Biggs Comes Out of the Pack to Win the Amateur
Justin Biggs of St. Cloud fired a 6-under par 66 at Pine Tree Golf Club Sunday to claim the 83rd Florida State Amateur Championship.
Trailing by 10 at the start of the round, Biggs made 7 birdies and a bogey to end up one shot ahead of Joe Alfieri and Buddy Alexander.
"It was up to them," the 21-year old Biggs said. "If they played well, they were going to beat me. I didn't think I had a chance. I was way too far back," he added.
With birdies on the second and third hole, Biggs started out hot. An hour-and-a-half rain delay tried to cool him off, but he answered with a birdie at 5 just as soon as play resumed.
"I gained 5 strokes on the leaders after 5 holes," Biggs, an upcoming senior at the NAIA school Northwood, said. "At that point I started thinking 'Who knows?"
Tampa's Kevin Mock, who had a 2 stroke lead heading into the final round, fell apart on the front 9 by making 2 double bogeys. He quickly brought the rest of the field back to him. He ended up finishing in a three-way tie for 4th after shooting a final-round 78 that left him at 1-over par 289.
Alfieri, of Lutz, and Alexander, of Gainesville, both had their chances. Alfieri was at 3-under for the championship after 10 holes. He then 3-putted 11 and bogeyed 12 and 15. Tied for the lead on the 18th hole, Alfieri missed the fairway. "I had 191 yards to the green,” he said. “It was a tough shot, but I went right at it with a 5-iron right over some trees."
Ending up in the water hazard, he made an "impossible" shot up into the bunker. Needing to hole his bunker shot, Alfieri made a dramatic shot that caught the right edge of the hole, but wouldn't fall. Alexander also had a dramatic shot on the final hole. His 93 yard wedge for the tie missed by a couple of feet.
Biggs received a crystal vase and his name inscribed on the Clarence Camp Championship Trophy. The top 10 plus ties received an exemption into the Florida State Amateur Championship next year.
Pine Tree's 18-hole golf course was designed by Dick Wilson and opened in 1961. The course is set on a flat plain, so Wilson's design incorporates a "risk-and-reward" shot selection as well as 130 strategically-placed bunkers. Pine Tree has consistently been ranked as one of the Top 100 courses in the country and was the site of the 1978 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. 
