University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior golfer Wes Gosselin coasted home in the Tennessee State Amateur Championship with a final-round 71 Friday, giving him an 18-under-par 270 total for 72 holes and a record winning margin of 12 shots.
The old record was eight strokes, established by Andrew Pratt in 2004 at Hillwood Country Club.
Tying for second at 282 Friday at Jonesborough’s Blackthorn Club were Southeastern Conference players Michael Nagy (Tennessee) of Knoxville and Ben Wolcott (Ole Miss) of Burns, Tenn. Wolcott was first, Nagy second and Gosselin third in the Choo Choo Invitational at Chattanooga’s Council Fire Golf Club in late July.
Lee University’s Taylor Davis from Franklin and Peyton Sliger from Maryville finished in the top 10. Davis was fourth at 284 – one shot ahead of six-time champion Tim Jackson of Germantown, Phillip Lee from White Bluff and 2016 State Junior and State Match Play champion William Nottingham from Kingsport – and 2015 State Am champion Sliger was ninth at 287 with a closing 66.
Gosselin also had an 18-under 270 last year at Holston Hills in Knoxville, but Sliger shot 269 for a record 19-under score.
This year, UTC’s Lake Johnson and Stuart Thomas were in a group of four sharing 12th place at 290, and Mikey Feher from Signal Mountain tied for 23rd at 293. UTC’s Brooks Thomas and Lee’s Matt Johnson tied for 29th at 295, and another UTC Moc, Andrew Weathers, was in the group sharing 33rd at 298.
“It’s really nice to play this well,” Gosselin said in a UTC release. “It’s been an up-and-down summer, so it’s really nice to see it come together. I’ve worked really hard on my ball-striking and putting. It was also a huge week from the mental side.”
Specifically of starting the final day with an 11-stroke advantage, Gosselin added, “I’ve never really dealt with that kind of lead. My game plan had been really good – (I had) managed myself well – so I just tried to play good golf. I didn’t really want to think about what someone else was doing.”
Said his UTC coach, Mark Guhne: “It’s the reward for a lot of hard work. Wes just keeps getting better every day, and it’s because of the way he works on his game. This is just another step in his career that’s in the direction he wants to go.”
Gosselin joins former Mocs Thomas Smith (2006 Am), Derek Rende (2007 Open, 2008 Am) and Steven Fox (2011 Match Play, 2013 Am, 2014 Open) in winning Tennessee state titles, and Fox won the 2012 U.S. Amateur.
“We recruit Tennessee players, and many of those became the best player in the state,” Guhne said. “It’s special to see and important to our program.”
The program’s overall showing in the State Am also was encouraging to the coach.
“It was a really good week for UTC golf,” he said. “It was really positive with good rounds on a tough golf course. I like the way we look heading into the season.”