VALDOSTA —
Valdosta State alumnus Brent Witcher has found his groove, and he hopes to keep it going into today’s final round and possibly into next week.
Witcher is currently tied for 32nd at 3-under par following the third round of the sixth annual South Georgia Classic at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club. Witcher shot a 3-under par 69 in his third round, as he was able to birdie three of the par 5’s on the course to help him move up the leaderboard.
“I hit it really well,” said Witcher of his Saturday round. “I hit all 18 greens, which made it easier. I felt like I could have finished a lot lower, I had a lot of birdie attempts…It was just a real simple day. I hit a lot of fairways, and a lot of greens.”
The former All-American for VSU will need another solid round today to finish in the top 25, which will automatically qualify him for next week’s Nationwide event in Athens.
“The goal is to just shoot as low as possible,” said Witcher. “Essentially, the goal is to finish top 25 so I can get into next week. So really at the end of the day, that is my focus.”
If Witcher is able to qualify for next week’s event in Athens, it will mark just the fifth time he will make a start on the Nationwide Tour, as he has spent the majority of his professional career, which began in 2010, on the Hooters Tour and the eGolf Tour, two lower-level professional golf tours. He is now considered a rookie on the Nationwide Tour, although he has conditional status, which limits his appearances in events this season.
Despite the conditional status, Witcher can continue to appear in Nationwide events if he can finish in the top 25, including this week at the South Georgia Classic; he missed the cut in his only prior start of the season on the Nationwide Tour, finishing 5-over par in the Chile Classic in mid-March.
“I have gotten to know my game a lot more,” Witcher said. “I have been able to get more consistent. My short game was an area that I felt like I needed to work on a lot, just kind of with consistency and keeping it close to the hole so I don’t have to make a lot of five or six footers. Just the more you play, the more comfortable you get, and that has a lot to do with it.”
This week marks the third time Witcher has been a part of the field at the South Georgia Classic, the second as a professional. This is by far the best result for the 26-year old Witcher, who missed the cut in 2009 as an amateur and in 2010 as a professional.
Witcher started this week looking like he was going to have a repeat of his first two Classic starts, as he bogeyed two of the first three holes before posting a double bogey on the par-3 sixth to move to 4-over par. He fought back in the back nine to go 1-under, and finish the opening day at 3-over par.
In Friday’s round, Witcher shot a 3-under par 69 to move to even par to make the cut with no strokes to spare.
“I knew what I needed to work on, really from the first nine holes of the tournament,” Witcher said. “After that, I think I have shot under par for every nine holes, so it has definitely gotten better. I think I was a little nervous at first. I was just kind of uncomfortable.”
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Witcher has successful third round in Classic
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