Artac wins Saguaro Amateur by one shot at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes

Wes Artac of Kingwood, Texas, and Nick Hardy of Northbrook, Illinois, battled back and forth Wednesday, with Artac’s birdie on 18 being the difference in winning the 2016 Saguaro Amateur.

It was Artac’s first tournament since early September.

“It was fun,” Artac said. “I dislocated my shoulder in the fall and so this was my first tournament in four-five months so it was a really good feeling to come out here and play well right off the bat. After the first day I realized I was all right and just played hard.”

He said the pressure didn’t affect him until they started down the back nine.

“I look at is as a regular tournament until the last nine holes and I knew Nick and I were tied,” Artac said. “He is a very, very, good player. Nine, 10, 11 – that was when everything kicked in and the nerves and pressure started. Golf is great.”

His 71 for the day put him 9 under par for the tournament. Hardy was 8 under.

Hardy had played an error-free second round to get close to Artac, who took over the lead Tuesday. Hardy struggled on the final nine holes to come up short. Taylor Moore, who won the first Saguaro Amateur in 2014, was tied for eighth after the second round and shot a 69 to finish third, four shots back. See final Leaderboard below.

The sun came out on Day 3 for the first time since the practice round. The high was in the low 60s with wind, particularly cold in the morning, was out of the south at 10-15 mph most of the day.

ROUND AVERAGE: Ak-Chin Southern Dunes played to an average of 75.8 during the final round. There was an overall field average of 75.5 over the course of the tournament.

PAST CHAMPIONS: Artac beat past champions Taylor Moore (2014) and Sean Walsh (2015). It is likely the last time every champion of the Saguaro Amateur will play in the same field as Moore (Arkansas) and Walsh (Gonzaga) are seniors in college.

2017 DATES: The 2017 Saguaro Amateur will be back at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes January 1-4. The Saguaro Team will take place immediately before December 28-30. Also look for the debut of a Women’s Saguaro Amateur.

