RENFREW’S 15-UNDER TAKES IMPERIAL HEADWEAR OPEN AT MOON VALLEY

Cory Renfrew fired a final-round 7-under 65 and made two key birdies on the final two holes to win by two shots at the Imperial Headwear Open at Moon Valley Country Club.

Renfrew started the day at 8-under and had a one shot lead over Scott Harrington and a three shot advantage over Riley Wheeldon and Seann Harlingten after he posted a bogey-free 64 in the second round.

Renfrew came to play in round three, logging three consecutive birdies to open the final round and get to 11-under par. He kept it up with birdies on holes six and eight to get to 13-under, but dropped a shot after he made bogey on the par-4 ninth. Still, Renfrew shot 32 on the front and made the turn at 12-under, giving him a three shot lead over Harrington and four shot lead over Harlingten.

Harrington couldn’t quite keep up Renfrew’s pace but carded three birdies and a par on the front to turn at 34. Harlingten had four birdies on the front, but carded a costly bogey on the par-5 eighth for a 33 on the front. Wheeldon shot 34 on the front and made the turn at 7-under, five shots back of the leader.

Renfrew birdied two of the first four holes on the back, but was challenged by the field down the stretch. Harrington notched three straight birdies on holes 13-15 to get to 12-under; Wheeldon birdied four of the first six holes to get to 11-under; and Harlingten, recorded birdies on holes 12, 13, 14 and 16 to get to 12-under.

Renfrew’s big lead shrank to one shot after he bogeyed the par-3 15th to drop to 13-under, but he came back with birdies on the par-4 17th and par-4 18th to finish with a three shot win at 15-under par.

Harrington’s birdie streak ended with his pars on 16 and 17, but he rallied with a birdie on 18 to finish solo second at 13-under par. He carded rounds of 66-71-66 at Moon Valley.

After trimming Renfrew’s lead to one, Harlingten could only manage pars down the stretch, while Wheeldon dropped in a birdie on 18 to finish T3 with Harlingten at 12-under.

John Wise shot 69 all three days and finished T5 at 9-under, along with R.J. Wood and Jimmy Gunn, who shot 69 and 70, respectively, in the final round. PGA TOUR veteran Ted Purdy carded a final-round 69 and finished T8 with Tom Whitney, D.J. Reeves and Kevin Spooner at 6-under par.

It was a great win for Renfrew, who has two runner-up finishes already this year. He started slow with an opening-round 72 the included five bogeys, but he settled down after that, shooting 64-65 the final 36 holes that included 17 birdies and just two bogeys.

For complete results from the OnCore Gateway Tour zTrip Classic at McCormick Ranch Golf Club CLICK HERE https://gway.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gway16/event/gway166/contest/1/leaderboard.htm.

Next up on the OGT is the last event of the Fall Series, the Players Towel Classic, Dec. 8-10 at McCormick Ranch (Pine) Golf Club. The Winter Series gets started in 2016 with the one-day Sponsorship Event on Jan. 11, followed by the first Winter Series tournament of the year, the Bushnell Classic, Jan. 12-14 at Verrado Golf Club.