WILMINGTON — Evan Barbin finished what he started on Wednesday evening.

The first-round leader, who was in second place entering the final round, pulled away down the stretch, to capture the 73rd annual DSGA Delaware Amateur golf tournament.

The 20-year-old Barbin carded rounds of 69 and 66 to finish three strokes ahead of second-place Amory Davis at White Clay Creek Country Club.

The Chesapeake Bay Golf Club member finished 13-under par for the 72-hole tournament after being the only golfer to play all four rounds under par. His final-round 66 matched the lowest score of the event.

Davis, who led by three shots going into Wednesday’s final round, closed with rounds of 68 and 72.

Barbin, from Elkton, Md., is a former Red Lion Christian Academy standout. He’s a junior at Liberty University.

“Being the Delaware Amateur champion means everything to me right now,” Barbin was quoted on DSGA.com. “I’ve struggled for so long. My golf game never won me anything big. I’ve always loved this tournament. It is so close to home. This feeling is amazing. This means more than most people know.”

Barbin made the turn to the final nine four shots behind Davis. He walked to No. 11 with a one-shot lead.

Davis, the 2007 champion, ran into trouble on No. 10 (par 5, 582 yards). His drive sailed right into the penalty area. His third shot sailed into an environmentally-sensitive penalty area, a no-play zone.

Just inside the edge of it, Davis played from there and made what he thought would be a miraculous bogey when he chipped in for six.

But, on No. 12, Davis was told that he had been given a two-shot penalty by Official in Charge Grant Morse.

“They told us when the week started about these environmentally-sensitive areas of the golf course,” Davis was quoted on DSGA.com. “They are no-play zones. I was so in the moment that I wasn’t thinking to look for a stake. I saw a red line and assumed it was in a normal penalty area. I figured I could chop it out.

“I thought of the penalty like life. I am doing the best I can to control what I can control. If I dwell on it and make a scene, that is a waste of energy. Evan played great on the back nine.”

With the door now open, Barbin birdied No. 13, No. 14 and No. 18 to earn the victory. Davis birdied No. 18, as well, but it was too late.

Barbin sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to seal the victory.

“I was pretty numb when that putt went in,” Barbin was quoted. “It didn’t really hit me until my dad came over and whispered words of encouragement. It is a putt I won’t forget for the rest of my life. In a sense, it is going to change my life.”

The title earns Barbin a spot in the U.S. Amateur. He will join his older brother, Austin in the field.

Austin won the Philadelphia Amateur.

The 35-year-old Davis, the former Tatnall School standout who now lives in Sante Fe, N.M., is already in the field as a result of his New Mexico/West Texas Amateur title earlier this year.

GOLF
73rd DSGA Delaware Amateur

WILMINGTON — The scores after Wednesday's third and fourth rounds on the final day of the 73rd annual Delaware Amateur, played at White Clay Creek Country Club (Par 72, 6,825 yards):