Saguaro Amateur Day 3

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LEADERBOARD
Wes Artac, Kingwood, Texas – 68-68-71–207
Nick Hardy, Northbrook, Ill. – 73-65-70–208
Taylor Moore, Edmond, Okla. – 71-71-69–211
Hayden Wood, Edmond, Okla. – 71-71-70–212
Turner Maclean, Fort Worth, Texas – 68-73-71–212
Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo, Colo. – 69-73-71–213
Nick Heinen, Edmond, Okla. – 71-70-72–213
Ryan Gaske, Spokane, Wash. – 73-69-71–213
Blake Cannon, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 73-71-69–213
Alec Heinen, Edmond, Okla. – 71-66-77–214
Kyler Dunkle, Larkspur, Colo. – 74-71-69–214
Ryan Roodzant, Bakersfield, Calif. – 66-76-74–216
Sean Carlon, Albuquerque, N.M. – 74-71-71–216
Nahum Mendoza III, Chula Vista, Calif. – 76-70-71–217
Josh McCollum, Alta Loma, Calif. – 71-72-74–217
Carter Thompson – 69-74-74–217
Zachary Bauchou, Forest, Va. – 74-70-73–217
Jose Pelayo, Temecula, Calif. – 71-73-73–217
Miguel Delgado, Novato, Calif. – 73-75-69–217
Ben Doyle, La Jolla, Calif. – 74-74-70–218
Blake Abercrombie, Rocklin, Calif. – 72-71-75–218
Patrick Cover, Huntersville, N.C. – 71-72-75–218
Ryan Benton, Dothan, Ala. – 72-73-73–218
Matt Wilson, Cypress, Calif. – 74-69-75–218
Daniel Wetterich, Cincinnati, Ohio – 70-71-78–219
Tom Vining, Sioux Falls, S.D. – 77-72-70–219
Kyle Kochevar, Glen Ellyn, Ill. – 74-71-74–219
Matt Lee, Cave Creek, Ariz. – 69-72-78–219
Sean Walsh, Keller, Texas – 73-74-73–220
Jacob Bishop, Edmond, Okla. – 74-76-70–220
Noah Edmondson, Davidson, N.C. – 72-70-78–220
Joo-Young Lee, Hilliard, Ohio – 70-73-77–220
Alec Bone, Phoenix, Ariz. – 77-73-71–221
Davis Jensen, Loudonville, N.Y. – 78-72-72–222
Derek Bayley, Rathdrum, Idaho – 71-74-77–222
Brandon Carlson, Gilbert, Ariz. – 78-72-73–223
George Markham, Phoenix, Ariz. – 78-73-72–223
Behrod Keshtavar, Erie, Colo. – 77-75-71–223
John Clare, Camillus, N.Y. – 74-71-78–223
Tyler Young, Kennesaw, Ga. – 72-70-81–223
Sean Kato, Greeley, Colo. – 75-74-74–223
Michael Christifulli, Paradise Valley, Ariz. – 69-77-78–224
Drew McCullough, Richland, Wash. – 73-75-76–224
Ben Tolsma, Albuquerque, N.M. – 78-71-75–224
Ryan Schmitz, Greenwood Village, Colo. – 75-70-79–224
Pierce Aichinger, Englewood, Colo. – 73-75-76–224
Wilson Belk, Colorado Springs, Colo. – 77-71-76–224
Connor Klein, Lone Tree, Colo. – 69-76-79–224
Kade Brown, Oberlin, Kan. – 75-72-77–224
Bobby Gojuangco, San Diego, Calif. – 74-79-72–225
Sam Stilwell, Sterling, Va. – 82-71-72–225
Jack Ireland, Mission Viejo, Calif. – 78-71-76–225
Dale Smith, Coronado, Calif. – 74-76-75–225
Hayden Springer, Trophy Club, Texas – 80-69-76–225
Arron Lickteig, Marion, S.D. – 77-73-76–226
Chris Karlovich, Broken Arrow, Okla. – 76-75-75–226
Michael Decker, Pebble Beach, Calif. – 80-74-72–226
Steven Kupcho, Westminster, Colo. – 79-71-76–226
Sam Geise, Springboro, Ohio – 77-77-73–227
Blake Young, Trinidad, Colo. – 79-73-75–227
Patrick Bailey, Houston, Texas – 72-74-81–227
Max Donohue, Sioux Falls, S.D. – 76-75-76–227
Ethan Freeman, Denver, Colo. – 79-74-74–227
Colton Yates, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 75-72-80–227
Sam Engel, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 77-78-73–228
Marty Sanchez, Santa Fe, N.M. – 78-77-73–228
Glenn Workman, Pueblo West, Colo. – 72-76-80–228
Matt Echelmeier, Columbia, Mo. – 75-75-78–228
Otto Vanhatalo, San Diego, Calif. – 78-76-74–228
Gage Ihrig, Goodland, Kan. – 76-74-78–228
Conrad Smith II, Anthem, Ariz. – 76-76-77–229
Christopher Tuulik, San Diego, Calif. – 78-75-76–229
Quintin Pope, Cheyenne, Wyo. – 79-75-75–229
Austin Stadeli, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 74-75-81–230
Ryan Pelletier, Mansfield, Mass. – 77-76-77–230
Tait Darby, Olive Branch, Miss. – 74-80-76–230
Nathaniel Goddard, Fort Collins, Colo. – 74-79-78–231
Domenick Postorino, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 76-73-82–231
Daniel Starzinski, Phoenix, Ariz. – 79-69-83–231
Keegan Brasch, Sherwood, Ore. – 80-76-76–232
Ben Dubois, Renton, Wash. – 82-74-77–233
Andrew Garner, Paradise Valley, Ariz. – 76-81-76–233
Logan Gardner, Phoenix, Ariz. – 77-74-82–233
Conrad Walcher, Oklahoma City, Okla. – 81-79-73–233
Justin Chong, Granada Hills, Calif. – 82-75-76–233
Brett Johnson, Vancouver, Wash. – 84-76-74–234
Ross Macdonald, Castle Rock, Colo. – 74-80-80–234
Joe Baldeck, Clarkston, Wash. – 82-76-76–234
Ethan Smith, Oklahoma City, Okla. – 83-74-77–234
Stephen Griggs, Carmichael, Calif. – 81-81-74–236
Matthew Wetterich, Cincinnati, Ohio – 78-80-79–237
James Russo, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 80-77-80–237
Jackson Whisenhunt, Phoenix, Ariz. – 81-77-79–237
Millan Batra, Eagle, Idaho – 79-77-81–237
Andrew Romano, Lone Tree, Colo. – 78-77-83–238
Will Echelmeier, Columbia, Mo. – 84-77-77–238
Lucas Farmer, Highland, Md. – 80-80-80–240
Matthew Goddard, Fort Collins, Colo. – 83-78-79–240
Kale Davidson, Peoria, Ariz. – 77-80-83–240
Jason Fitzgerald, Wichita Falls, Texas – 81-80-80–241
Jens Verhey, Reno, Nev. – 77-82-84–243
Jake Staiano, Englewood, Colo. – 81-84-78–243
Alex Park, Vancouver, BC – 88-81-75–244
Kade Crossland, Buhl, Idaho – 81-78-86–245
Cole Bundy, Fort Collins, Colo. – 82-84-86–252
Johnny Brandt, Glendale, Calif. – 87-86-83–256
Josh Radcliff, Arlington, Texas – 73-75-DQ–DQ
John Souza, Phoenix, Ariz. – 78-71-WD–WD
Andrew Ganey, Saint Louis, Mo. – 81-88-WD–WD
Ben Harden, Phoenix, Ariz. – 79-WD
Cody Darling, Glendale, Ariz. – 86-WD
Rovonta Young, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – WD