News >> Bertoni Breaks Through For First Win
Gainesville, GA (April 4, 2010)… Former Cal Poly golfer Travis Bertoni of Paso Robles, California carded a final round seven-under par 64 in the Georgia Sports Orthopedic Specialists Classic at Chattahoochee Golf Club to capture his first career NGA Hooters Tour title.“It feels good to get my first Hooters win, it’s been a long time coming,” said the twenty-five year old Bertoni. “I didn’t feel like was trying to get a monkey off my back or anything but I am glad to finally have this first one out of the way.”
Bertoni started the final round trailing Brian Lamberti (Westchester, NY) and Garrett Jones (Madison, WI) by one stroke but quickly went to work on 6,973 yard Chattahoochee golf club. The former Mustang raced out with two pars over his first two holes before making a birdie at par 3 third hole. A routine par at the 4th hole followed by three straight birdies on holes 5-7 and another birdie on the 9th hole had the four year pro poised to win his first event.
“Coming into today’s round I didn’t have a number in my head of what I needed to shoot to get the win but I figured a four or five under day would be good enough to get me close,” said Bertoni. “I didn’t want to put pressure on myself by guessing a specific number coming into the round.”
While his playing partners were struggling to keep pace, Bertoni kept the gas pedal down with two more birdies over his final nine holes to finish at nineteen-under par 265. For the week, Bertoni fired all four rounds in the 60’s (68, 66, 67 and 64) to collect a first place check of $30,000.
“I had been hitting the ball great all week but some putts weren’t dropping for me,” said the twenty-five year old. “Today it was just a matter of making a few more putts and zero mistakes.
Former Georgia Tech golfer Roberto Castro of Alpharetta, Georgia closed with a tournament low round of eight-under par 63 to move from a tie for 10th to start the day to all alone in second place, five strokes behind Bertoni. Castro’s bogey free round included four birdies on his front nine and four birdies on back nine. Castro’s second place finish is his best finish on the NGA Hooters Tour and earned him $15,967 for the week.
Three golfers, Senatobia, Mississippi’s Kyle Ellis (67), Edina, Minnesota’s Matt Anderson (68) and Brian Lamberti (71) all finished six strokes behind Bertoni at thirteen-under par 271 and will share third place honors. The trio takes home $9,167.
Murrayville’s Josh Bunch carded a three-under par 68 in Sunday’s final round and moved twenty spots up the leader board for a T-27 finish earning the local golfer $1,734 for his efforts.
The NGA Hooters Tour will take two weeks off from competition before swinging back into action April 19-25, 2010 in Hampton, Georgia at Crystal Lake Golf & Country Club for the 2010 Crystal Lake Classic.
HOOTS: The NGA Hooters Tour would like to thank Director of Golf Rodger Hogan, Superintendant Sheldon Foote and all their staffs for a great week of weather, golf and southern hospitality. The Tour would like to thank all the volunteers for their tireless efforts to make the Georgia Sports Orthopedic Specialists Classic a first class event.
