shot split the fairway before hitting his approach shot onto the green His eagle putt was short, but he had an easy tap-in for birdie to end a round 5 hours, 43 minutes after it began.

"I felt like if I was going to win, I had to take advantage of 18," said Eoff, who birdied the hole three out of five times he played it this week.

Shumate was left frustrated after missing two birdie putts in the playoff that could have won the tournament, but he was pleased overall with his best showing in the event.

"I just hit two bad putts," Shumate said. "You can't ask for much more than a 4-footer to win and then a 6-footer to win. You don't make them, you don't make them. I'm not doing this to eat, so I'll be okay."

Eoff's rally allowed him to leave with the ASGA's E.B. Gee Trophy, two crystal vases and $750 in clubhouse credit -- a haul good enough after he spent most of his Saturday battling frustration.

"I just didn't feel super comfortable with my game," he said. "In the playoffs, I just got in a different mindset, just tried to forget about everything that happened today, because it was a struggle."

Sports on 06/21/2015

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