GREENWOOD, Miss. — LSU junior Beck Troutman fired a 10-under par 62 on Saturday between rounds of 1-under 71 on Friday and even-par 72 on Sunday to earn a second-place finish at the 59th-annual Greenwood Invitational at Greenwood Country Club this weekend.
Troutman finished the tournament with a three-round total of 11-under 205, and his 62 in the second round is a personal best and ties the lowest score by an amateur in Greenwood Country Club’s 86-year existence.
“I really played well all three days, but Saturday especially,” Troutman said. “I just tried to keep everything simple and not think too much about how I was playing. I felt comfortable the whole day and really got into a rhythm and hit the ball extremely well. I let things happen after I got off to a good start and ended up with a great score.”
The Fernwood, Miss., native raced out of the gate Saturday with a birdie on the first hole and birdied five of the last six holes on the front nine to make the turn at 6-under par. He didn’t slow down on the back nine as he carded five birdies and one bogey en route to an 18-hole score of 62.
Troutman held a two-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round but finished one stroke behind his good friend and high school rival Trey Denton, who will be a junior at the University of Arizona in the fall. Denton birdied two of his last three holes to shoot a 3-under 69 and finish atop the leader board at 12-under.
“I made a couple of bogeys and never got into a rhythm during the final round,” Troutman said. “A couple of bad breaks on the last few holes really cost me down the stretch. It’s one of those things where I hit some good shots but didn’t get rewarded for it. I just wasn’t able to hang on in the end.
“Trey’s a good friend of mine and we’ve played a lot of golf together over the years, so we pretty much know each other’s game. I actually stay with him a few times every summer, and we have a lot of fun playing together. If I couldn’t win the tournament, I’m glad he did. I’m sure he’d say the same thing about me.”
An eight-shot gap separated Troutman from a pair of Mississippi State Bulldogs in a tie for third place as both head coach Clay Homan and sophomore Matt Fast posted scores of 3-under 213 in three rounds. Homan, the tournament’s defending champion, fired a 4-under 68 in the final round, while Fast struggled for much of the day to card a 4-over 76.
Troutman returns to action on July 19 as he travels to Birmingham, Ala., to participate in the centennial Southern Amateur Championship before attempting to defend his title at the 2006 Mississippi Match Play Championship at Deerfield Country Club in Jackson from July 27-30.
He follows that with a trip to Choctaw, Miss., on July 31 to participate in the qualifying stage of the 106th United States Amateur Championship at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club. The U.S. Amateur qualifier is a two-day event with a select few advancing to the U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
“I’m trying to get my game where it needs to be to be successful in the college season and have it at peak form when we start back in the fall,” Troutman said. “I’m preparing for that rather than a particular tournament right now. I just shot my best round every with a 62, so I must be doing something right.”