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A tale of winds and wins

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A tale of winds and wins

Overstreet has huge week on course, including first pro victory

By
Michael Swisher
A tale of winds and wins

When Mason and Todd Overstreet stepped outside of their Garden City hotel last Friday morning, they just looked at each other and laughed.

Wind was sweeping through the southwest Kansas town steadily at 30 miles per hour with gusts of more than 40 and wouldn’t die down until later that evening.

“Whatever you’re thinking it was like, it was much worse. I promise you that,” Mason Overstreet said. “It was the kind of day where you don’t even want to be outside.”

But outside the Overstreets had to be as Mason was preparing to play the third round of his first professional tournament at the All Pro Tour’s Southwest Kanas Pro-Am with Todd, his father, serving as his caddy.

The younger Overstreet was in contention. His opening rounds of 66 and 71 saw him seven strokes behind leader Brandon McIver of Billings, Mont.

But Overstreet entered “moving day” with an advantage.

The 2016 Kingfisher High School graduate grew up learning to golf in Laverne, just a couple hours south of Garden City.

The conditions weren’t foreign to him.

“On the way to the course, I told my dad that if I can just stay mentally tough, keep my head down and let other people make mistakes, I might have a chance,” he said. “I said, `71 would be a great score today!”

And that’s exactly what Overstreet carded while McIver struggled with the elements and turned in an 81 at The Golf Club at Southwind.

That put Overstreet in the lead for Saturday’s fourth and final round.

He made it stick with a 1-under-par 69 to defeat McIver by one stroke and claim the tournament championship.

After draining a 15-foot par putt to secure the win in his first professional tournament, Overstreet hugged his father.

“It was really special,” Overstreet said. “It was definitely emotional for us after that last putt fell. It was great to share that with him and we had a nice embrace.”

When it was determined Overstreet would be opening his pro career in Garden City, the proximity to Laverne wasn’t lost on his father.

“You know, this is kind of where your golf story began,” Todd told Mason. “This is special that it’s where your pro story begins.”

Added Mason: “Of course, at the time, neither of us knew I was going to win.”

The win in Kanas was just part of a whirlwind week for Overstreet.

Two days after sinking the clinching putt, Overstreet was carrying his own bag in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Wichita Open qualifier at Sand Creek Station Golf Club in Newton, Kan.

He put together a bogey-free round and his 6-under-par 66 put him in a five-way tie for second place.

With only four golfers advancing from the qualifier, that meant five men were vying for three spots in a playoff.

Overstreet was one of three to par the first playoff hole (10th hole) while two others bogeyed.

That means Overstreet will take part in the Wichita Open Thursday-Sunday at Crestview Club.

Overstreet opened the qualifier with two birdies before a string of nine consecutive pars.

“What the scorecard didn’t show was that I had a few other really good looks at birdies,” Overstreet said. “I told my dad after the fact that if a few of those would have dropped, I could have gone scary low.”

They did start to drop on the back-nine as Overstreet birdied four out of five holes, including three straight from 14-16.

“It was a fairly wide course,” Overstreet said. “While I didn’t drive it particularly well, my irons and wedges were really sharp and then I was able to make a few good putts for birdie.”

Overstreet’s performance this week in Wichita will determine his immediate professional route.

The top-25 finishers at a Korn Ferry event automatically qualify to take part in the next Korn Ferry tournament.

The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the PGA.

“If I finish in the top-25 this week, I’ll most likely play in the next Korn Ferry event and see what happens from there,” Overstreet said.

If not, he’s already got a backup plan in place.

In the spring of 2020, Overstreet was able to qualify for half of that season’s Mackenzie Tour, which is the PGA Tour Canada.

Due to COVID-19, the 2020 season was canceled.

Now known as the Forme Tour, Overstreet’s exemptions are still valid. Its tournaments are currently being competed on U.S. soil.

“I could play at their tournament in Georgia next week,” Overstreet said.

The Forme Tour hosts the L&J Golf Championship June 23-26 at Jennings Mill Country Club in Watkinsville, Ga.

No matter where he’s playing, Overstreet already has the first professional win under his belt.

McIver opened the All Pro Tour event with consecutive 65s to gain his initial lead over Overstreet and 76 other golfers.

His third-round struggles saw Overstreet take the two-stroke lead into Saturday.

After opening the final round with a bogey, Overstreet finished his front nine with birdies on the seventh and ninth holes.

After a par on the par-5 10th hole, Overstreet’s second shot on 11 put him in a dire spot.

“I made the worst swing of the week for me,” he said of the shot, which left him off the green in a nearly impossible spot to get up-and-down for par.

“I was just trying to chip it right of the pin and get within about 15 feet or so and get out of there without making a 6 (double-bogey),” Overstreet said.

His chip landed left of where he intended...then it hit the pin and dropped in for birdie.

“I wasn’t aiming at the pin,” he said. “It just happened to fall in.”

After another birdie on 12 and two consecutive pars, Overstreet was 3-under for the day and had a three-stroke lead on McIver.

“I was playing some really good golf,” he said.

But then disaster nearly struck.

Overstreet’s tee shot on 15 went astray and he never found the ball.

He had to tee off again and eventually double-bogeyed the hole.

McIver’s birdie on the hole brought him back into a tie.

But Overstreet managed to close with three consecutive pars while McIver bogeyed No. 17.

With a one-stroke lead entering the final hole, Overstreet knew what was on the line.

Although he’s no stranger to success, Overstreet has been on a dry spell when it comes to winning golf tournaments.

He became Kingfisher’s only male individual state champ when he claimed the Class 3A state title as a in 2015.

In 2017 while a freshman at the University of Arkansas, Overstreet made a charge and finished as the NCAA runner-up.

Overstreet followed with multiple successes on and off the course at Arkansas, including twice being named the SEC Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

“But I haven’t had a win in about three years and haven’t been in contention in a while,” he said. “I definitely felt the nerves. I don’t think I took a breath on the back-nine.”

After his drive on 18, Overstreet said he “didn’t hit a great second shot or chip,” which left him a mid-range putt for the win.

“Yes, I was nervous,” he said.

But the putt dropped and the embrace ensued.

“It was really unbelievable,” said Todd.