The team, captained by 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci, shot an 11-under 61 in the gross best ball format held at the Sea Island Resort Plantation Course on December 16, winning the 49th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am with a 4-stroke lead at 21-under 121.
Strafaci, a former member of the Korn Ferry Tour who played college golf at Georgia Tech, is paired with 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matt Parziale, 2024 Florida Golf Association Amateur of the Year Will Davenport and former PGA Tour Canada member Anthony Brodeur.
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Starting the day with a three-stroke lead after shooting a 60 on the Sea Island Seaside Course on Dec. 15, they pulled away on the back nine at Plantation and won by four strokes over a team made up of University of North Florida assistant golf coach Michael Mathias, current UNF player Danny Erickson, former player Cody Carroll and St. Augustine’s Andrew Morris.
The winning team of the 49th Annual Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am displays the Gator Head trophy at Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island, Georgia. From left: Matt Parziale, Tyler Strafasi, Anthony Brodeur, Will Davenport.
Two teams tied for third place at 16 under: LIV Golf members Harold Varner III, Kyle Davis, Cody Sandberg and Keith Early (61 in the second round). and former PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Americas players Jimmy Jones, Tom Nettles, Josh Seiple and Chet Ghioto (age 60, low round of the day).
The Strafaci team was formed because Davenport, Brodeur and Strafaci knew each other as members of Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach. Davenport played in the Gator Bowl Pro-Am two years ago with Korn Ferry Tour member Sam Anderson and said it was so much fun he wanted to put a team together.
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Davenport and Brodeur won the FSGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South Championship in 2024, brought Strafaci into their professional ranks, and reached out to Parziale, who had made a name for himself with the Mid-Amateur title, to qualify for the 2018 Masters. Parziale, a former Brockton, Mass., firefighter, tied for 48th in the Low Amateur at the U.S. Open later that summer.
“I had a lot of fun that year, but I didn’t know what the team was going to be,” Davenport said. “Ty, Anthony and I all play at Pine Tree, and we’re trying to get the Pars to play at Pine Tree. We’ll have a good team and it’ll be a lot of fun, and maybe we’ll reach out to (Parziale). Ty and I already had a relationship with the Pers, and we said, ‘Hey, we’d make a good foursome, and it just came together.’
The team’s first-round score of 10-under was even more impressive considering Sea Island’s winds and 40-degree temperatures.
“It was a pretty tough day, but the players did a great job,” Stafasi said. “We all made some putts and chipped in four times on the back…everyone did pretty well.”
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49th Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am
Sea Island Resort Seaside, Plantation Course, St. Simons Island, Georgia
(Format: One best grossing ball per foursome; pros listed first).
1. Tyler Strafaci, Anthony Brodeur, Will Davenport, Matt Parziale 60-61—121
2. Michael Mathias, Danny Erickson, Cody Carroll, Andrew Morris 63-62—125
T3. Harold Varner III, Kyle Davis, Cody Sandberg, Keith Early 65-61—126
T3. Jimmy Jones, Tom Nettles, Josh Saple, Chet Ghiotto 66-60—126
5. AJ Crouch, John Jonas, Phil Oweida, Ryan Orr 65-62—127
6. Mazie Donahue, Lance Herling, Jesse Herling, Charles Castellano 65-63—128
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T7. Matt Bochert, Christian Vore, Eric Atsuma, Charlie Bull 65-64—129
T7. Raul Pereda, Max Bianchi, James Dulin, Tyler Vanover 68-61—129
T7. Phillip Knowles, Jeff Dennis, Jordan Batchelor, Jack Comstock 68-61—129
T10. Will Rehberg, Steve Carter, Peter Cantanzaro, Matty Miller 66-64—130
T10. Dillon Board, Alex Williamson, Joe Stepness, Sam Davis 67-63—130
T10. Mike Giammaresi, Andy Allen, Michael O’Neal, Chase Baldwin 68-62—130
T1 Ramon Vescanza, Michael of the Rock,
T13. Jeff Hanson, Tyler Brown, Zach Lee, Preston Brown 65-66—131
T13. Blanton Tessin, Ben Hayes, Maren Voigt, Will Blood 67-64—131
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T13. Taylor Dixon, Brandon Truesdale, Walt Todd, Jordan Cease 68-63—131
T17. Travis Trace, Tyler Goff, Camilo Ramirez, Scott Riley 64-68—132
T17. Frank Licklitter II, Adam Crestrude, Zach Brown, Brian Friedrichs 66-66—132
T17. Ron Philo Jr., Jeff Doty, Nick Feinberg, Kevin Harris 68-64—132
T17. Michael McGowan, Glenn Long, Chris Wilson, Brian Smith 68-64—132
T17. Quade Cummins, Butler Melnyk, Cohen Triglio, Collins Triglio 69-63—132
T17. Drew Doyle, Mark Dull, Brendan Reagor, Chip Brook 71-61—132
T23. Davis Thompson, John Hillard Cantanzaro, Bo Sykes, Jack Larkin 69-64—133
T23. Tyler Wilkes, Manuel Girona, Joseph Trim, Chris Earp 69-64—133
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T25. Jared Wolfe, Luke McCann, Philip Detlefus, Jacob Shamblin 67-67—134
T25. Connor Belcastro, Chris Solomon, Todd Schuster, Nick Macario 69-65—134
27. JC Deacon, Christian Cease, Craig Horsey, Kelvin 70-65—Day 135
28. Sam Anderson, Brandon Arthurs, John Limanti, Tim Lamping 68-68—136
29. Cary Splane, Luke Splane, Jamie Well, Lee Messler 69-69—138
30. Colin Monagle, Adam Moyer, Zach Rogers, Garrett Jones 73-66—139
This article originally appeared in the Florida Times Union: 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafasi’s team wins Gator Bowl Pro-Am
