Drew Ernst
Rising Coastal Carolina junior Drew Ernst birdied the first playoff hole to win the 52nd annual South Carolina Golf Association Amateur Championship, played at Columbia Country Club.
In the first playoff since 1997, Ernst beat USC’s Wesley Bryan for medalist honors as well as becoming the first Chanticleer to win the prestigious championship.
Both Ernst, who shot 71 on Sunday, and Bryan, who carded a 70, finished regulation play tied with a 10-under par 203.
The battle between the two collegian golfers began at the start of the day with Ernst, a Seneca resident, holding a slim one shot lead after the first two rounds. After the first nine holes with three birdies and only one bogey, Bryan had battled back and took his own one-shot lead heading to hole ten. Ernst fell further behind after a birdie three on the par four 11th hole by Bryan, the University of South Carolina golfer.
With pars on the par five 12th and par four 13th Ernst took a one shot lead after Bryan went bogey, double on the same two holes. Then on the 252-yard, par-three 14th Ernst drained a 14 foot birdie putt to take a two shot lead. Bryan got back on track and made birdie on the 15th while Ernst stumbled to a bogey to tie things up again. Both players made pars coming in and the Championship was destined for a playoff. A ten foot birdie putt by Ernst on the first playoff hole, the par four 18th, earned him the title of 2010 SCGA Amateur Champion.
