Ben Hogan once made the bold statement that “there was no reason a man can’t birdie all 18 holes.”
Not yet. But four men almost did that on Tuesday in the second round of the 48th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am.
Pro Dillon Board of Jacksonville, a Korn Ferry Tour member, and amateurs Joe Stepnes of Atlantic Beach, Alex Williamson of League City, Texas and Sammy Davis of Ponte Vedra Beach made 17 birdies at the Sea Island Club Plantation Course under a format of one gross ball per foursome and with an other-worldly 54, stormed from three shots back at the start of the day to win the annual holiday event for the second year in a row by four shots at 26-under-par 116.
Three teams tied for second at 22-under: University of Florida golf coach J.C. Deacon, Craig Hosie, Richard Scott and Kelvin Day (60); former PGA Tour member Rob Oppenheim, R.J. Glod, Dan Glod and Nick Diebel (59); and Jimmy Jones, Josh Seiple, Chet Ghioto and Tom Nettles (58).
Board team birdied 16 holes in succession
The team that led after the first round at the Seaside Course, PGA Tour winner Davis Thompson, RSM Classic tournament director Todd Thompson, Bobby Wyatt and Jeremy Elliott (63) tied for fifth with Blake Dyer, Devin Hernandez, Marc Dull and Spencer Baldwin.
The Board team began their round at the par-3 third hole and birdied 16 holes in a row. Their streak ended at the par-4 first when Board was the only player to hit the green, and missed a 35-foot birdie attempt.
They birdied No. 2 to finish the day.
Both of Gator Bowl Pro-Am victories for the Board team have involved day two rallies. They came from four shots behind last year and won in a playoff.
Dillon Board said it was a team effort
Board made eight birdies and Stepnes, a former University of North Florida player and club pro who is now in medical sales, Davis, a social media content creator with the PGA Tour and Williamson a title insurance officer near Houston, made six birdies each.
”We were on fire all day,” said Board, a Baldwin graduate. “We didn’t say, ‘let’s birdie every hole,’ but that’s the goal any time in this tournament.”
The group was on-target with their irons all day. Board said all but one of their birdie putts was from 10 feet or closer.
Board team revels in being part of Gator Bowl history
Board said winning the tournament a second year in a row was huge to the First Coast-centric team. The only member who doesn’t live in the area is Williamson, but he was born in Jacksonville.
”Winning is a big deal any time,” Board said. “But to win this tournament twice, with its history and all the work Mr. Tuten and Chris Tuten [Tuten’s son] have put in over the years, is a big for all of us. We don’t take it for granted.”
Board’s team is the first to win back-to-back since David Wicks, Jordan Batchelor, Devin Hopkins and Chris Henderson in 2019 and 2020. Prior to that, a team had not repeated since 1998 when Benny Alvarez, Bo Alvarez, Jon Shave and Danny Daniel’s won their second in a row.
Thompson’s group got off to a slow start with two birdies on the front nine. They birdied their last five holes but it was too late.
48th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am
At Sea Island Club Seaside Course (first round), Plantation Course (second round)
Format, One best gross ball
116 (26-under)
Dillon Board, Joe Stepnes, Alex Williamson, Sammy Davis.
120 (22-under)
J.C. Deacon, Craig Hosie, Richard Scott, Kelvin Day.
Rob Oppenheim, R.J. Glod, Dan Glod, Nick Diebel.
Jimmy Jones, Josh Seiple, Chet Ghioto, Tom Nettles.
121 (21-under)
Davis Thompson, Todd Thompson, Bobby Wyatt, Jeremy Elliott.
Blake Dyer, Devin Hernandez, Marc Dull, Spencer Baldwin.
122 (20-under)
Matt Borchert, Doug Dvorak, Christian Vozza, Eric Atsma.
Alex Goff, Justin Horn, Dhaivat Pandya, Andrew Clark.
Joseph Winslow, Andrew Morgan, John Ambrose, Korky Kemp.
123 (19-under)
Keith Mitchell, Jackson Byrd, Lee Knox, Hank Holcomb.
Cameron Smith, Brandon Arthurs, John Limanti, Jimmy Ellis.
124 (18-under)
Jared Wolfe, Lenny Schonfeld, Philip Detlefs, Luke McCann.
Michael McGowan, Chris Wilson, Glen Long, Brian Smith.
125 (17-under)
Russell Knox, Luis Rivera, Anthony Rivera, John Coultas.
Tyler Gray, Adam Moyer, Dustin Dingus, Rhett Pooley.
A.J. Crouch, Phil Oweida, John Jonas, Connor Richardson.
126 (16-under)
Michael Mattiace, Jordan Batchelor, Jeff Dennis, Jack Comstock.
127 (15-under)
Taylor Dickson, Walt Todd, Brandon Truesdale, Jordan Sease.
Cary Splane, Jamie Welu, Luke Splane, Tyler Averdick.
Ron Philo Jr., Jeffrey Doty, Cooper Diaz, Nick Feinberg.
128 (14-under)
Ben Martin, Clayton Berline, Wesley Harden, Phillip Mollica.
Josh Lee, Brett Schell, Nick Presti, Steve Carter.
129 (13-under)
Jeff Hanson, Zach Lee, Tyler Brown, Tom Krystyn.
Mark Blakefield, Tanner Berry, Connor Shea, Brad Doster.
130 (12-under)
Raul Pereda, Tyler Vanover, James Dulin, Max Bianchi.
131 (11-under)
Frank Lickliter, Jeff Golden, Adam Krestalude, Sam Ohno.
132 (10-under)
Sam Anderson, Matt Wells, Thomas Joiner, Zack Justice.
Ramon Bescansa, Michael Del Rocco, Andy Allen, Michael O’Neal.
135 (7-under)
Blanton Tessin, Marlen Vogt, Ben Hayes, Will Braude.
137 (5-under)
Michael Broderick, Matty Miller, Peter Catanzaro, Dan Huffingham.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gator Bowl Pro-Am: Dillon Board team defends title with 17-birdie barrage
