Dothan golfers Dax Weed and Emmett Lee finished with a bang.
Weed, a rising senior at Providence Christian, fired a final round 3-under 67, while Houston Academy’s Emmett Lee came in at 68 on the final day of the Press Thornton Future Masters on Saturday.
Weed improved his score each day. He followed a first round 72 with a second round 70 before finishing with the strong 67 for a 209 total. He finished tied for 11th overall with six others.
It was Weed’s second appearance in the Future Masters. He didn’t make the cut a year ago.
“It’s a great confidence boost,” Weed said. “It’s by far the biggest tournament I play in all year. You play against some of the best talent in the South, so it feels pretty good. It will help with college scouting and stuff like that.
Weed had birdies on holes 4 and 9 on the front and 10, 13 and 15 on the back. He made bogey on 3 and 18.
“I had a really long putt on 13,” Weed said of the par 3. “The pin was in the very back and I was kind of in like in the middle left on the fringe and made like a 50-footer.”
Weed said eliminating a few mistakes led to the better rounds each day.
“I didn’t really hit it any better, I just kind of stopped making the mistakes,” Weed said. “My misses were really good today, so if I didn’t hit a good shot, I still had a shot at the green.
“I’m always pretty comfortable here. You know, I play here a couple of times a year, especially with the (Providence Christian) golf team.”
Lee is also very comfortable among the Dothan Country Club surroundings and appeared most at ease on Saturday. He had a first round 1-over 71 and took a step back on Friday with a 73 before finishing strong with the 2-under 68 for a 212 total. He tied for 18th overall with four others.
He didn’t start off his round on Saturday so well – making bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6 for 2-over at the turn.
“I started out and I was hitting fairways and greens, but I was kind of hitting them to 20 or 30 feet on every hole, so that was pretty much my back nine,” Lee said. “I three-putted 5 and missed the green on 6 and bogeyed both of those so I had a 37 on the front.”
However, Lee got in high gear on the back nine with birdies on 10, 12, 14 and 16.
“I made about a 25- or 35-foot putt on number 14 for birdie. I think the biggest one was No. 16, because the past couple of days when I was coming in I haven’t finished well. I’ve dropped shots on my back nine.
“I made about a 15- or 20-foot putt on 16 and that kind of was huge for me. That pin was tucked back left kind of over the bunker to where if you missed left you go OB (out of bounds).”
Lee drained a 10-foot putt to save par on 18 to finish out the round strong.
“I’ve never even made the cut before this year,” said the 16-year-old. “It just kind of proves I can handle the pressure.”
Houston Academy product Matthew Streitman had a tough final round with a 77, following an opening round 68 and a second round 73 to finish out at 218. Streitman missed practically the entire high school season with a back injury and was playing only his second full tournament since February.
Credit: www.dothaneagle.com