Finau wins another amateur title

ST. GEORGE — West High junior Gipper Finau added another top amateur title to his golf resume Sunday by holding off a host of strong contenders in Utah's Dixie.

In winning the Utah Golf Association Winterchamps by three points over Brigham Young sophomore Nick Killpack in a modified Stableford scoring format, Finau basically led from start to finish in the 36-hole event.

"It's always good to win a tournament, and to win a tournament like this is a great kick-off to start the year," said Finau, who finished second in the prestigious UGA major two years ago.

He jumped out to the first-round lead by blistering The Ledges Golf Club on Saturday with 46 points, which put him one up on Killpack heading into Sunday's final round at Sunbrook golf course. He was then able to stay ahead of Killpack and several other of Utah's top collegiate players in ideal scoring conditions by posting 43 second-round points.

"It didn't feel like I played that great, but I had a whole lot of birdies," Finau said.

His two-day total of 89 points edged Killpack (86), Daniel Summerhays (85) and older brother Tony Finau, who finished with 83 points. Clay Ogden made it three Cougars in the top five with 82 points. Utah Valley State golfer Nic VanVuuren was the only other player to score 80 points. Under the Stableford format, bogeys are worth one point, pars two, birdies four and eagles six points.

It was two eagles on Sunday that lifted the younger Finau to the victory. A handful of golfers were within a point or two of Finau heading into the back nine, but a 2-inch eagle putt on the par-5 10th widened the margin. Finau then followed up by rolling in a 7-foot eagle putt on the uphill par-5 12th, which gave him a comfortable lead over his challengers.

The steady Killpack kept the tournament from being a run-away by matching Finau's eagle on No. 12, and the St. George native then ended his round with birdies on No. 17 and No. 18.

"I finished strong so that's a nice feeling to take from here," Killpack said.

Summerhays had Sunday's best round with 47 points. Tony Finau found a spot in the top five by earning 45 final-round points.

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