Golf: Peru's Fernando Barco withstands wind to win Terra Cotta Invitational in Naples
Greg HardwigOne of the tallest players in the field had to stand tall to win the Terra Cotta Invitational on Sunday.
Fernando Barco, a 6-foot-3 former Purdue golfer from Peru, survived windy conditions to shoot a 1-over-par 73 and win the 23rd annual tournament for top amateurs by two strokes at Naples National Golf Club.
"It feels awesome," Barco said. "It was really tough today. The scoring conditions were not ideal. I'm just proud of how I held myself going down the stretch and pulled it off."
Winds gusting over 20 mph blew up scores in the elite amateur field, with only three of the 78 golfers breaking par in the final round, and only five doing so for their overall tournament scores.
"I knew coming into today it wasn't going to be one of those days where you hit 14 or 15 greens in regulation," Barco said. "I was really happy getting those up-and-downs and just keeping the momentum going."
More:Golf: South Carolina's Caleb Proveaux grabs second-round lead at Terra Cotta in Naples
Barco, who graduated from Purdue in December, trailed second-round leader Caleb Proveaux, a sophomore on the South Carolina golf team, by a shot going to the back nine. But Proveaux fell apart, missing green after green in regulation, frequently after getting in trouble off the tee.
Barco, 22, lipped out his par putt on the par-3 12th, leaving Proveaux up a shot with six holes to play. But the 20-year-old Proveaux made five bogeys and a double in those six and tied for sixth at 1-over 217.
Barco appeared he was going to stumble on the par-4 16th, hitting his tee shot left into the 17th fairway. But he got the ball over the trees and into the pine straw 50 yards from the pin. He pitched to 10 feet and made the putt to save par.
"No. 16 was a big one," Barco said. "... I made a really nice putt for par."
Barco then two-putted for birdie on No. 17, with his ball stopping inches from the cup.
Fred Biondi, a 17-year-old from Brazil playing ahead of the final group, made a run, and so did Tampa's Jackson Suber, an Ole Miss commit. Biondi, who goes to Club Med Academy in Port St. Lucie, was within a shot after making a 12-footer on No. 17 for birdie, but had a poor tee shot and ended up bogeying the 18th to tie for second with Suber at 3 under.
"No. 16, I just kind of missed my driver but made a good bogey," Biondi said. "I made a clutch birdie on No. 17 that i needed. No.18, I just hit a poor tee shot and it put me in bad position. I gave myself a good chance for par but made bogey. It's all right."
Andrew Alligood of Saint Johns and Joey Savoie of Canada tied for fourth at 2-under 214. First-round leader Joe Pagdin shot a 79 and tied for 12th.
More:Golf: Masters champions Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia are Terra Cotta Invitational alums
Carl Santos-Ocampo, a former Community School and Notre Dame golfer, was the highest local finisher, shooting a final-round 73 to tie for 19th.
Going into the 18th, all Barco had to do was make no worse than bogey to win.
Barco didn't make it that dramatic, though, hitting his tee shot in the middle, laying up nicely, and leaving himself a good angle into the green guarded by water in front and to the right on the closing par 5. With the wind gusting at him, Barco safely put his approach 35 feet on the back of the green, with the pin in the front, then nearly drained the birdie putt.
Barco was headed home Monday to play in a tournament in Peru this week, and he plans on playing in the Web.com Tour Qualifying School later this year.
"Hopefully I can get through that and then probably turn pro after that," he said.
NOTE: Charities benefiting this year were: The KidzAct Scholarship Program at the Naples Players Community Theatre, the Ricky King Fund, Laces of Love, Naples Zoo Children's Education Program, FunTime Early Learning Center, and Naples Historical Society Pupils at Palm Cottage Education Program.
