Torey Edwards is the reigning Long Beach Men's Amateur and SCGA Mid-Amateur champion. Long Beach’s Torey Edwards shoots second career 58 in recent SCGA eventTorey Edwards said the best way to describe it was like an out-of-body experience. Similar to a baseball player who experiences stretches where the ball looks as big as a grapefruit coming out of the pitcher’s hand or a quarterback who finds himself knowing exactly what the opposing defense will do before the ball is snapped, Edwards was without a doubt in the zone. So as the Long Beach native and Long Beach State graduate lined up a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole at Pasadena’s Annandale Golf Club on October 29, he felt confident he had a great chance to make the downhill, slightly right-to-left putt. What he didn’t know as his Titleist rolled into the center of the cup was that he was putting for the second 58 of his life, because a math error had him convinced it was for 59. “You can sabotage great rounds if you start thinking about the end result and what it means - whether you’re trying to break 80, break par or card a career low,” Edwards explained. “I was able to stay out of my own way and focus on each shot, and I was in a mode where I felt like I was going to birdie every hole I played. I was definitely in that zone that you hear people talk about.” Edwards recorded his second career 58 playing in an SCGA Scratch League event with Steve Mena and Brent Reid, 12 years after he hit the number for the first time at Long Beach’s Recreation Park. While he estimates he has played Rec Park hundreds of times, he had played the 6,612-yard, par-70 Annandale just four times before shooting 58 there in October. “You kind of get to a point in the round where you’re so focused on hitting the next shot that you sort of lose track of where you are in relation to par,” Edwards said in comparing the two incredible rounds. “Everything kind of slowed down.” His round was remarkably consistent. He birdied four of the first five holes, then went six for eight on the back nine before making his only eagle of the day with a large crowd assembled around the 18th green. While he kept the ball in the fairway and hit it close on approach shots, Edwards said the career-tying low round wouldn’t have been possible without his putter getting hot. “You have to hit it good, but you have to be putting phenomenal to go low like that,” he said. “Everything has to be going in. On the last putt, as nervous as I was, I just told myself to give it a good run because it’s a hell of a round if you shoot 60 or 61, but to get into the 50s twice would be historic. To make a good stroke, have it go in and then realize I had shot 58 again was just surreal.” With plenty of friends playing in the event, including fellow 49er Mena and some folks from his home course, Virginia Country Club, Edwards enjoyed a proper celebration, complete with champagne. Edwards captured the SoCal Mid-Amateur Championship at Mission Viejo Country Club in September. Edwards, 38, works as a financial planner in Long Beach but long held the dream of playing on the pro tours, and continues to be one of the most successful amateurs in Southern California. Two of the last three years, he has been the low amateur in the Long Beach Open, and he won the 2019 Long Beach Men’s Amateur Championship after finishing second the two years prior. On the strength of his victory at the SCGA Mid-Amateur in September and his fourth-place showing at the SCGA Amateur Championship, he was named the SCGA’s 2020 Player of the Year – an award previously earned by current PGA Tour stars Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay. “It has been an amazing four months of golf,” Edwards said. “My game has been trending right, and I’ve built up a lot of confidence, so it was cool to kind of cap off the season with a milestone like this.” YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
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AboutGreetings, fellow golfers, and welcome to SoCal Golf Insider! We are Rob Lyon and Eric Marson and we've been reporting and writing about the game throughout the region since 1995. Here, we will provide you with the latest news, features, reviews and more on all things golf in Southern California. Let’s tee it up! Contact UsGot some news to share about what's going on in the SoCal Golf community? SHARE IT HERE. Archives
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