Justin Tereshko Leads 115th Trans-Miss Amateur Headed into Final Round
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Things have been going pretty well recently for Justin Tereshko. The Lexington, Ky., resident and former Guilford College men’s golf coach is 18 holes away from upping the ante on his hot streak. Through 54 holes at the 115th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship, the 28-year-old leads a talented field of mostly college standouts with a score of 13-under-par 203.
Tereshko, a 2012 Transylvania University graduate, turned in a tidy 4-under 68 in Thursday’s third round at venerable Brookside Golf & Country Club, an old school parkland course that demands accuracy from tee to green. He leads by two shots over a pair of Texans: TCU senior Hayden Springer from Trophy Club and incoming Texas freshman Coody Pierceson from Plano.
So what’s been going so well for Tereshko lately? Well, he married the love of his life less than two weeks ago on June 30. He won the North Carolina State Amateur in 2017 and the North Carolina State Open in 2015. He resigned from Guildford a week ago, but he did it for the best intentions. He wanted to move to his new bride Kelsey’s hometown in Kentucky. They’ll honeymoon in the Bahamas in a couple weeks.
“This is my first tournament as a married man,” Tereshko said on Tuesday after opening the championship with a 6-under 66. “I’m still getting used to playing with the ring on my finger. You gotta love my wife. She let me leave town and play in a golf tournament a week and a half after our wedding.”
Tereshko dropped in birdies on three of his first four holes Thursday to jump into the lead. After two bogeys on Nos. 5 and 9, he added three more birdies on the back nine.
“A couple tap-in birdies are always nice to start off your round,” he said. “I was a little sloppy on the second half of the front nine, but I hit it to about a foot on No. 10 to get me going again.”
In addition to leading the championship, Tereshko also is running away with the Low Mid-Amateur honors. He set his sights on the bigger prize from Day 1, however.
“Any tournament I play in, no matter if it’s the Trans-Miss or a local muni thing, the goal is always to hoist the trophy at the end of the week,” he said. “Obviously you’re not going to win every tournament, but I’d say winning was the goal this week, or at least putting myself in position to win.”
To accomplish his goal, he’ll have to fend off some of the better college players in the country, including the two who are just two shots back.
Springer played one of the steadiest rounds of the day. He went bogey-free for a 5-under 67 to get to 11-under overall. Birdies on Holes 3, 5, 11, 14 and 18 has him in contention.
Coody, who in June won the AJGA’s Thunderbird Invitational and Texas Legends Junior Tour’s prestigious Byron Nelson Junior Championship, came in Thursday with a 4-under 68 that included a holed-out bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 eighth hole.
“On 11, I had a 15-footer for eagle,” he said. “I didn’t quite make it, but that was an easy birdie. Tomorrow, I need to be really straight off the tee and give myself lots of birdie looks. You’re not going to make every putt, but if you consistently hit it good and give yourself enough looks, they have to go in eventually.”
Tied for fourth place at 10-under 206 are Duke senior Alex Smalley from Greensboro, N.C., and former Augusta State standout Jake Marriott from Naples, Fla. Smalley holed out for eagle on No. 17 to shoot 4-under 68 in the third round; Marriott shot 1-over 71. Five players are tied for sixth place at 9-under 207.
Tereshko and all his pursuers are hoping to join the distinguished list of past Trans-Miss Amateur Champions, such as Jack Nicklaus (1958, ’59), Ben Crenshaw (1972), Gus Moreland (1932, ’33), Charles Coe (1947, ’49, ’52, ’56), Deane Beman (1960) and Mike McCoy (2000, ‘08). In more recent years, current professional players such as Bryson Dechambeau (2013), Kelly Kraft (2011), Will Zalatoris (2013, ’16) and Cameron Champ (2017) have added their names to the Trans-Miss Amateur trophy.
The final round of the 115th Trans-Miss Amateur begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. For pairings, click here. For more information on the championship, click here.