Hartford shakes off slowstart to win by 6

Coming into the Greater Houston City Amateur Golf Championship, Blake Hartford felt his game was in a good place. And after making birdie on the No. 1 hole in Friday’s opening round of the three-day tournament, the 22-year-old Conroe resident was oozing with confidence.

But just like that, Hartford made double bogey on the second hole. The first of his two double bogeys over the first nine holes at Gus Wortham Golf Course.

“I birdied the first hole and I jokingly told my dad, ‘Hey, I’ve been birding the first hole a lot lately, maybe that jinx is over.’ I proceeded to double (bogey) the next hole,” Hartford said.

“I don’t knowif I thought I had a chance to win, the cut was almost in my mind at that point. Am I going to make the cut?”

Hartford more than survived the cut off and remained in the tournament for the final 36 holes, which were played on Sunday. His second-round 5-under 65 on Saturday got him untracked and he finished the 72-hole tournament at 7under 273, beating Justin Kaplan and Kyle Maxwell by six shots to claim the 2020 edition of Houston’s top amateur golfer.

A graduate of Klein Collins and Texas A&M-Commerce, Hartford shot rounds of 71-65-67-70. Maxwell of TheWoodlands and Kaplan of Houston finished at 279 but Kaplan won the second-place tiebreaker because his final-round 66 was better than Maxwell’s closing 68.

For Kaplan, who finished fourth in this tournament last year, it’s the fourth time he has been runner-up in the city amateur.

“I’m kind of the Phil Mickelson of the city am,” said Kaplan referencing Mickelson’s six runner-up finishes without a win in the U.S. Open. “It is what it is, but it’s always fun to play here and play well.”

Kaplan’s 66 in Sunday’s afternoon round was low score of the round, an impressive showing with the wind picking up. He switched putters following his morning-round 71 and that move proved beneficial.

Normally a par-71 for recreational golfers, for the city amateur the Gus Wortham course played as a par 70 totaling around 6,400 yards. The volunteer-based

Houston Golf Association conducts the city amateur. And Hartford began playing golf at age 14 in the HGA junior golf program.

“It’s cool to come back and win the actual (city) amateur championship,” said Hartford, who won two tournaments in college. “The greens were in unbelievable shape. The greens got really fast this afternoon and they did a great job taking care of it. It plays pretty tough for a short course. I was surprised at how hard it actually ended up playing.”

A strong chipper who drove the ballwell throughout the weekend, Hartford was playing this tournament for the first time. He had never even played a round at Gus Wortham until three weeks ago, a Saturday before he qualified at Hearthstone Country Club.

Hartford is working towards his master’s degree at Texas A&M-Commerce and works for a defense contractor. He’s comfortable being a weekend golfer.

“I plan on just having an amateur career and just having a good time with it because this event was just fun and I can keep having a good time just playing golf,” Hartford said.