Dataw Island assistant golf pro Carrihill wins Hilton Head Open

Stuart Carrihill enjoyed golf growing up in Zimbabwe.

Cricket and rugby were the serious games, though. Few in the country made a living from golf.

But afer moving to the United States in high school, Carrihill dedicated himself to the game. And Sunday he claimed his first professional victory, finishing with a 2-under-par 142 total to win the Hilton Head Open at Wexford Plantation.

The assistant professional at Dataw Island Club earned $1,000 for his two days of work. Former USC Beaufort golfer Mark Phillips won the championship flight and tied for second overall at 146, 2-over-par. Berkeley Hall professional Nicholas Coursey also finished at 146.

Carrihill, who played four years of golf at Charleston Southern, said he enjoys the precision game required by a layout like Wexford and others in the Lowcountry.

"You have to know where to hit it, not so much off the tee but where to hit it on the green," Carrihill said. "And if you're going to miss the green, you have to miss it in the right spot, otherwise you don't have a chance to get up and down."

After opening with a 69, Carrihill knew pars would work Sunday, especially after seeing some difficult early pin locations. His closest professional competitors, playing partners P.J. Politan and Michael Bleakley, each shot 79. Politan started the day three shots back and thought he would need a 69 on Sunday to match Carrihill.

"He deserves it," Politan said. "He's got a nice golf swing."

Phillips, who works on the golf maintenance staff at Chechessee Creek Club, shot even-par 72 Sunday to claim the amateur title. He said the freedom to use Chechessee Creek's practice facilities has helped keep his game sharp. And after an early look at Wexford, he tried to pick the safest spots to work his way around.

"From there, it was going out there and hitting those spots," Phillips said. "If you can't, you've just got to get up and down."

Carrihill's only misstep on the final nine came on the 10th tee, when he pulled his drive into a lateral hazard. But he punched out and salvaged a bogey, riding his conservative approach the rest of the way. Each time he made a nice par save, as with a lengthy putt on No. 16, his large contingent of supports from Dataw Island cheered.

Carrihill has worked at Dataw Island the past year. He played a couple eGolf Professional Tour events early this year and said he would continue to try and play mini tour events and Carolinas PGA Section tournaments when possible.

"I like the feeling that competive golf has," he said. "Every shot counts."

With Dataw's Cotton Dike course closed for aerification this past week, Carrihill spent three days on the driving range, where he didn't feel confident with how he was hitting the ball.

" I dont know if that helped because it made me a little more conservative," he said. "But it was refreshing (Saturday) to see some shots go on line and actually hit them the way I want to."

Hilton Head Open

Final round at Wexford Plantation

Professionals

Stuart Carrihill 69-73--142

Nicholas Coursey 76-70--146

Mark Tomedolskey 75-73--148

Ross Prachar 74-75--149

Matt Lucchesi 74-75--149

PJ Politan 72-77--149

Franklin Newell 76-77--153

Scott Hunter 76-77--153

Michael Bleakley 74-79--153

David Rogers 77-77--154

Tom Logue 79-77--156

Brett Heisler 77-79--156

Jason Cherry 76-80--156

Jon Hundley 79-78--157

Koll Farman 79-79--158

Casey Jones 78-81--159

Ed Brill 82-78--160

Lance Buntin 78-82--160

Matt Bova 77-84--161

Derrick Garrou 75-88--163

Matt Stewart 83-81--164

Jess Watkins 81-84--165

Mark Teed 79-86--165

Keith Bach 88-79--167

Jim Uremovich 82-85--167

David Wilding Jr. 83-85--168

Barry Fleming 83-85--168

Sean Patterson 79-89--168

Heidi Wright-Tennyson 92-84--176

James Scales 91-85--176

David Lapour 93-92--185

Championship

Mark Phillips 74-72--146

Jeff Wong 73-75--148

Trey Testino 79-72--151

Cole Adams 73-79--152

Tate Hoisington 80-73--153

Jason Rossetti 73-80--153

John Patterson 79-75--154

Jim Ferguson 79-76--155

Benji Gecy 76-79--155

Wesley Long 78-78--156

Troy Hoisington 75-81--156

Gordan Gourley 80-77--157

Jamie Manning 79-79--158

Steven Botts 74-85--159

Terry Lanning 80-80--160

Matthew Chang 77-83--160

Kyle Eichelsbacher 82-80--162

Gerry Pascale 83-80--163

Bob Engler 80-83--163

Bob Collar 82-83--165

Scott Berkner 81-84--165

Trent Hoisington 79-87--166

Glen Miller 77-89--166

Chris Lewis 84-83--167

Joseph Prevuznak 79-89--168

Jack Gillespie 86-84--170

Chandler Vilcheck 82-88--170

Jon Piccione 90-81--171

Tim Howard 90-85--175

Tony Woods 101-99--200

Dondi Wall 86-WD

Senior Flight

Kevin Arnold 76-80--156

Chris Morris 78-79--157

Charlie Hall 84-74--158

Eric Dollenberg 79-79--158

Jim Stock 78-81--159

Ed Atkins 84-80--164

Jim Martin 78-86--164

Sandy Knapp 81-85--166

Jon Hauck 88-83--171

Doug Ballenger 84-87--171

J.R. Evans 84-90--174

Dave Cunningham 87-88--175

Danny Lawrence 91-85--176

John Vignale 88-89--177

Hal Cherry 87-97--184

Simon Fraser 102-91--193

Alvin Bischoff 99-100--199

Flight One

Ted Morris 85-81--166

Brian Fox 85-81--166

Lenin Lezcano 81-85--166

Zachary Ruhlin 82-85--167

Steve Baldwin 84-86--170

Jay Wilson 86-90--176

Flight Two

David DeDecker 87-88--175

Edward Claytor 95-85--180

Rick McDevitt 89-93--182

Thomas Hines 95-99--194

Russell Anderson 93-102--195

Eric Ruhlin 102-99--201

Source: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/08/06/2162311/dataw-island-assistant-golf-pro.html

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