April 20, 2012

Former Gopher, Donald Constable, won the Terra Cotta Invitational last weekend. The prestigious amateur tournament was competed for at the Naples National Golf Club in Naples, Fla. Constable won the tournament shooting a 212 (-4), one stroke ahead of three challengers. He bested 74 other players to capture the title.

Constable used a strong back nine of his final round to close the gap on the leaders.

"I knew if I could do what I had been doing all week it would click," said Conatable.

The former Gopher shot a 2-under par 34 on the back nine, gaining three strokes on the leader thru 14 holes. A birdie on the 17th helped Constable seal the crown.

Constable, a native of Wayzata, Minn., came into the final round of the 54-hole tournament tied for second place.

"I hit it really well the first two days. Going into the last round, I was confident with my game."

This year was the 17th edition of the Terra Cotta Invitational. Constable joins a list of champions that includes current PGA golfers Matt Kuchar, Casey Wittenburg, and Peter Uleihin.

"I saw a pretty good list of names on the clubhouse's board a few days before the tournament. I thought it would be fun to add my name up there. Fortunately, I was able to do that."

Current professional, Sean O'Hair was the runner-up in 1999.

Constable completed his career at Minnesota in 2011. He came to Gophers for the spring season of his iunior year from the University of Texas. In all, Constable competed 17 times for the Maroon and Gold.

Constable left the University of Minnesota with the fourth-lowest stroke average in program history at just over 73 strokes and as a senior qualified for the NCAA regional.

Constable plans to turn pro later this season.