There will be no crow eaten here. Seth Strickland made sure of that.
After predicting that the final round of the GCSAA National Championship would be nothing more than a "coronation" and a "victory lap" for the superintendent from Miami Shores Country Club in south Florida in a post earlier today, I wondered whether I had spoken too soon. After all, the final 18 holes of this event have featured plenty of twists and turns in past years. If it happened then, it could happen now, right?
Wrong. Strickland made sure of that with his third consecutive round of 4-under-par 68. That gave him a three-day total of 12-under-par 204 -- the lowest winning score in the 58-year history of this tournament -- and a stunning 16-shot margin of victory -- also the biggest in tournament history. To put it simply, Strickland turned the Tom Watson-designed Independence Course at Reunion Resort into his own personal playground.
"I think I have a new favorite golf course," he told me afterward. You think?
Now a two-time champion -- he won the event the last time it was played in Orlando, in 2005 -- Strickland has clearly set a new standard for what it will take to win this event going forward. As you'll find out when you read my story about this year's event in the March issue of GCM (yep, another shameless plug), winning this tournament wasn't a happy accident for Strickland. The bar has been raised in terms of preparation and the level of play necessary to win the GCSAA National Championship. It will be interesting to see how many superintendents are willing and able to take that challenge.
I shared an adult beverage and about 20 minutes with our new champion earlier tonight, so I'll get one more post up about the tournament tomorrow. Then it's full bore into conference and show. Stay tuned -- things are going to get even more interesting around here.
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