Holbrook Survives Back-Nine Roller Coaster Ride, Wins Trans-Miss; Warian Is T13

DALLAS -- Jake Holbrook trailed Neal Shiipley by five shots with four holes to go Friday in the final round of the 2023 Trans-Mississippi Championship. He led by one with one hole left -- but he ended up winning the tournament with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

When it was over, Holbrook and Shipley were probably both shaking their heads, not quite sure whether to believe what had happened on the back nine. And the spectators were probably in a state of shock, as well.

Basically, the two soon-to-be college seniors -- Holbrook at Oklahoma, Shipley at Ohio State -- put on a display of golf at Brook Hollow GC that was part virtuoso performance and part horror show.

If you were just looking at the scores, you wouldn't have known what a wild ride the final round turned into. Holbrook and Shipley were tied from the end of the first day all the way to the end of regulation. They both shot 66 in the first round, 65 in the second, 69 in the third, and they both shot 2-under-par 68s on Friday, for matching 72-hole totals of 268 (12 under).

That sounds kind of boring. In reality, it was anything but. The ebbs and flows throughout the week were massive, and espcially in the final round.

Holbrook fell behind when he bogeyed the second hole, but he then proceeded to birdie the next four holes in a row -- and followed that with a double bogey at the seventh hole. In contrast, Shipley was Mr. Consistent on the front nine, making eight pars and one birdie. So they were tied once again as they reached the 10th tee. Shipley seemed to be taking over, however, as he birdied the 10th and 11th holes, and Holbrook bogeyed the 10th.

Shipley led by three at that point, and he expanded his lead to five when he eagled the par-5 14th hole. Holbrook birdied the 15th, and. Shipley bogeyed it, but that was only his second bogey in 31 holes, and he was still three ahead.

The hole that turned things around was the 185-yard, par-3 17th. Holbrook had the honors, and he hit his tee shot 6 feet from the cup. Shipley followed that by hitting his tee shot into the lake that guards the front of the green. He compounded the problem by three-putting from 10 feet -- for a 6. Holbrook made his birdie putt -- and the result was a four-shot swing!

Suddenly, Holbrook was leading by one. But Shipley bounced back from his 17th hole disaster by making an 8-foot putt for a birdie at the 363-yard, par-4 18th. And just as they had been at the end of each of the first three rounds, Holbrook and Shipley were tied once again when the fourth round ended.

The first -- and only -- playoff hole was the 18th. Holbrook's second shot spun back and nearly rolled off the green. He was left with a 30-foot putt for his birdie -- and he made it. Shipley had a 25-footer for his birdie, and he lipped it out.

Holbrook and Shipley provided the drama on Friday, but Riley Lewis turned in the best round of the day, a 64, and that nearly got him into the playoff. Having started the day in a tie for 11th place, he ended it in sole possession of third, one behind Holbrook and Shipley at 269. John Marshall Butler closed with a 66, and that got him into a tie for fourth at 270, along with Holbrook's Oklahoma teammate Andrew Goodman, who shot 69.

Ben Warian, Minnesota's No. 1 player -- he was selected to play in the NCAA Bath Regional and concluded his junior year by tying for 11th there -- got off to a bad start Friday. He was 4 over after seven holes. But he played the last 11 in 4 under to finish with a 70. That gave him an aggregate of 275, and he tied for 13th.

Cecil Belisle, the former two-time Minnesota state high school champion from Red Wing who won the State Open in 2021, capped off his tournament with birdies at the 17th and 18th holes. That gave him a 68 and boosted the Kansas senior to be into a tie for 27th at 279. His Jayhawk teammate Gunnar Broin, another a senior to be, also birdied the 17th and 18th on the way to a 69. He tied for 52nd at 285.


Trans-Mississippi Amateur

At Brook Hollow Golf Club

Par 70

Dallas

Final results

1. Jake Holbrook 66-65-69-68--268 (won playoff with birdie on first extra hole)

2. Neal Shipley 66-65-69-68--268

3. Riley Lewis 71-66-67-64--269

T4. Andrew Goodman 68-66-67-69--270

T4. John M. Butler 68-68-68-66--270

T6. Wenyi Ding 67-67-67-71--272

T6. Ethan Fang 69-69-69-65--272

T8. William Moll. 69-70-71-63--273

T8. Nicholas Dunlap 71-65-69-68--273

T8. Charlie Crockett 71-67-70-65--273

T8. Kazuma Kabori. 68-69-66-70--273

12. Lance Simpson 68-69-65-72--274

T13. Ben Warian 67-71-67-70--275

T13. Luke Potter. 69-72-67-67--275

T13. Matthew Troutman 68-68-68-71--275

T13. Vishnu Sadagopan 71-69-67-68--275

T27. Cecil Belisle 70-71-70-68--279

T52. Gunnar Broin 69-72-75-69--285

Missed cut -- 141

Carson Herron 70-75--145