By Andy Walter

SELBYVILLE — The text message that Jacoby Chappa received was actually a good one.

It was from one of his buddies letting the 30-year-old golfer know that he had a three-shot lead early in Wednesday’s final round of the Delaware Amateur.

But, good news or not, Chappa was trying not to pay attention to where he stood on the leaderboard.

“I’m just like, ‘Man, I really didn’t want to see that,’” he said. “After that, I was like, I’m not going to look at my phone, I just want to play golf and let the cards fall where they fall.”

The strategy worked well as Chappa held onto a slim lead the rest of the afternoon to capture the title in the 71st annual Delaware Amateur golf tournament on Wednesday.

With 36 holes played on the final day at Bayside Resort Golf Club, Chappa carded scores of 72 and 74 to finish with a four-round, four-over-par total of 292. That was two shots better than second-place Michael Crowley of Briarwood (294) and three strokes ahead of third-place Matt Dolinsky of Honeybrook (295).

It was a proud moment for Chappa. A Texas native, he’s a 10-year U.S. Air Force veteran who’s been stationed at Dover Air Force Base for the last couple years.

In 2019, Chappa made the U.S. Air Force golf team. But the squad hasn’t competed over the last few seasons due to the COVID pandemic.

This week, Chappa’s mom came up from Texas and rode the course with him during the Delaware Amateur.

“Thirty-six (holes) on the last day is a lot of golf,” said Chappa, who is a staff sergeant working in munitions. “But it’s hard to say that it’s not enjoyable now that it’s over and I accomplished what I came here to do.

“It was nice to just enjoy it out here. The wind was blowing, it wasn’t terribly hot. I really just tried to stay in the moment and soak it all in. I don’t play in tournaments like this.”

Chappa’s second-round 69 put him in second place going into the final day of the tourney. It was one of only six sub-par rounds in the tournament.

In his final round, Chappa took a double-bogey six on No. 12. He bounced back though to play the final six holes at one over par to clinch the victory.

It was an eventful 72 holes for Chappa as he carded 15 birdies, 13 bogeys and three double bogeys. The fact that it all added up to a touornament title was pretty exciting for Chappa, who plans to start playing for the U.S. Air Force team again later this year.

He hopes that winning the Delaware Amateur is the start of some more good golf moments for him.

“It was awesome,” said Chappa, who turns 31 on Thursday. “And the fact that my mom and some of my good friends were here to share it with me, it was really cool.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.