Harrison wears second straight Amateur crown

After back-to-back double-bogeys on the back nine, Joseph Harrison began to worry about repeating as champion of the Southern Nevada Amateur.

But there were still six holes to play Sunday at chilly, windswept Legacy Golf Club, and Harrison had time to regroup. The 21-year-old settled down, made birdie on the par-5 17th and pulled away to win the Scratch Division by four shots.

Harrison finished the two-day event at 4-over-par 148, followed by Brady Exber at 152 and J.T. Mohlman at 154.

Burke Cahill won the Net Division with 144, four shots ahead of Gary Hanson.

"It was tough out there," said Harrison, a Green Valley High School product who lives in Boulder City and will be a junior at the University of San Diego. "You couldn't gauge how the ball was going to play. There was a lot of guesswork out there."

Harrison said the less he gambled Sunday, the better.

"I tend to be conservative anyway," he said. "You really couldn't shoot at pins with the wind blowing and it being so cold. I just tried to concentrate on keeping it in the fairway and hitting the middle of the green."

Harrison knew it would be tougher to win the Southern Nevada Golf Association's first "major" of 2010 the second time around. He couldn't sneak up on competitors the way he did last year.

"I think I was more excited coming back trying to defend," he said. "It feels really good even though I was freezing out there."

How tough did Legacy play? Nobody in the Scratch Division broke par either day and of the 39 who teed it up Sunday, only 11 broke 80. Sunday's best round was Yong Soo Shin's 2-over 74, helping him tie for fourth with Michael Gehrke.

Harrison's round was marred by his double-bogeys on the par-4, 444-yard No. 11 and the par-4, 381-yard 12th.

"I made double at 12 on (Saturday) too -- I guess that was my nemesis," Harrison said. "But I had a good front nine and I knew if I could just settle down and put the bad holes behind me, I still had time to put it away."

In the Senior Amateur, Steven Fink won the Scratch Division at 1-under 143, four shots ahead of Frank Acker and Tom Hyland. The Senior Net Division winner was Scott Godino at 4-under 140, a stroke ahead of George Yocum.

Joe Mierau won the Super Senior Scratch Division by six shots with 147 and Severine Leoffler won the Net by three strokes with a 143.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.