Nic Cassidy was noticeably frustrated that Mother Nature threw him off his game in the final round of the Dogwood Invitational on Saturday at Druid Hills Golf Club.
The Georgia Bulldogs golfer entered Saturday toward the bottom of the remaining 40 amateur golfers, but managed to shoot 8 under par through 13 holes to work his way into the top five.
Then the bottom fell out and lightning forced the tournament into a delay that lasted nearly an hour and a half.
“I was in a zone that I’ve never been in before,” Cassidy said during the layover. “I hit pretty much every green and every fairway. When I had a good look, I cashed in. It’s a little disappointing to have to come off the course in the middle of that.”
When the tournament resumed, Cassidy was on hole 14. He was worried that the rhythm he spent two hours living in would vanish.
Instead, he continued to maneuver his way through the course and finish the weekend at 16 under and tied for second place. The finish was his highest in his four times playing the Dogwood. He shot a Saturday-best 10 under.
Cassidy putted well. His ball placement was magnificent. His confidence was higher than quite possibly it had been throughout his college career.
As someone who has been golfing for 16 years, Cassidy knew that Saturday was a final opportunity to leave it all on the course.
“I didn’t play very well in the first three rounds, so I just had to hit a reset and knew I had one more round with nothing to lose. I barely made the cut, so I just wanted to go out here and see what I could shoot,” Cassidy said. “This is one of my favorite tournaments. This is my fourth time playing it, so I know the course really well. It’s definitely the highlight of the month of June for me.”
Cassidy’s aggressively smart play Saturday also was the only one that provided a serious threat to eventual champion Louis Dobbelaar consistently over the 18-hole day.
Dobbelaar, an Australian who is ranked as the No. 91 amateur in the world, shot a 64 in Thursday’s second round and never looked back. He finished with an 18 under.
“It was pretty nerve-racking coming down those last few holes because I hit a few errant shots that scared me a little towards the end,” Dobbelaar said. “But luckily I had a few up my sleeve that I could play with. It was great to have the support of all the members here, and the course was in incredible shape.”
As Cassidy used the final round to climb the leaderboard, Ross Steelman slowly watched as the lead he once held slipped away, and he never regained the momentum.
Steelman, who transferred to Georgia Tech after two seasons at Missouri, shot a 62 to lead after the first day, but turned in three consecutive 70-plus rounds. On the fifth hole, it looked as if he were going to make his move. He took an unconventional route around the hill and was a putt away from taking a birdie, but had to settle for par as the ball diverted around the hole.
The misfortune continued for Steelman on the next hole as he hit a double bogey and was never able to get the confidence back that he owned in the opening round.
As other golfers and the weather tried to change Dobbelaar’s fate, none of it worked as the Australian amateur secured his second tournament victory of 2021.
“I’ve done this enough times to figure out what works,” Dobbelaar said. “I was lucky to hold it together and do the things I needed to do.
Josh Edgar, a recent Georgia State grad, scored 14 under and finished tied for eighth. Georgia’s Connor Creasy shot 12 under for the weekend, good for a tie for 13th.
Georgia Tech’s Will Dickson (-1), Bartley Forrester (-8), Connor Howe (-13), Luka Karaulic (-4) and Christo Lamprecht (-11) finished tied for 38th, tied for 23rd, tied for 11th, tied for 33rd and 17th place, respectively.
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