Duluth’s Charles Huntzinger, a member of the Penn State golf team, captured the recent Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club, breaking a late tie for the lead with a birdie to edge out three players by one stroke each.
Huntzinger was the Big 10 Freshman of the Year for the 2015-16 season and was a second team all-conference selection. He won a tournament this past season in an event hosted by Penn State, with the Dogwood victory the biggest of his young career.
After sharing the 36-hole lead at 133, Huntzinger shot 70 in the third round – his high score of the tournament – to trail Australia’s Anthony Quayle by one heading to the final day.
After an early bogey, Huntzinger played his last 15 holes in the fourth round in 5-under for a 68, with back nine birdies at the par-5 14th and par-4 16th moving him into the lead, which he preserved with pars on the final two holes.
Huntzinger finished with a 17-under 271 total to finish one shot in front of Quayle, Mexico’s Raul Pereda and defending Dogwood champion Dawson Armstrong of Lipscomb in Tennessee. Armstrong made a late push with a final round 65, matching the low score of the day, after playing his first three holes in 2-over. He was 9-under after that with eight birdies on his final 12 holes, including four in a row from holes 14 to 17.
LSU golfer Luis Gagne was fifth at 273 after a final round 67, with Sean Elliott, the top player on Dalton State’s team, tying for sixth at 275 after shooting 67-68-67 the final three rounds. An 8 on the par-5 seventh hole led to an opening 73 for Elliott, the 2015 NCAA Division II national champion.
Gainesville’s Spencer Ralston, who will be a freshman member of the UGA golf team this Fall, matched Armstrong’s final round 65 and tied for eighth at 276. Ralston had 25 birdies over four days, but three double bogeys in the second and third rounds kept him from challenging for a victory.
Tying for 10th at 277 was Dacula’s Emerson Newsome, who recently completed his college career at Cincinnati, and incoming Georgia Tech freshman Luke Schniederjans of Powder Springs. Both players shot 69 in the final round.
Huntzinger shot 67 in the opening round to trail Florida Southern golfer Jimmy Jones and LSU’s Nathan Jeansonne by three strokes. Georgia Tech’s Jacob Joiner of Albany was third at 66, followed by Huntzinger and Alpharetta’s Zach Jaworski, who has completed his college career at Vanderbilt, at 67,
A second round 66 moved Huntzinger into a tie for the lead after 36 holes with Quayle, who also shot 66 that day. Pereda was one of three players tied for third at 136, with Newsome shooting 66 to move into a tie for seventh at 137.
Quayle led Huntzinger by one after 54 holes with a 202 total, with Pereda third at 204 and Jones fourth at 205.
Scores of other Georgia golfers who made the 36-hole cut:
J.J. Grey, Georgia State, T15, 279; Steven Fisk, Stockbridge/Georgia Southern, T19, 290; Joiner T28, 282; Jack Larkin, Atlanta/UGA, T28, 282; Jackson Heazel, Atlanta/Baylor, T28, 282; James Clark, Columbus/Georgia Tech, T37, 284; Jonathan Keppler, Marietta/Florida State, 44, 287; David Mackey, Watkinsville/UGA, T48, 292; Jaworski 51, 298.