[SEPT 19-20 | BURLESON, TX] For Dallas Jesuit sophomore Matthew Foster, his path to victory coming down the stretch at the LoneStar Boys Invitational was summed up in one phrase – “hold on.” Standing on the 16th tee during the final round, Foster faced the most treacherous 3 holes on the golf course – including the 240-yard par-3 17th – all of which played directly into a still breeze.
The final 3 holes at Southern Oaks Golf Club defined the tournament. Playing at almost 2.5 total strokes over par each day, holes 16-18 yielded only 16 total birdies for the tournament while collecting 60 scores of double-bogey or worse. Watching the leaderboard each day, low round after low round fell victim to the difficult final 3 holes.
Playing in the third-to-last group, Foster jumped out of the gate quickly, shooting a 2-under 34 on his front nine and making three more birdies on the back to get to 5-under for the tournament and a two-shot lead stepping onto the 16th tee. Despite a bogey on 16, his lead was still 2 shots when he approached the 18th tee, and all he needed was a bogey to secure his victory. When the bogey putt fell, Foster posted a score of 3-under for the tournament, forcing the groups behind him to make a least 1 (if not 2) birdies on the last few holes to catch him.
The task proved too difficult, and Foster’s final round 69 proved enough to vault him up the leaderboard and into the title spot, securing his first major victory on the TJGT.
Finishing 1 shot back of Foster at 2-under for the tournament were four players – FM Marcus junior Trevor Algya, Canton senior (and Sam Houston commit) Josh German, Willis’ Jack Wiebe and Lafayette’s Kale Fontenot.