If the Terra Cotta Invitational was only a two-round event held at the weekend, Charlie Woods might have had a shot at the title.
Woods started out with an error-strewn 79 where half of his 18 holes resulted in bogeys on Friday. In among the mistakes were two birdies which helped reduce the damage somewhat.
But, as he has so often done across his junior career, the Florida State commit put his bad day in the trash and returned to the course the following day a different player.
Although there was a bogey at the first hole on Saturday – and three more besides later in the round – Woods battled away and made five birdies to sign for a one-under 71.
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Another bogey on the first in round three was hardly the start Woods was looking to make, but he once again rallied and was mistake-free for the remainder of the event.
Gains on the sixth, seventh and ninth holes allowed him to make the turn in just 34 strokes, and an eight-hole run of pars was only ended by another birdie at the 18th which resulted in a three-under-par 69 on Sunday.
All told, Woods finished the tournament on three-over-par and in a share of 42nd place. Matt Kuchar’s son Cameron ended just a stroke ahead, unable to follow in his dad’s footsteps by winning this event (1997).
The Terra Cotta Invitational champion was Connor Doyal of Charleston, South Carolina who finished on 12-under thanks to scores of 70-67-67. Toronto, Canada’s Dawson Lew finished second just a stroke behind.
Other notable entrants in the 72-player field included Trevor Gutschewski (-8, T8th), Miles Russell (-7, T12th) and 2024 US Amateur finalist Noah Kent (+2, T34th).
Woods hasn’t cracked the top-20 in his past three starts now, with the most recent high finish arriving via a T19th at the Junior Orange Bowl International back in the first week of January.
Since then, the 17-year-old has ended 68th in the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and 36th in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
Woods was in fine form last year with a victory at…
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