A team including two past USGA national champions won the 49th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am on Dec. 16 at the Sea Island Resort.
A team captained by 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci cruised to an 11-under 61 under a gross best ball format at the Sea Island Resort Plantation Course on Dec. 16 to win the 49th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am by four shots at 21-under-par 121.
Strafaci, a past Korn Ferry Tour member who played college golf at Georgia Tech, combined with 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matt Parziale, 2024 Florida State Golf Association Amateur of the Year Will Davenport and Anthony Brodeur, a former member of PGA Tour Canada.
They began the day with a three-shot lead after posting a 60 on Dec. 15 at the Sea Island Seaside Course and pulled away on the back nine at the Plantation to win by four shots over a team composed of University of North Florida assistant golf coach Michael Mattiace, current UNF player Danny Erickson, past player Cody Carroll and Andrew Morris of St. Augustine.
Two teams tied for third at 16-under: LIV golf member Harold Varner III, Kyle Davis, Cody Sundberg and Keith Early (61 in the second round); and former PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Americas player Jimmy Jones, Tom Nettles, Josh Seiple and Chet Ghioto (60, the day's low round).
The Strafaci team came together because Davenport, Brodeur, and Strafaci knew each other as members of the Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach. Davenport played in the Gator Bowl Pro-Am two years ago with Korn Ferry Tour member Sam Anderson and said he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to put a team together.
Davenport and Brodeur won the FSGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South championship in 2024, got Strafaci to be their pro, and reached out to Parziale, who achieved notoriety for his Mid-Amateur title, which got him a spot in the 2018 Masters. Parziale, a former Brockton, Mass., firefighter, was the low amateur later that summer in the U.S. Open, tying for 48th.
"We had so much fun that year and I wasn't sure what the teams were going to be," said Davenport. "Ty, Anthony and I all play out of Pine Tree and we're trying to get Parz to play at Pine Tree. We'd have a good team and we'd have a lot of fun, and let's maybe reach out [to Parziale]. Ty and I already had a relationship with Parz, and we said, 'hey, we'd have a good foursome and it came together fast."
The team's first-round 10-under score was even more impressive considering the wind and 40-degree temperatures at Sea Island.
"It was a pretty tough day but the boys really picked it up," Stafaci said. "We all made some putts, we chipped in four times on the back ... we all did pretty good."
49th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am
Sea Island Resort Seaside, Plantation Courses, St. Simons Island, Ga.
(Format: one best gross ball per foursome; pro listed first).
1. Tyler Strafaci, Anthony Brodeur, Will Davenport, Matt Parziale 60-61—121
2. Michael Mattiace, Danny Erickson, Cody Carroll, Andrew Morris 63-62—125
T3. Harold Varner III, Kyle Davis, Cody Sundberg, Keith Early 65-61—126
T3. Jimmy Jones, Tom Nettles, Josh Seiple, Chet Ghioto 66-60—126
5. A.J. Crouch, John Jonas, Phil Oweida, Ryan Orr 65-62—127
6. Muzzy Donahue, Lance Hellring, Jesse Hellring, Charles Castellano 65-63—128
T7. Matt Bochert, Christian Voaa, Eric Atsma, Charlie Bull 65-64—129
T7. Raul Pereda, Max Bianchi, James Dulin, Tyler Vanover 68-61—129
T7. Philip Knowles, Jeff Dennis, Jordan Batchelor, Jack Comstock 68-61—129
T10. Will Rehberg, Steve Carter, Peter Cantanzaro, Matty Miller 66-64—130
T10. Dillon Board, Alex Williamson, Joe Stepnes, Sam Davis 67-63—130
T10. Mike Giammaresi, Andy Allen, Michael O'Neal, Chase Baldwin 68-62—130
T13. Ramon Bescansa, Michael Del Rocco, Matt Saxton, Sean McGill 68-63—131
T13. Jeff Hanson, Tyler Brown, Zach Lee, Preston Brown 65-66—131
T13. Blanton Tessin, Ben Hayes, Marlen Vogt, Will Braude 67-64—131
T13. Taylor Dickson, Brandon Truesdale, Walt Todd, Jordan Sease 68-63—131
T17. Travis Trace, Tyler Goff, Camilo Ramirez, Scott Riley 64-68—132
T17. Frank Lickliter II, Adam Krestalude, Zach Brown, Brian Friedrichs 66-66—132
T17. Ron Philo Jr., Jeff Doty, Nick Feinberg, Kevin Harris 68-64—132
T17. Michael McGowan, Glen Long, Chris Wilson, Brian Smith 68-64—132
T17. Quade Cummins, Butler Melnyk, Cohen Trilio, Collins Trilio 69-63—132
T17. Drew Doyle, Marc Dull, Brendan Rager, Chip Brooke 71-61—132
T23. Davis Thompson, John Hillard Cantanzaro, Bo Sikes, Jack Larkin 69-64—133
T23. Tyler Wilkes, Manuel Girona, Joseph Trim, Chris Arp 69-64—133
T25. Jared Wolfe, Luke McCann, Phillip Detlefs, Jacob Shamblin 67-67—134
T25. Connor Belcastro, Chris Solomon, Todd Schuster, Nick Maccario 69-65—134
27. J.C. Deacon, Christian Sease, Craig Hosie, Kelvin Day 70-65—135
28. Sam Anderson, Brandon Arthurs, John Limanti, Tim Lamping 68-68—136
29. Cary Splane, Luke Splane, Jamie Welu, Lee Mesler 69-69—138
30. Colin Monagle, Adam Moyer, Zach Rogers, Garrett Jones 73-66—139
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Team led by 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci wins Gator Bowl Pro-Am
Category: General Sports
