Scott Stevens emerged victorious at the SCGA Senior Amateur Championship at Mission Viejo CC after a clutch putt birdie putt on the final hole secured his first ever SCGA win.
After opening with a 77 on Monday, Stevens bounced back with consecutive rounds of 72 to finish at 221 and take the title by just one stroke.
“I actually made birdie from off the back on 18 yesterday as well,” Stevens said. “Pin was back right, so I figured why not. I did it yesterday, why not do it today as well. I wasn’t thrilled that it hung on the edge like it did, but a few seconds later it finally dropped, and the celebration was on.”
Stevens ability to keep his cool throughout a quite dramatic final round was one of the deciding factors of the day, with Stevens even bouncing back from a four-putt earlier in the round that could have ended his championship hopes prematurely.
“I felt vindicated because I hit the ball really, really well today,” he said. “I didn’t let the four-putt get me down, I made a bunch of pars after that and just kind of grinded coming in on 17 and 18.”
Despite not playing much competitive golf in recent years, the win gave Stevens a renewed spark.
“I’ve got an 8-year-old son, Palmer, who is a baseball guy, not a golf guy,” Stevens said. “So I coach his Little League and I have a ball doing that. But I’m not going to lie — this has kind of put a little bit of a fire under me. It’s a massive honor winning a tournament period, but winning an SCGA event and winning an amateur title — old guy or young guy — you still have to beat everyone else who was out there.”