ROANOKE, Va. – Nick Brediger knocked off two of the valley's most celebrated names — Brandon LaCroix and Justin Young — in an eight-hour span Saturday to capture the 80th Roanoke Valley Match Play's featured Amateur Division crown.
The 20-year-old rising junior on Radford University's golf team shot the equivalent of 15-under par in five matches over the past three days on the area's toughest venue.
"Before this week, I hadn't shot better than 74 here," Brediger said referring to Ballyhack Golf Club's trouble-laced par-72 venue.
"Well, I've been practicing less and playing better," a grinning Brediger said. "My ball striking has gotten better, and I hit a lot of greens this week, which is what you have to do, especially with all these undulating greens."
Brediger, the No. 8 seed in the 42-player bracket, rallied from three strokes down at the turn to dispatch 2009 champion LaCroix 1-up in the morning semifinal. He then took down 2013 winner Young in the championship match, 4 and 3.
"My biggest win ever, definitely," Brediger said. "It definitely feels good to win again. It's been a long time ... maybe since 2011 of anything of this magnitude."
As a high school junior in 2011 at Cave Spring, Brediger won the district and regional before finishing second in the state. At Radford, he's taken third at the Kiawah Classic in South Carolina his freshman year, and in 2015, he finished seventh at the Big South championship.
"I've been close, but this is the first one I've pulled off in a while," Brediger said. "And it feels good."
The long-hitting Brediger shot 67 in the morning to erase a three-hole deficit against LaCroix, the No. 5 seed.
"I shot 68 from the tips, and it's not good enough," said LaCroix, 35. "It's not bad to lose in this fashion ... rather than giving it away."
Young, the No. 2 seed and the favorite considering he's playing his home course, conceded after losing the final to Brediger that the three-day grind may have caught up to him. The 34-year-old Young ousted Leesburg's Matt Ashley 3 and 2 in the morning to advance to the final.
"I was a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night," said Young, who was up late with his 4 1/2-year-old son Mason. "I didn't get to bed until about 12. But that's not why I lost. This golf course will just beat you up anyway, especially playing 36 holes two straight days. I'm not getting any younger, you know."
Young seemed out of whack from the get-go. On the par-4 first hole, he hit a weak drive into the deep rough, skanking his second shot into more rough, then yanking his third shot almost into a hazard. He chipped well past the hole and picked up.
"Four hacks and concede from 50 feet," Young said. "I was like, 'Just get me off the hole.' Well, you can't do that. You can't give a guy a hole like that."
The next 40 minutes looked like a PGA Tour highlight video. Brediger slam-dunked a 50-foot putt on No. 2 for birdie, and Young drained a 78-foot putt on No. 3 for birdie. On hole No. 4, Young, with one leg out of a difficult greenside bunker, exploded to 25 feet behind the hole. His ball then trickled down a steep slope and came within a half-inch of going in the cup for birdie.
After Young chopped up the par-5 ninth hole to fall 1-down, Brediger took control and sealed the match with a brilliant two-putt from about 100 feet on the 15th.
