WEST POINT — Need to know where Ohio State golfer Maxwell Moldovan is and how he’s doing on the course?
Just hop on Twitter and seek out the Maxwell Moldovan Tracker (@MaxwellTracker), which promises live updates for each round the Buckeyes rising sophomore plays.
An old teammate of Moldovan’s at Green High School in Uniontown, Ohio, runs the account, but with Moldovan playing this weekend at the 115th Southern Amateur Championship at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Moldovan’s girlfriend Emily Andrego kept the golfer’s unofficial social media manager up to date.
And together, they tracked Moldovan all the way to history.
Moldovan put together four excellent rounds of golf, shooting 20-under par from Wednesday to Saturday to claim the Southern Amateur title and shatter a scoring record for the event in the process.
“To have a goal like that accomplished and put my name up there, it’s really good, and God is great,” Moldovan said.
He beat Justin Leonard’s four-day total of 270 strokes, set in 1993, with a combined 264: a 64, a 68, a 65 and a closing-round 67 on the par-71 course. Bryce Lewis of the University of Tennessee finished a relatively distant second at 15-under, five strokes behind the 2019 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
“This place is awesome,” Moldovan said of the course at Old Waverly. “I’ve had a lot of fun here, and it’s been a great challenge and a good test of golf and rewarding if you keep your ball in play.”
Connor McKinney of Australia and LSU golfer Garrett Barber tied for third place at 14-under, while four more golfers reached 13-under.
But Moldovan, who entered the day in the lead after a strong third round got him to 16-under, held steady to claim the first-place trophy.
“Once I played well yesterday, I just knew today if I came out and did what I’d been doing and continued to keep it in play and hit as many greens as I can, the birdies were going to come — and thankfully, they did,” he said.
Moldovan birdied the third hole and the fourth hole on a pair of 15-foot putts, and another birdie on the sixth hole pushed his lead to four strokes. For the second straight day, he made par on No. 7, a par-3 hole he bogeyed Wednesday and Thursday after failing to get on the green both times. On Saturday, he missed his tee shot to the left but managed to sink his par putt from eight feet out.
There, he began a string of eight consecutive pars, holding onto a three-shot lead through 14 holes. But Moldovan birdied the par-5 15th hole, and his closest competitor, Barber, made a double bogey on No. 16. Moldovan was in full control.
“When I made that putt on 15, it felt pretty good,” he said.
He tapped in for par on the 18th hole, waiting for groupmates Brayden Garrison and Connor Howe to finish up. There was little celebration save polite applause as Moldovan headed back to the clubhouse, his victory secured.
It was fitting for Moldovan, who will hardly have time to enjoy lifting the trophy before a new event begins. He’ll return to Ohio on Sunday afternoon and begin playing in a U.S. Amateur qualifier the next day, giving himself just over 24 hours of “kinda-rest” before the grind continues.
And when he tees off Monday, he’ll have Andrego, his family and his tracker behind him — even if not literally.
“I have the best team around me I could ever ask for,” Moldovan said. “Friends, family have been texting me all week and reaching out. To have (Andrego) with me, it’s just an awesome, awesome atmosphere.”
Clegg leads MSU contingent
Mississippi State golfer Ford Clegg shot 11-under to tie for 16th place at the Southern Amateur, closing things Saturday with a second straight 3-under 68. Clegg was under par in all four rounds, posting a 70 on Wednesday and a 67 on Thursday.
“I think I played solid, did a lot of things well,” Clegg said. “I wish I could have made a few more putts, but I shot 11-under for the week, so I can’t really complain for four rounds under par.”
Clegg was joined by five Bulldogs teammates competing at their home course. William Wann (4-under) tied for 41st place, while Austin Fulton (3-under) tied for 48th. Hunter Logan (3-over) and Garrett Johnson and Austin Vukovits (4-over) all missed the cut after two rounds.
Clegg will compete in the Western Amateur in Chicago before coming back to begin fall practice. He said the competition at Old Waverly made for “definitely one of the strongest fields we play in all summer.”
“It’s fun to get to test your game at your home course against everyone,” he said. “It’s a good chance for you to see where you stack up.”
Trolio brothers compete
Oak Hill Academy 2021 graduate Cohen Trolio finished at 9-under in a tie for 22nd place, shooting 2-under 69 to wrap up his weekend. Trolio was under par all four days, shooting 69-70-67-69. He will play at LSU beginning this fall.
His younger brother Collins Trolio, a rising senior at Oak Hill, missed the cut with rounds of 77 and 80.
Hunter Atkins of West Point, currently competing for Southern Miss, shot 78 and 79 and also missed the cut.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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