Opelika’s Glidewell wins Southeastern Junior Golf Match Play Championship

Staff report
Published: July 18, 2008

The Southeastern Junior Golf Tour’s Match Play Championship started with 69 of the region’s top golfers, ages 14-19, vying for the crown.

It ended with Opelika’s Daniel Glidewell standing alone.

Glidewell defeated McLain Leberte of Huntsville, 2 and 1, in Friday’s finals to win the 2008 SJGT Match Play Championship at the Lake Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Grand National in Opelika.

The tournament featured played two days of stroke play, with the 32 lowest scorers advancing to the single-elimination match play portion of the event.

Friday’s championship match teed off at 7:30 a.m. Glidewell’s march to the title also started early, when he won the third hole to claim the lead. He never relinquished it.

Glidewell extended his lead to two on No. 5, overcoming an errant tee shot to save par and win the hole.

Leberte birdied No. 6 to pull within one, but Glidewell answered with a birdie on the ninth hole to regain a two-hole lead at the turn.

Despite an excellent performance by Glidewell on the back nine, Leberte stayed within striking distance. Glidewell won the 10th, 13th and 15th holes, but each time, Leberte answered on the next hole to pull the lead back to two.

Glidewell finished things on the par-3 17th. After Leberte pushed his tee shot left of the green, Glidewell’s tee shot landed eight feet from the hole. Glidewell made par to close the match and win, 2 and 1.