NEWS
Matt Camel runs the tables in Indian
Greenwich ’ s Matt Camel won the Circle K Junior Championship at Otter Creek Golf Course last month in Columbus , Ind ., in indelible fashion .
He shot 65 , 62 , 70 . He was 19 under par . He tied the AJGA 54-hole-tournament record in his first win . He made 19 birdies and an eagle .
And , oh yeah , in the final two rounds he made holes-in-one .
“ I just thought , I guess this is my week ,” said the Brunswick School rising senior of his amazing three days .
Camel won the event by ten shots . He beat teammate Connor Belcastro by 14 shots ( though Connor would turn the tables a week later at the Connecticut Junior Amateur , when he beat Camel in the round of 16 , 3 & 1 , and go on to win ). Camel ’ s holes-in-one , on Otter Creek ’ s 185-yard eighth hole and its 171-yard 12th , were the first of his career .
“ The second one was definitely the result of a little luck ,” he told the Greenwich Time . “ I pushed it out to the right and it landed off the left edge of the bunker , kicked left and went right in .”
The record-setting performance has complicated Camel ’ s life a bit . He ’ s getting tournament invites and college interest that wasn ’ t there a month ago . “ I was kind of late to the recruiting party ,” he said . Or were the schools late to his career , he was asked . “ There are was nothing to be late to until now , frankly ,” he said .
As Camel makes school visits and weighs opportunities , he has one primary concern , he says : “ Academics is the priority . A good golf program is a bonus .” In the meantime , Camel will continued his summer of competition . Next up was the MGA ’ s 101st Met Junior Championship at Siwanoy Golf Club in Bronxville , N . Y . and a busy summer fielding college offers .
10 | CSGA Links // August 2018 www . csgalinks . org