By Jon Levy - Staff Writer

June 18, 2010
-- Anthem, Ariz.


Players like Syracuse, Indiana native, Stephen Conrad, are exactly why The Gateway Tour created its Sponsorship Events leading into each of its seasonal Series. A part-time player who works at a Phoenix area golf course to subsidize his professional golf dream, Conrad entered the Desert Summer Sponsorship Event at Anthem Country Club - Ironwood with the idea that if he could post a couple of good rounds back-to-back, he could perhaps finally have the means to play the game full-time competitively.

Well, with solid scores of 69/65-134 (10 under) to take a two-stroke victory over Kendall Critchfield (67/69-135), that idea became a reality, as Conrad earned a free Desert Summer Series membership, worth a value of $10,000.

“It’s just a dream for me to now have a spot to be able to play in tournaments consistently,” Conrad said of what the win means to him. “It’s huge to be able to play the Summer Series out here, and it now takes a lot of the pressure off, that’s for sure.”

Conrad moved to the Valley of the Sun about four years ago, after his tenure at Nova Southeastern University, to work and playing tournament simultaneously. While he had been working at the Biltmore Golf Club for the past nine months or so before entering the event this week, part of the draw to play the Desert Summer Sponsorship Event was admittedly because of his familiarity with Anthem Country Club, as he used to work at the elite private club just north of Phoenix.

“I know the golf course pretty well and like playing it, so I thought I’d tee it up and roll the dice in this event, and whatever happens, happens” Conrad said. “And it’s great because (the second round 65) was the lowest round I’d ever shot on the course and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

While he made six birdies and three bogeys en route to his first round 69, Conrad was flawless in his second round, carding seven birdies and no bogeys for the cushioned win.

“I just played pretty solid all around,” Conrad stated of what worked well for him during the tournament. “I just kept it in play, got it on the greens and then rolled in the putts when I had the opportunity. I did a good job of staying patient all day and it was nice because it was almost kind of simple golf all the way around.”

Through 14 holes of the second round, Conrad -- standing at 5 under for the day and 8 under for the tournament -- knew he was tied for the lead and felt he’d have to reach 10 under to have a good shot at winning.

“I saw the leaderboard and saw I was tied with (Critchfield) and figured if I could get to 10 under, that’s pretty good around there for two days,” said Conrad. “So, I was trying hard to make a couple more birdies coming in and get there, and if I could do that, that would be something to be proud of, regardless if I won or not.

“And I ended up making a couple of long putts on (Nos.) 17 and 18 to finish at 10 (under), and (Critchfield) parred in and it ended up working in my favor,” he added. “The whole thing is pretty wild.”

Now a full-time professional golfer, Conrad will tee it up in the Desert Summer opener as a golfer and golfer only for the first time in his career.

“I’m just excited to get back to playing tournaments again,” Conrad said. “And winning this event has given me that opportunity. I quit my job (at the Biltmore) because of this and just want to take advantage of it and see where it leads.”

Following Conrad and Critchfield in solo third was Braxton Marquez (71/67-138), while Jae An (70/69-139), Nick Obie (69/70-139) and Ryan Sperry (70/69-139) tied for fourth to round out the top-five.


Click here for full field results of the Desert Summer Sponsorship Event at Anthem Country Club and stay tuned as The Gateway Tour Desert Summer Series gears up to begin at The Golf Club of Scottsdale, August 4-6…