TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Topeka Golf Association held its annual Match Play tournament out at Cypress Ridge Golf Course this year.
After multiple days of competition, one-seed Phil Frost, former Washburn golfer and head coach, faced off against 10-seed Patrick Golden, a Washburn Rural alum, in Sunday’s final. The Topeka natives qualified for the tournament on June 14th, along with 24 others.
“Patrick’s hitting the ball really solid, he’s got a nice long draw, and it’s been fun to watch him play,” Frost said.
Both golfers started today’s match with a clean slate, making it a winner-take-all scenario. Frost led two through 12 holes, though Golden was still within striking distance with six holes remaining.
The former Ichabod parred on the next hole, extending his lead by one. Golden kept things close on the 14th hole, but Frost knocked in a birdie to put him up four strokes with four holes to play.
Both parred on hole 15, leaving Frost to clinch the tournament 4&3.
Frost was happy with his performance and ability to manage his nerves after only recently golfing competitively again.
“I haven’t played much competitive golf in the last 20-some years, I just started getting back into it the last three years, and it’s just fun to get out and feel the juices flowing again,” Frost said. “I was trying to lag it up there and I left it a little shorter than I wanted to so that was a little nerve-racking having that three-footer to win.”
The Topeka Golf Association’s next event will be City Stroke Play, which runs July 12-14.