Terra Cotta Invitational
at Naples National Golf Club
Par-72
Top 10
1. Fernando Barco, Peru, 71-67-73/211 (-5); 2. Jackson Suber, Tampa, 73-70-70/213 (-3); 2. Fred Biondi, Brazil, 74-68-71/213 (-3); 4. Andrew Alligood, Saint Johns, 74-70-70/214 (-2); 4. Joey Savoie, Canada, 74-68-72/214 (-2); 6. Cole Hammer, Houston, 73-71-73/217 (+1); 6. Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C., 69-68-80/217 (+1); 8. Garrett Barber, Stuart, 70-75-73/218 (+2); 8. Juan Guerra, Dominican Republic, 72-72-74/218 (+2); 10. Won Jun Lee, Korea, 69-73-77/219 (+3); 10. Blair Bursey, Canada, 71-72-76/219 (+3)
Other scores
220 -- Hugo Bernard, Canada, 71-75-74; Joe Pagdin, England, 67-74-79
222 -- David Wicks, England, 75-75-72; Matt Parziale, Brockton, Mass., 73-76-73; Teddy Tetak, Slovakia, 74-73-75; Robin Williams, England, 74-73-75; Jay Card, Jupiter, 70-78-74
223 -- Frank Vana, Shrewsbury, Mass., 73-76-74; Carl Santos-Ocampo, Naples, 77-73-73; James Song, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 75-74-74; Joe Alfieri, Lutz, 73-77-73; Michael Sanders, Davidson, N.C., 73-74-76
224 -- Tyler Wilkes, Tampa, 75-76-73; Jake Marriott, Naples, 68-81-75
225 -- Ryan Hall, Knoxville, Tenn., 77-74-74; Karl Vilips, Australia, 72-77-76; Akshay Bhatia, Wake Forest, N.C., 75-71-79; Bill Williamson, Cincinnati, 74-71-80
226 -- David Morgan, Naples, 80-70-76; Newport Laparojkit, Montebello, Calif., 74-75-77
227 -- Darin Goldstein, New York, N.Y., 75-76-76; Derek Busby, Ruston, La., 78-75-74; Aman Gupta, Concord, N.C., 76-78-73; Matt Hutchins, Naples, 76-73-78; Prescott Butler, Old Westbury, N.Y., 74-75-78; Jorge Villar, Mexico, 75-69-83
228 -- Ben Jones, England, 77-74-77
229 -- Jackson Rivera, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 78-77-74; Jackson Van Paris, Pinehurst, N.C., 77-72-80
230 -- Canon Claycomb, Orlando, 78-78-74; Mason Nome, Houston, 73-76-81; Colin Bowles, Albany, Ga., 78-76-76; James Clark III, Fortson, Ga., 73-77-80
231 -- Scott Roden, Dallas, 76-76-79
232 -- Will Thomson, Naples, 82-78-72; Joseph Deraney, Lexington, Ky., 77-77-78
233 -- Grant Renegar, Summit, Miss., 79-80-74; Padraic Sim, Spanish Fort, Ala., 77-74-82
234 -- Artem Yalovenko, Russia, 78-79-77; Tim Jackson, Williston, Tenn., 77-77-80; Bobby Leopold, England, 83-75-76; George Duagnmanee, Fairfax, Va., 80-76-76
235 -- Ryan Celano, Naples, 80-78-77; Luke Gifford, Fort Lauderdale, 76-81-78; James Tureskis, Naples, 79-76-80; Giulio Castagnara, Italy, 76-78-81; Patrick Welch, Providence, R.I., 76-72-87
236 -- Gordan Brixi, Czech Republic, 75-80-81; Kevin Johnson, Naples, 75-78-83
237 -- Aden Ye, China, 76-84-77; Connor Howe, Ogden, Utah, 75-78-84
238 -- Ben Reichert, Tampa ,78-78-82; Mike Stamberger, Brielle, N.J., 81-77-80; Dawson Ovard, Frisco, Texas, 75-81-82; Bryce Lewis, Hendersonville, Tenn., 77-79-82; Sampson Zheng, China, 77-79-82; Joe Highsmith, La Quinta, Calif., 75-80-83; Reid Hatley, Hayden Lake, Idaho, 75-78-85
240 -- Tyler Cooke, Warwick, R.I., 82-79-79; Tommy Brennan, Covington, La., 79-80-81
241 -- Deron Zendt, Jupiter, 80-81-80
242 -- Alberto Castagnara, Italy, 83-78-81
243 -- Dusty Drenth, Davenport, Iowa, 83-81-79
244 -- Michael Brennan, Leesburg, Va., 78-83-83; Joe Parrini, York, Pa., 83-81-80
245 -- Jeff Champine, Rochester Hills, Mich., 82-80-83
252 -- Cody Olson, Naples, 88-82-82