Defending champion, Rob Simmons wins the Beaufort City Amateur amid intermittent rain showers at Cat Island today with a final round even par. He defeated Josh Fickes, currently on the Clemson University golf team. Simmons led after the first round but trailed by one shot to Fickes going into the short par 4 number 11 where Fickes’ chip came up short leading to a bogey while Simmons one putted for the birdie. The 15th hole, a par 5, proved to be the key. Simmons laid up short after 2 shots. Fickes, instead, went for the green in 2 and appeared to clear the hazard but could not find his ball and had to drop for the penalty giving Simmons a 3 shot lead with 3 to play. Fickes birdied the 18th but it wasn’t enough, giving Simmons the win by 2. “I would go for it again,” commented Fickes about the approach on the 15th. Simmons, a former University of North Carolina collegiate player, admitted that he didn’t hit the ball as well as he would of liked today but felt that he played a very smart game to take home the win in what was essentially a match play situation.
