Castro Wins First Pro Tournament

June 29, 2007

ATLANTA – All-America golfer Roberto Castro, who became a professional June 3 following his stellar four-year career, captured his first pro event Thursday with a three-stroke win at the Tarheel Tour’s inaugural Spring Creek Classic in Gordonsville, Va., near Charlottesville.

Castro, who tied for seventh at his first event, the Bermuda Run Classic in Advance, N.C., two weeks ago, began the final round of the Spring Creek Classic one shot behind overnight leader William McGirt of Boiling Springs, S.C. While McGirt began to falter after a hot start, Castro was unable to take advantage and found himself one over through eight holes. An eagle at the par-5 ninth brought him back into the picture and a closing-nine 32 was enough to seal a three-shot victory over Andy Bare of Jacksonville, Fla.

“Going into today’s round, I just wanted to learn as much as I could,” said Castro, who plans on playing the Tarheel Tour this year while attempting to Monday qualify for Nationwide and PGA Tour events.

“The truth is, I will learn a lot more from a couple of the shots I hit out there than I will from the win. I learned so much two weeks ago at Bermuda Run and it really paid off today.”

The Alpharetta, Ga., native picked up a $15,000 first-place check to add to his modest $2,575 winnings at Bermuda Run. He shot rounds of 67-68-67 for a 14-under-par total of 202 at Spring Creek Golf Club. In six Tarheel Tour rounds, Castro has averaged 67.8 strokes.

Castro, who will share his experiences this summer in a periodic blog, now moves on to play events in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio in the next two weeks.

Castro comments courtesy of Tarheel Tour official website.