Bradenton’s George DeSear wins Florida State Senior Amateur title

George DeSear stood near his golf cart with a Florida Gators logo on its side and just shook his head as congratulatory gestures flew by.

DeSear, a longtime Bradenton Country Club member and 18-time club champion, was in shock for a moment on Thursday.

Only a minute earlier, Tampa’s Doug LaCrosse failed to get up-and-down on the par-3 18th hole, which secured the 56th Florida State Senior Amateur Championship title for DeSear, who posted a 3-over 216 total for a one-shot victory.

“I didn’t think I was going to win,” said DeSear, who started the day in 10th, five shots back. “But I just wanted to post a score.”

For most of Thursday’s final round, victory seemed unlikely for DeSear on his home course. In addition to starting the day so far back, he was 3-over par through his first seven holes, while LaCrosse and Bonita Springs’ Robert Polk cruised to matching 1-under-par scores on the front nine. The two began the day tied for second, one shot behind second-round leader Bret Voisin.

Then the 60-year-old DeSear, a former University of Florida golfer, got hot with his putter, while the 6,500-yard Donald Ross-designed layout bared its teeth to LaCrosse and Polk.

DeSear closed with five birdies against one bogey on the back nine to post a 1-under-par 70. That included a left-to-right breaking 10-foot putt on the 185-yard, par-3 18th in front of fellow Bradenton Country Club members.

“It was great, especially when I hit it close enough to where I could walk over and say, ‘How do I stand now?’ ” DeSear said. “They said, ‘You’ve got to knock it in.’ So that gave me a little extra incentive.”

He was one of three players to shoot under-par rounds and the only player who began the day in the top 30 to do so. Six of the nine players who began the day ahead of DeSear posted 75s.

Aiding DeSear’s victory was Bradenton Country Club head pro Brian Lake. On April 2, DeSear watched Tim Collins, who is former PGA Championship winner Paul Azinger’s son-in-law, birdie the 18th hole to capture the club championship. DeSear had a chance to win the title that day, which would have given him victories in that event in a fourth decade.

“By watching the player, who did, and how he approached that last hole is exactly how George approached it (Thursday),” Lake said.

After the club championship, DeSear sought help on his mental approach from Lake. In one nine-hole playing lesson, DeSear simply hit the ball, not thinking about his swing or course management, and he lighted up the Bradenton Country Club track. In addition, DeSear, who plays the golf game “wolf” with his friends, was given instructions from Lake to think about the senior amateur as if he was playing the “wolf” game with his buddies.

By Thursday’s final round, DeSear got out of his own way and let his game go.

Draining putts and stiffing iron shot approaches produced the round he needed to give himself a chance at the title.

“He couldn’t think about winning the tournament, which he did not do,” Lake said.

While DeSear surged toward his first Florida State Senior Amateur title three years after suffering a heart attack, LaCrosse and Polk fell apart.

The two were tied for the lead through 11 holes.

Then Polk triple-bogeyed No. 12, bogeyed the 13th and 16th and failed to birdie either par 5 on the final nine. He needed a birdie on the 18th to get into a playoff, but his tee shot went right, as it did during most of the back nine.

LaCrosse’s struggles came with his putting; he misfired on several short putts, including a par-saving effort from a few feet away on the 18th that denied him a playoff berth.

“I didn’t have any three-putts until the back nine (Thursday), and I had four three-putts,” LaCrosse said. “So that’s not going to help you too much.”

Voisin ballooned to a 78 to finish in a tie for fifth place.

Windermere’s Bob Levy and Jacksonville’s Mike Bodney recorded aces in Thursday’s third round. Levy made his hole-in-one on the par-3 second. Bodney’s occurred on the 18th.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Bradenton’s George DeSear wins Florida State Senior Amateur title."