Iain Macdonald had not led for the entirety of his championship match against Kory Frost as he approached the 17th tee box. Finding himself one hole down, Macdonald stole the final two holes to flip the script and eventually lay claim to the Senior Match Play title at Goose Creek GC.
After tying the match with a critical left to right birdie putt on No. 17, the stage was set with a tie match on one of the hardest finishing holes in Southern California; Goose Creek’s par-4 18th.
Both Macdonald and Frost found the fairway with their tee shots. Macdonald’s second shot hit in front of the green but rolled on, stopping about ten feet to the left of the hole. Frost’s second shot was pin high, but went off the green to the left, forcing him to chip onto a downhill slope. His chip landed parallel with Macdonald’s second shot. Macdonald two-putted from for par, while Frost needed to sink his ten-footer to send the match to extra holes. Frost’s putt missed left, and Macdonald had successfully dug himself out of a deficit he’d been facing the entire match to win the championship.
Frost took the lead on the very first hole, and kept it for all but three. Macdonald’s steady game, which included 15 consecutive pars, allowed him to push for the lead at the time when he needed it the most. Including the championship, only two of five matches this week went the full 18 holes.
A prior SCGA Senior Four-Ball champion, this marks Macdonald’s first individual SCGA title.
