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It may sound boring to some. But Charles Frost couldn't have asked for anything better for the final round of the Carolinas PGA South Carolina Open.
Frost made his two-day lead hold up with a bogey-free 69 on Wednesday to move to 11-under par for the three-day tournament, earning himself a five-stroke victory at May River Golf Club in the third leg of the PGA Carolinas Section major tournament events.
Even better, perhaps, he finally earned an excuse to tell his soon-to-be wife why he keeps spending his off days at the golf course.
"Hey, all the hours I've put into working on my game and upsetting my fiancé by going to the golf course -- it's paying off I guess," Frost said. "Can't wait to tell her."
She will likely be more excited about Frost's first-place check -- a $4,000 payout for winning his first career major tournament in the PGA Carolinas Section.
Frost didn't deliver the most exciting performance of the tournament Thursday -- he parred 14 of the first 15 holes-- but he didn't need to. He used his two-shot lead over Ivan Schronce entering the day to his advantage and played the Jack Nicklaus design conservatively at every opportunity.
Still, Frost added to his cushion throughout the round, eventually winning by five strokes over Jeff Avant, Cory Schneider, Paul Dickens andSchronce, who finished in a four-way tie for second place at 6 under.
"That's kind of always my strategy, especially on a course this hard," said Frost, who recorded birdies on Nos. 8, 16 and 18. "There were some difficult flags today, so it didn't really pay to go at them. That played into my hands, because I wasn't looking to take risks anyway."
His mistake-free day forced Schronce and his fellow chasers to take those chances as they tried to put pressure on the 34-year-old golfer from Charlotte. And few paid off on yet another hot afternoon in Palmetto Bluff.
No one cut the gap slimmer than two strokes. Schneider pulled within two with a birdie on No. 17, but he immediately gave the stroke back with a three-putt bogey on No. 18, which he chalked up to aggressive play.
"If you go out there thinking you have to shoot really low, it's tough to play that way," said Schneider, who shot a 4-under 68 in Thursday's final round. "It changes your strategy, which you saw when I ran at the hole a little too hard on 18. I was trying to get within one stroke and wound up losing one."
Schronce, who leads the Section's Player of the Year standings, wasn't able to find his momentum at any point during a frustrating third round. He birdied six holes Thursday, but he followed four of those with a bogey or worse and settled for an even-par 72.
"I needed a victory. I was absolutely going for every shot," Schronce said. "I probably could've just shot 2 or 3 under today not going for it, but I went for it. That's my personality -- I'm not going to back down."
59TH SOUTH CAROLINA OPEN
May River Golf Club at Palmetto Bluff, par 72
Final round
Charles Frost
70-66-69--205
Jeff Avant
72-70-68--210
Cory Schneider
73-69-68--210
Paul Dickens
68-73-69--210
Ivan Schronce
69-69-72--210
Colby Wilson
67-74-70--211
Curt Sanders
69-75-69--213
Matt Vick
74-69-70--213
David Rogers
74-71-69--214
Jacobo Pastor (a)
72-70-72--214
Burke Cromer
73-69-73--215
Nick Jacobi
67-74-74--215
Steve Isley
71-70-74--215
Nate Olivo
72-68-75--215
Payne McLeod (a)
71-70-75--216
Mike Townsend
74-75-69--218
Robert Linville
74-71-74--219
Bryan Sullivan
72-72-75--219
Ian Milne
72-72-75--219
Mike Byce
71-76-73--220
Larry George
76-72-72--220
Patrick Barrett (a)
73-73-74--220
Matt Bova
70-74-76--220
Jonathan Rustin (a)
77-71-73--221
Blair Smith
75-75-71--221
John Carney
74-73-74--221
Brad Caldwell (a)
76-68-77--221
Matthew Veltman
70-72-79--221
Billy Anderson
76-73-73--222
Michael Smith
73-74-75--222
Luke Lovell
75-72-75--222
Todd Smith
74-72-76--222
John Faidley
75-74-74--223
Rivers Johnson
75-76-72--223
Tim Straub
77-75-72--224
Nelson Dickson (a)
76-76-72--224
Rob Anderson
72-81-71--224
David Gies II (a)
76-75-74--225
Ryan Williams
68-77-80--225
Jason Hildreth
76-77-72--225
Mike Cato
73-75-78--226
Chris Tucker
79-73-74--226
Russell Burke (a)
74-78-74--226
Simon McGreal
76-73-78--227
Sean Hassell (a)
71-79-77--227
Vaita Guillaume (a)
73-75-79--227
Donald Taylor
75-77-75--227
Mike Buccerone
80-73-74--227
Matthew Presnell
76-72-80--228
Justin Olds (a)
76-76-76--228
Mitch Gray (a)
75-75-79--229
Evan Belcher
77-74-78--229
Darrell Ketola (a)
78-74-77--229
Ron Hall
78-74-77--229
Edward Sires
73-79-77--229
Jay Hill
77-76-76--229
Josh Nichols
78-75-76--229
Matt Stewart
76-77-76--229
Jeff Wong (a)
77-72-83--232
Christopher Hodge
75-77-80--232
Justin Weant (a)
74-78-80--232
Taylor Zimmerman (a)
76-77-87--240
