Christmas 8—Ford Goldasich was steaming Saturday afternoon.
Back-to-back bogeys undid two early birdies, and he was fuming as he got ready to tee off on the eighth hole.
Then the horn blew, leaving him to think about those two mistakes for a little while longer. Lightning in the area delayed play for about an hour, and once Goldasich resumed playing he looked very much like the same player who started the day with a share of the lead at the 48th Palmetto Amateur on the Hollow Creek course at The Reserve Club at Woodside .
He eagled the par-5 ninth for the second time this week, then made three consecutive birdies on the back nine in a round of 5-under 66 to reach 13 under for the tournament, one stroke clear of Sihan Sandhu and two ahead of JonErik Alford heading into the final round.
“So I was getting on 8 tee, felt really, really mad, I just three-putted from a foot off the green,” said Goldasich, who recently finished his senior season at Lipscomb. “Get up there, teeing up my ball and the horn blows, so we had to go to the safe house for about an hour. Get back up there on 8, hit a good drive and just made a par. … Got those two (shots) right back pretty easily, and then just had three good holes on the back. The rest was solid.”
Goldasich began the day tied for the lead with Alford (68) and Reece Coleman (70), and thanks to five birdies and an eagle he’s alone at the top heading into Sunday.
He’s had his way with the 511-yard, par-5 ninth this week, and Saturday he hit an 8-iron into a helping breeze from 195 yards to 4 feet for an easy eagle. Through three rounds, he played the hole in 5 under.
“I have taken advantage of that one pretty nicely,” he said with a laugh. “Just get it in play. Yesterday, I didn’t have a good birdie there. I drained like a 50-footer for birdie. But, yeah, I don’t know what it is. Hopefully I can do the same thing tomorrow. “
Sandhu (65), a future North Carolina Tar Heel, made six birdies and no bogeys to get within a shot of the lead. He finished with a birdie on the difficult par-4 18th, as did recent Ohio State graduate Alford, who chipped in from long of the green to make his 3.
Georgia Southern’s Coleman is alone in fourth at 9 under, and UNC Greensboro’s Randall Hudson (67) and Aiken’s Brian Quackenbush (69) are tied for fifth at 7 under.
Twenty-seven players are under par for the tournament heading into the final round, and 42 players advanced to Sunday following the 54-hole cut.
The leaderboard being closely-bunched at the top could produce some fireworks over Hollow Creek’s demanding final three holes. Goldasich has made nine pars in that stretch, and he feels like he’s got the holes figured out to where he can make a birdie if he finds himself chasing the lead.
“Hopefully it doesn’t come down to that,” he said with a smile. “If need be, get a birdie.”
The round of the day belonged to Stetson’s Bradley Goldstein, who posted a bogey-free 63 to get into a tie for seventh at 6 under. It equaled the best round of the week, also shot in Thursday’s opening round by Carson Brewer (70), who is tied for 10th at 4 under.
Goldasich’s play hasn’t taken a hit even though he’s been practically running on fumes all week. He said he missed breakfast and lunch Saturday, only eating two bites of a granola bar during his round. That’s been the case throughout the tournament, but he had plans to make up for that after leaving the golf course.
“It’s been three days, I haven’t really eaten much,” he said. “But after, you best believe I’m about to go to Chick-fil-A and order a lot.”