August 13, 2008
Cashiers (NC)


After winning the Florida State Amateur, the Eastern Amateur, and losing in a playoff at the Southern Amateur, Jude Eustaquio has added the Mountaintop/Gateway Collegiate Players Invitational title to his impressive list of accomplishments this summer.

The sophomore-to-be at Florida Southern University posted rounds of 74/72/73-219 (9-over par), to take a 2-stroke victory over fellow Moccasin teammate, Danny Evelyn (73/75/73-221), whose home-club knowledge of the Tom Fazio designed, Mountaintop, led to a great final nine duel between the two players.

“We were definitely going back and forth all day,” said Eustaquio, of the tight finish with Evelyn. “(Evelyn) played really well on the front to turn at one-under (par), so once I made the turn (at even-par), I figured I had to focus on continuing to make pars all the way in, but as it was, I didn’t really do a great job at that and was lucky to come out on top.”

Eustaquio started the day with a slim one-shot cushion over Western Carolina University player, Dustin Furnari (77/70/77-224, 3rd), but after Furnari posted a 7-over par, 42 on the front nine - with no one else in the field making a final round run beside Evelyn, it was as two-player race to the end with Evelyn chasing Eustaquio by one stroke with 9 holes to play. As Eustaquio reflected upon, both players had negotiated the front nine in impressive fashion, but the difficulty of the golf course and final round hole locations set in on each on the back nine, seeing Eustaquio & Evelyn shoot 3 & 4-over par, respectively, to allow for Eustaquio’s two-stroke win.

The Mountaintop/Gateway Collegiate Players champ was still pleased to have won tournament, nevertheless, and commented on the great week he had in the mountains of North Carolina.

“Coming into this week, I knew (Evelyn) was the guy to beat because he’s a great player and with his family being members here, he definitely knows how to play the golf course,” said Eustaquio. “It wasn’t quite the finish I was looking for, but I’m very happy to have won this week. This is my third win of the summer, so I’ve obviously been very comfortable with my game and hopefully I can keep it up and this can get me going on the right foot going into the season…I’ll say though, winning here is one thing, but just being able to play this unbelievable golf course all week was enough for me. I really can’t say enough about everything I experienced this week, and I guess all I could say is that I really look forward to hopefully coming back next year.”

The par 7100 yard +, par 70 Mountaintop layout perhaps earned the honors as true tournament champ this week with the field averaging 78.55 – more than 8.5 strokes over par, for the tournament. The difficulty, albeit a fair test for the players, however, was more than okay with The Gateway Tour’s Executive Director, Charley Yandell – a Mountaintop member, because he wanted the players to understand how the challenging course set-ups on The Gateway Tour help aspiring players reach the next level of competitive golf.

“There’s no doubt it was tough out here for these guys this week,” said Yandell. “But our mission with The Gateway Tour is to assist our players to move on to the highest levels of competitive golf, and now as we’ve come into the collegiate arena, we hope to treat our collegiate guys the same as we do with our professionals, and in that sense, they will be best served by playing difficult golf courses set-up to PGA Tour standards….I’m confident every participant this week will come away from the experience as a better player – and that’s about all we can ask for.”

Yandell also expressed his thoughts and gratitude about The Gateway Tour experiencing the special week at his home golf club.

“I’d like to extend my appreciation to Rob Duckett (General Manager), Scott Schroeder (Head Golf Professional), Eric Shoemaker & Brent Thompson (Head & Assistant Greens Superintendents), and all of the staff at Mountaintop for just an amazing week that by far exceeded my expectations,” said Yandell. “(Mountaintop Golf Club) is an amazing facility with the staff here unparalled, and I’m just very pleased we were able to extend a such wonderful experience to these young players. I’m confident each one of these young men is going to walk away from this week with an experience and feeling of unmatched hospitality they’ll remember for a long time.”

With those regards, congratulations to champ, Jude Eustaquio, of Florida Southern University, and to each of the Mountaintop/Gateway Collegiate Players invitational participants for a great week.

The Gateway Collegiate Series will resume with two holiday tournaments – one in Arizona and one in Florida, this holiday season, so stay tuned as full details are announced soon and The Gateway Collegiate Series returns for more great competition…


Click here for full field results from Mountaintop Golf & Lake Club…