Vicksburg's Ted Rider outlasts Stuart Wagner in eight-hole playoff for Century State Junior golf championship
THREE RIVERS -- It wasn't Tiger and Rocco. It wasn't Torrey Pines. Sure felt like it to a pair of excellent young ball strikers Tuesday at The Century State Junior golf championships.
Both Stuart Wagner and Ted Rider sported Tigeresque, final-round red in an exciting exhibition at Pine View Golf Club. Both finished the second and final round with a 36-hole total 158 (14-over-par) in the Boys 13-14 division. And neither gave an inch throughout the eight-hole, sudden-death playoff.
The two parred the first four holes and bogeyed the next three as fatigue started to set in.
"I'm going to charge these guys more," said tournament organizer Barry Shanley, taking in the action on No. 7. "This is really something. I guess we should stop calling this sudden death."
With Wagner (77-81) staring at bogey after his approach found a greenside bunker, Rider (80-78) two-putted for par on hole No. 8 on the Spruce course to take home the title.
"I don't think I was getting as fatigued as my caddie was," Rider, who will be a freshman at Vicksburg this fall, said jokingly of Mitch Wandell, who was on the bag both days. "He was complaining the whole time. It was fun.
"I finally started to get some putts to fall. Stuart's a good player and I knew he could hit the ball further than me, so I just tried to stay with him."
Long after the tournament concluded, it came to light that Wagner called a penalty on himself toward the end of regulation, which ultimately forced the playoff. Wagner never mentioned the incident, which was not witnessed by his playing partners, and offered no excuses after the round.
"Both of us had a couple of chances to put it away," said Wagner of his first playoff experience. "I was getting tired, but I played better on the playoff holes. I learned a lot today about how to handle nerves. I'm proud."
