Albert surges over final two rounds to win first title
Todd Albert said he didn’t do anything spectacular over three days of play at Gus Wortham Golf Course. That’s debatable since he’s now the Houston city amateur golf champion of 2021.
The 31-year-old Katy resident capped off four solid rounds of golf with Sunday’s final 36 holes, winning the Greater Houston City Amateur Championship in convincing fashion. At 2-under 278, Albert beat his closest pursuers by seven shots and was the only golfer to shoot under par over the 72hole tournament.
“I can’t say enough about the amount of time I try to put in to get this done,” Albert said. “I’ve had a great past couple of years, this year in particular. It feels good to break through and finally get one.
“I’ve felt so long that it’s right there. To finally get this done feels good and to be able to play some more competitive golf like this. This will free me up now that I’ve got this one under my belt. I feel I can get a lot more.”
Albert won the city am for the first time in his fifth try. In 2018, he was the first-round leader before finishing fifth.
For the first two rounds of the tournament, conducted by the Houston Golf Association, Niko Nebout was the player to catch. The 20-year-old University of Houston golfer and Clear Springs product led after Friday’s and Saturday’s 18-hole rounds.
Albert trailed Nebout by five shots heading into Sunday’s finale. But by the back nine of the final round, Albert had built a sizable advantage over Nebout, his playing partner. With a commanding lead, Albert played cautious down the stretch.
“I didn’t try to get too cute with anything,” said Albert, who owns a food brokerage company and plays out of Golf Club of Cinco Ranch. “I stayed patient on the course.
“What I really capitalized on was my driving. I put the ball as far down the fairway as I possibly could on the holes that allowed it. Anything that was open, I just smashed it as far as I could.”
Albert, who credits instructor Scott Hause at Westwood Golf Club for honing his repeatable golf swing, carded rounds of 6969-69-71 over the 6,395-yard par-70 layout. Nebout shot rounds of 63-70-78-74, sharing second place at 5-over 285 with two-time champion John Hunter (The Woodlands) and Ryan Haag (Houston).
“It’s a nice building block for progressing forward,” Nebout said. “And the first round showed me what I’m capable of doing, so I need to keep on working and win some tournaments.”