Swinton holes out for eagle, finishes 4th at conference meet

Tyler Swinton of Haines fired an eagle on the second-to-last hole en route to carding a 1-over 72 on the final day of the Cascade Conference Championships in Oregon.

The Oregon Institute of Technology junior golfer finished fourth out of 27 men with a 54-hole total of 221 [+8] at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course.

His team finished tied for third with Warner Pacific, one shot behind Corban. Concordia won the team title.

Swinton, the only current Alaska college golfer, shot 73 and 76 in back-to-back rounds Monday. Then he flirted with par during today’s final round, shooting 72.

The highlight was when he eagled No. 17 after holing out his wedge shot from 100 yards out.

“It landed three to four feet in front of the pin, bounced behind it and spun back in,” Swinton told me. “It was pretty cool.”

His mom, dad, sister and youngest brother walked the course with him and saw him hit arguably the best shot of the tournament. Having them there made it even better.

“It was a little more exciting,” he said.