Dogwood Crosstown Wrap Up
Article By: Robert J. Leonard, #21676
Photos By: Kris Henseler
From Justin Jernigan carding an eight during the first round and still winning by three, to Carlton Howard banging a 35 foot putt in 30 MPH winds, (while holding an umbrella!) to grab the last USDGC qualifying spot, the Dogwood Crosstown Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina was a memorable event.
In a field that included three former World Champions, eleven players rated 1000 or higher, two Hall of Famers and a member of the PDGA Board, the Crosstown proved once again why it is a top event on the PDGA tour every year. Winning this tournament is something that Barry Schultz has never done, and he came to Raleigh to do just that. Just when Barry was about to finally rid the Crosstown monkey off his back, Justin Jernigan was there to put the monkey right back as he bested Schultz and Raleigh native Mike Hofmann by three throws to take home his first Supertour win.
“It was the biggest win of my professional career,” Jernigan explained. “Winning by three with an eight during the first round over this great field proved to me I can compete on the highest levels this game has to offer.”
Jernigan set the goal of winning the Crosstown after last year where he carded two bogeys to start the final round and lost his lead to eventual champion Brad Hammock. Those two holes have haunted Jernigan for a year. The nightmare finally ended when he hoisted the trophy over his head.
Jernigan double bogeyed his first hole of the tournament and then came right back with two birdies before he met the par four fourth at Buckhorn. After throwing his drive way right, it took him three throws to get where he wanted his drive to land. He then hit a tree on his approach, missed a jump putt, missed a 20 footer, and finished the hole with a tap-in eight.
“I just tried to keep my composure and went off by myself for a minute. I knew that I was getting ready to hit the birdie stretch and I could recover.”
And recover he did.
Jernigan birdied seven out of the next 11 holes and carded an amazing 53 (rated 1020). “Justin shot a 53 with an eight?!” was repeated over and over during the lunch break. His 53 seemed more impressive than Bard Soleng’s 49, which gave him a three stroke lead. After tying the best score of the day in the second round (49), Jernigan catapulted to the top of the leader board, tying Soleng. Both Jernigan and Soleng were one ahead of Bard’s brother Sjur and Schultz, who also carded a second round 49.
It was clear after the Soleng brothers struggled in the third round that this tournament was down to Barry and Justin, who both won world titles at the 2004 PDGA World Championships (Barry – Open Pro, Justin – Advanced Amateur). Schultz and Jernigan had played 59 holes of golf and had both thrown 166 times over the course of the weekend. It wasn’t until the 60th hole that the tournament would totally change.
After Jernigan put his tee shot 30 feet away on the tricky 6th hole, Barry threw in the creek and was forced to take a penalty stroke.
“I knew I could at least pick up one on him even if I missed my putt.” Jernigan said. “But he just hit a tree on his putt, I made mine and all of the sudden I have a three stroke lead. Now I have the best golfer in the world breathing down my neck the rest of the round. He’s won two world titles and two US championships, he’s been in this situation before with a lot more pressure, but I just played solid and held on for the win.”
In the Masters division, Hall of Famer Carlton Howard fought off Buckhorn course pro Scott Anderson for the win in Masters. But it wasn’t the win that was important to him.
“My whole goal this weekend was to qualify for the USDGC,” Howard said. “If Scott would have beaten me, that was fine. As long as we both got into the USDGC.”
Anderson lost his lead to Howard and Howard never looked back. On the last hole, Howard left himself a tricky 35 foot putt under some limbs into a 30 MPH headwind while getting hailed on. Despite being up by three in this situation, Howard went for the putt.
“I saw Kirk (Yoo) and Alan (Beaver) lay up because of the wind,” Howard explained. “But something told me I needed this to get into USDGC.”
That putt would fall for Howard as he did in fact grab the last USDGC spot. He will join Walter Haney, Greg Williams, and the Soleng brothers as the representatives from the Crosstown in October in Rock Hill.
The women’s division, despite only 2 competitors, had a good battle all weekend. Mandi Snodgrass bested Terry Frank by 31 throws to claim another victory to her already very impressive resume.
The Dogwood Crosstown Classic did not only live up to what we thought it would be this year, but surpassed it. When the last time you saw someone get an eight and still win a tournament? When was the last time you saw someone make a putt while getting hailed on to qualify for USDGC? For me the answer is quite simple. I saw it this past weekend.