Taylor White won the Spartanburg Co Amateur by four shots.

Taylor White had a home course advantage at the Coca-Cola Spartanburg County Men’s Amateur championship. The tournament was being played at the Carolina Country Club which is the home course for White and the USC Upstate golf team.

The local knowledge didn’t hurt the rising junior at Upstate as he put together a three day total of 6 under par to win the county title.

“I was a little worried that I might just kind of take the course for granted,” said the rising junior at Upstate. “When you practice and play at a course often you think you know some ways to get around that are not always the best way to play in a tournament,” he said.

White played the first round of the 54 hole event at even par. In the second round he was able to card a 4-under par 68 and take a one shot lead going into the final round.

“I got the speed of the greens down pretty good. I also had a lot of confidence off the tee and was able to swing freely and it turned into a pretty good round,” said White.

In the final round White was able to add another shot to his lead in the early going. Fain dropped a shot to the leader and fell back to 2-under par for the tournament.

First round co-leader Jonathan Costello  and Robertson tried to keep the pressure on White, but had difficult catching the leader. Both golfers fired a final round 2-under par 70s, but never got closer than two shots behind White.

Seth Robertson finished in a tie for second at the Spartanburg County Am.

“I played well, but there were some putts that I needed to make that just didn’t drop for me,” said Robertson. “I had my chances inside of eight feet, but I left some of them out there,” he said.

Costello had much the same story for his final round. He caught Robertson with a great par save on his 16th hole (Carolina CC #7) and finished in a tie for second place.

White played confident and challenged the course when he could. He finished with a 2-under par round of 70 to post a winning total of 210, 6-under par.

“I had one three putt when it horseshoed out on me, but I played pretty solid. The course was in great condition, especially when you consider the rain we had on Saturday,” said the winner.

First round co-leader Jonathan Costello finished in a tie for second.

Fain finished in fourth place while five golfers finished tied for fifth place. Former champion Kyle Milner, Kyle Scruggs, Ken Leopard, Hunter Parks and Jeffrey Horton all finished at 145.

“It is pretty cool to win a tournament and with this being sponsored by The First Tee it is even better. I grew up in The First Tee. Winning was just fun,” said the new champion.

Flight winners included, First Flight – Jake Smith, Second Flight – Josh Sprouse, Third Flight – Tyler Macolly, Fourth Flight – Shawn Cordle, Fifth Flight – Wesley Seaburg, Sixth Flight – Patrick Gosnell, Seventh Flight – Darren Gravley.

The second round of the tournament was delayed by rain and high winds for over two hours. The damage to the course included a downed tree in the playing area and wash outs in most of the 72 bunkers on the course.

The crew started cleaning up the course at first light and Sunday and by the time the first golfers started play the course was clear and in great condition.

Winners interview below