Yun wins Dogwood Invitational

By Stan Awtrey

For the AJC

The approach shot to the 18th green looked very familiar to Andrew Yun on Saturday. He was 82 yards from the pin, approximately the same distance he had been in the three previous rounds at the Dogwood Invitational. Only this time Yun altered his strategy.

“I had that yardage three times, and all of them went long,” said Yun, a sophomore at Stanford. “So I tried to play it about five yards shorter.”

Yun’s lob wedge was perfect and finished about three feet from the hole. Five minutes later he rolled in the birdie putt and celebrated his most important amateur victory. Yun, who began the final round of the Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club with a one-shot lead, held off 18-year-old challenger Anders Albertson of Woodstock for the win. Both shot 69s on Saturday; Yun finished at 20-under 268, Albertson at 19-under 269.

Albertson had a two-shot lead when he walked off the 12th green, then gave a shot back with bogey at 13. The two were tied after 14, when Yun chipped in from the front of the green for an eagle and Albertson two-putted for birdie, leaving both at 19 under.

Albertson answered at the 15th when he nearly holed his approach shot and tapped in a one-footer for birdie. After both players parred the 16th, the match was tied a hole later after Albertson hit a poor flop shot that led to a bogey and sent the twosome to the difficult par-5 finishing hole all square at 19 under.

Both players were in good position for their third shot to the green. Yun played first and knocked it stiff. Albertson’s approach was long, leaving him a difficult 25-foot putt, which came within six inches of falling in. Yun calmly rolled in his putt to win the tournament.

It turned out to be a two-man race, as no one else made a move. Bryden Macpherson, a sophomore at Georgia, and Connor Arendell, a junior at Central Florida, shot 68s and tied for third at 15 under. Tied for fifth at 14 under were John-Tyler Griffin of Georgia Tech, Si Hwan Kim of Stanford, and Chan Kim of Arizona State. Griffin closed with a 64, the lowest score for the final round.

Much of the talk afterward was about the fortitude shown by Albertson, who turned 18 last month and was bidding to become one of the event’s youngest winners. Albertson, who will be a senior at Etowah High School, has risen through the ranks of the Atlanta Junior Golf Association, ironically the beneficiary of the funds raised by the tournament.

“I was disappointed I didn’t win,” Albertson said. “I played well, but Andrew earned it. I did better than I could have dreamed of.”

Yun was making his first appearance in the Dogwood. He was in the field a year ago, but had to withdraw at the last minute when he pulled a muscle in his lower back. Yun, a four-time American Junior Golf Association All-American, shot rounds of 66-62-71-69.

“I know this is a big tournament; it will do a lot for my confidence,” Yun said. “Now I want to keep it going to play good the rest of the summer.”