Kennesaw State University graduate student Brock Healy birdied three of the last five holes to overtake Norway’s Mats Ege (pronounced “egg”) and claim the seventh edition of the Jacksonville Amateur Golf Association’s First Coast Amateur by one shot at Hidden Hills Golf Club in Jacksonville on Jan. 16.
The Norcross, Georgia resident and sports management major posted the tournament’s lowest score of 65 to take the title. He began the final round one back of Ege, who shot 67 on the day.
Healy’s five-foot birdie putt on No. 17 put him in the lead by one after Ege came up short from 20 feet on his birdie attempt. The Norwegian had one more attempt to tie Healy with a 12-footer for birdie on No. 18 but missed, and Healy tapped in for par and the win.
Ege, a redshirt sophomore at East Tennessee State University, opened with rounds of 70 and 69 to Healy’s 71 and 69 to grab a one-shot lead.
Despite back-and-forth swings over the final 18 holes, the lead was never more than one in either player’s favor. The duo was tied at 7-under at the turn. Healy finished 11-under and Ege at 10-under.
Ege was seeking to join Trevor Hulbert (2021) as the second ETSU golfer to capture the First Coast Amateur. He came to Jacksonville 157th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Two weeks ago, he finished T15 in the Jones Cup at Sea Island, Georgia.
Making a very strong defense of his 2022 First Coast Amateur title was Ty Gingerich of the University of Cincinnati, who posted rounds of 74-70-68—212 (4-under) to finish third. The junior finance major has now played in all seven First Coast Amateur tournaments.
Healy’s 205 total (11-under) was two shots shy of the tournament record of 13-under-par set by the event’s first winner Brandon Mancheno at Amelia National Golf and Country Club.
The winning scores for the first two events played at Hidden Hills were 220 (4-over) by Cole Bradley in 2018 and 218 (2-over) by Stephen Shephard in 2019.
A pair of Jacksonville-area high school seniors, Carson Brewer (Ponte Vedra High/FSU commit) and Chase Carroll (Middleburg High/UNF commit), had impressive T13 showings.
With final round 67s, Sam Nicholson of Atlantic Beach (T8) and 16-year-old Nolan Harper of St. Augustine and Beachside High School (T16) joined Ege in posting the second-lowest score of the tournament.
Competitors dealt with cold temperatures barely reaching 50 degrees during the first round that were accompanied by winds of 15 to 20 mph.
The temperature rose and the winds subsided the last two days making things relatively comfortable for the players. The average score per round was 80.73 in the first round; 76.13 in the second round; and 73.51 in the final round.
Players from 23 states and 39 colleges/universities were entered, with 13 countries represented. Purdue University topped the field with 10 players.
Top finishers in the JAGA First Coast Amateur receive World Amateur Golf Ranking points for the seventh year.
With the First Coast Amateur’s return to Jacksonville after three years at The Conservatory in Palm Coast, the City of Jacksonville’s sports and entertainment division came on board as the tournament sponsor.
The First Coast Amateur was sponsored and conducted by JAGA, which annually promotes Jacksonville’s top-level amateur competitions and has since 1954. It is the only JAGA-run event that is promoted nationally and features multiple state and national participants.
Complete tournament results and other information can be found by going to jaxareagolf.org.
