Amateur golfers across the Southland concluded a ten-month battle at Goose Creek Golf Club on Wednesday, as Joshua Carter emerged as the SCGA One-Day Series Match Play champion.
“It means a lot. I’m super tired. It was really cold on Monday, and I’m glad we got the break on Tuesday,” Carter said. “I promised my daughter I would take her to Disney Land if I win and I am exhausted, but I’m still going to go.”
Carter defeated Mark Pizano, who finished runner-up in the 2019 One-Day Series Match Play Championship, 1 up, in a championship match that was postponed a day late due to course conditions caused by rain on Tuesday.
“Putts weren’t going as far,” Carter said. “It was really muddy. A lot of chips were digging into the ground and wouldn’t go far, so we made those adjustments.”
This meant Carter had to putt from the fringe, and in some cases outside the fringe. Though he was unable to avoid another early deficit, as Pizano was three-up through the first five holes.
Carter erased the deficit instantly, winning the next three holes to square things up headed to the back. The two traded leads until Carter established his first lead with a par on Hole No. 6 to go 1 up. Pizano was unable to recover as Carter was able to tie the final three holes and clinch the championship.
“We played the slice all day and it stuck with us,” Carter said. “We knew where the shots were going to go. (My caddie) told me to trust the shots and make the putts.”
For both of his matches on Wednesday, Carter refused to use his driver, opting for irons on every hole.
“I threw the driver away because the course is pretty tight and I have a slice,” Carter said. “There was a couple times Mark and I were arguing about clubs and he put the club in my hand, and it worked out really well.”
Carter participated in 18 SCGA One-Day Series events this season and won three of them, becoming one of the top 16 players on the Points List after the regular season concluded to be invited for the One-Day Series Match Play Championship.
After his matches on Monday, where he cruised to 6 & 5 victories in both matches, Carter went 18 holes with 2019 SCGA One-Day Series Match Play champion, Michael Keane, in the semifinal match on Wednesday morning.
“I was on fire on the first day. Everything was dropping for me,” Carter said. “I thought it would carry into today but it really didn’t.”
After falling as far as three down through nine holes, Carter surged to take four of the first five holes on the back, and eventually squeeze out a 2 up victory to advance to the championship.
“In the beginning the putts weren’t really dropping like they should’ve been but we just kept consistent and waiting for people to make errors, and also be aggressive where we could be,” Carter said.
Carter, who is in his second year of participating in the One-Day Series, ended the season at the top of the Points List to also clinch One-Day Series Player of the Year.
“I really felt like the people that showed up here belong here,” Carter said. “There was also good banter between guys. It actually helps the match when you don’t have that negative energy so to speak…we were rooting for each other.”