Who is Connor Doyal? Well, for one thing he is the 2023 Charleston City Amateur champion.
Unknown to a lot of folks following the tournament, Doyal made his presence known with a course-record 64 during Friday’s opening round of the tournament, then backed it up with rounds of 71 and 70 for an 11-under-par total of 205 and a two-shot victory Sunday over 2019 City Amateur champion Christopher Asbell.
He won the tournament by shaking off a costly double bogey-7 on the par-5 15th hole Sunday that allowed Asbell to move ahead. Doyal birdied the next two holes to regain the lead and finished off his round at 2-under for the day. Doyal’s final-round scorecard included eight birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys.
“You just have to shift (your focus) to what’s done is done and focus on the next shot,” Doyal explained his thoughts after the double bogey. He birdied the 16 and 17 and missed a 6-foot birdie try on the final hole and Asbell, trying to make up lost ground, bogeyed 18.
“It was a good battle for us, but four shots (Asbell’s deficit going into the final round) is a lot to overcome. Connor is a solid player and a nice guy. I told him after 18 this will not be his last one,” Asbell said.
A native of Alabama, Doyal, who just turned 24, moved to Charleston in March because he “wanted to live by the water, they have fantastic food here and some really good golf.” While seeking employment, he began playing at Charleston Municipal three to four times a week, made some new friends and fell in love with the course.
He said coming into the tournament his goal was to win, but “I felt if I could play three solid days and I got beat, I could live with that. This is a very difficult golf course. Every single shot you have to be on your toes. I never thought in a million years getting to double digits was possible out here for three days.”
Results
CHAMPIONSHIP A: Connor Doyal, 64-71-70–205; Christopher Asbell, 68-71-68–207; Chandler Mulkey, 70-71-68–209; Wade Wawner, 73-67-74–214; Ford Blanchard, 73-72-77–221; Cameron MacKay, 68-73-82–223; Austin Morgan, 72-72-81–225; James Millar, 69-74-85–228. CHAMPIONSHIP B: Jeremy Grab, 73-75-70–218; Peter Bowie, 79-69-72–220; Brandon Bradosky, 74-73-74–221; Don McClintock, 75-71-77–223; Justin Hare, 76-72-75–223; Steve Agazzi, 75-73-76–224; Ben Karns, 75-74-75–224; Chris Calabrese, 78-70-76–224; T.A. Fulmer, 75-74-76–225; Troy Miller, 76-73-77–226.
FLIGHT 1: Louis Muir, 75-75-74–224; Thomas Deschler, 76-76-73–225; Thomas Ellenburg, 74-76-75–225. FLIGHT 2: Ed Royall, 75-80-71–226; Jeff Soss, 75-79-73–227; J.J. Keene, 82-74-72–228; Cass Sigmon, 80-76-72–228; Jay Nuckolls, 77-78-73–228. FLIGHT 3: Paul Woodson, 77-80-70–227; Troy Phillips, 82-75-76–233; Sam Stout, 78-81-76–235; Luukas Alakulppi, 77-81-77–235. FLIGHT 4: Nick Miller, 76-86-73–236; Matt Wood, 80-81-74–235; Michael Blaesser, 81-81-76–238. FLIGHT 5: Dusty Mcgrath, 85-81-77–243; Travis Callahan, 84-85-77–246; Phil Farley, 80-85-82–247. FLIGHT 6: Brian Mcdougal, 87-85-83–255; Andrew Guest, 98-78-84–260; Clay Faulkner, 89-89-83–261; Coty Wilkerson, 89-83-89–261. FLIGHT 7: Andrew Lucas, 90-93-85–268; Seth Barnes, 91-89-88–268; Clay Parmenter, 86-98-84–268.