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Justin Yoder receives the 9th Annual Greystone Invitational Champion's Trophy from Tournament Director Tom Ramsey.
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Wire-to-wire winners of golf tournaments are very rare. Sleeping on a lead is tough to do for one night and even tougher when you sleep on a lead for three straight nights.
But the Greystone Invitational seems to be an exception to that rule with the University of Central Missouri's Justin Yoder becoming the third straight wire-to-wire winner of the tournament. Justin closed with a hard earned 3-over par 75 holding off a strong final round charge by several players to finish the Invitational at 1-under par just one shot ahead of Auburn's Glenn Northcutt and Maryland native Chris Rockwell.
"I told my brother Cory Saturday night that I might as well go ahead and finish things off today," Justin commented during lunch following his round. "It would really be sad to lose it after leading for three straight days."
When you meet Justin Yoder for the first time you feel like you've known him all your life. He is very polite and friendly and his even-tempered attitude serves him well on the golf course. Justin works his way around the golf course in a relaxed fashion and seems to roll easily with the punches a golf course delivers. His brother Cory stated "Justin never really gets mad on the golf course. It's just not part of his game."
Justin added "I am very competitive and I really want to win. But when I do get upset, it is only for a brief period and by the time I get to my next shot it's over and I've forgotten about the last shot." While the temperatures hovered around 100 degrees for the entire event, Justin kept his cool under some extreme tournament pressure. Even with two double-bogeys in his final round, Justin managed to bounce back on the very next hole and get his game right back on track.
"Things did get a little tight on the 16th hole when I hit my tee shot out-of-bounds," said Justin in describing his round. "I had a 2-shot lead after fifteen and drove it down the left side on 16 where it hit the cart path and bounced through the dogleg. But I made a great par on 17 and another clutch par on 18 to finish off my round."
Facing a 60-foot birdie putt on 17, Justin got a little help from his playing partner who putted just before him on the same line. Yoder almost holed it out leaving only an 8-inch putt for par. After hitting his drive and his second shot on the 18th, all Yoder had left was 97-yard wedge to a very tight pin placement on the left of 18 green just a few yards from the water. Knowing that he needed only a par to win, he fashioned a low-trajectory shot with his 60-degree wedge that skipped off the false front of the green and then stopped pin high just 20 feet from the hole.
Once again, Justin was fortunate enough to get a little help from a playing partner who putted along his same line. After witnessing a good idea of the break, Yoder left his birdie putt just two feet below the cup and he calmly knocked that one in for a par five and one-shot victory. Justin finished with rounds of 69-69-74-75 for a three day total of 287 ending up as the only golfer under par for the four day Invitational.
Justin first had a golf club in his hand when he was three years old. Growing up in Versailles, Missouri he attended Versailles High School and played golf at Rolling Hills Country Club. He played in numerous junior events including the Future Masters in Dothan, Alabama. When it came time to begin his college career he settled on playing for the Mules at the University of Central Missouri.
"I had offers from several colleges including the University of Missouri, but Central Missouri offered me the best package to help me with my degree in Business Administration," said Justin. "We just finished off a super year for the University winning our MIAA conference golf championship and finishing third in the NCAA Division II Regionals. We ended up 14th in the Division II National Tournament which was the Mules 6th appearance overall."
In May of this year, Justin Yoder was named to the First Team Division II PING All-America Golf Team. Justin won five collegiate events this year earning him the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Golf of The Year award. His Coach Tim Poe also won the MIAA Golf Coach of the Year award.
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Justin (right) and brother / caddie Cory (left) will carry the 9th Annual Greystone Invitational Champion's Trophy back to the Show-Me State.
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When asked if he had spoken with his coach during the Invitational Justin offerred, "I spoke with him Wednesday night and I know he's been following the tournament's live scoring on the website this week. I'm sure I'll hear from him tonight."
"The Greystone Invitational is definitely the biggest event I've won outside of my collegiate events," Justin was proud to say. "Before that, I did win the Doral Publix Junior Classic when I was nine years old. I think they played it on a par-three course called 'The Squire'. There is no doubt though that my college tournaments have prepared me for major events like the Invitational. I wanted to play here because I knew the level of competition here would be fantastic."
Justin does plan to turn pro at some point in the future. He has another year of college left and he will try to play in the U.S. Amateur this year. Yoder would also like to defend his title next year at Greystone.
"With the food, fun, and hospitality we received this week along with a championship golf course like the Founders, who wouldn't want to come back? I'm going to tell all of my friends about this tournament for sure."
Hopefully Justin will come back next year and start another trend by becoming the Invitational's first back-to-back winner.
