TULSA, OK: Parker Sands, a University of Florida golfer from Edmond, OK, managed to deal with leading the 122nd Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship from start to finish. After his opening round of 64, Sands followed with rounds of 70 and 68, Sands started the final round with a nice cushion, but Southern Hills Country Club can be relentless, and the slightest error becomes a big number in a hurry. While Sands did post two double bogeys in round 4, he managed four birdies and a final-round 72 to cap the win at 10 under for the tournament. Hugo Thyr fired a three-under 68 to move into a tie for second with Ryder Cowan. Cowan, a longtime neighbor of Sands, may have finally run out of gas after his world wind tour from the U.S. Open in New York to the Palmer Cup in Ireland and a red-eye flight back to Tulsa.
The final-round players found the conditions slightly tougher, and the use of the 2022 PGA Championship final-round hole locations gave them a taste of major championship golf. The Trans-Mississippi Amateur is the fourth leg in the Elite Amateur Golf Series, and with his win, Parker also received an exemption into the U.S. Amateur later this summer at Merion Golf Club.
Connor Doyal made his second Trans-Mississippi Amateur cut in a row and claimed the low Mid-Amateur honors and an exemption into the Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur & Mid-Master Championship in September at Lakewood Country Club in Colorado.
During this year’s championship, the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association celebrated the Association’s 125th Anniversary. Mark Brooks, the 1979 Trans-Mississippi Amateur Champion and runner-up at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club, was the featured guest and was on-site for several days during the competition, watching play and several of his students who made the cut.
Southern Hills Country Club was a fantastic host for this year’s championship and a true test of golf for the competitors.
Media Contact
Trans-Mississippi Golf Association
Rob Addington