Former UVa Golfer Wins Gateway Tour Event

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Oct. 1, 2006

Scottsdale, AZ – Former Virginia golfer Steve Marino, a Nationwide Tour pro, shot 27-under 261 to win the 72-hole Sidney Frank Memorial Tour Championship at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Sunday. Marino’s score was a record for the Outlaw Course.

The tournament is part of the Grey Goose Gateway Tour, the world’s largest developmental golf tour. Marino earned a $60,000 purse for his first-place finish.

Marino’s 10-shot victory was fueled by the 13-under 59 he carded during Saturday’s third round. That score set the single-round record for Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course. Marino’s record-breaking third-round performance put him at 22-under 194 and gave him a seven-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

Marino shot 67-68 over the first two days of the event, then made birdies on seven of his first nine holes during the third round to open in 29. He had eagles on the 325-yard, par-4 10th and the 503-yard, par-5 16th, plus birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to finish at 30 on the back and break the course record, which was set earlier in the week by Brady Stockton’s 62. Marino shot 67 during Sunday’s final round.

Marino played earlier this season on the Gateway Tour’s Beach Spring Series in West Palm Beach, Fla., winning once in eight events. He has nine top-25s and four top-10s on the Nationwide Tour.

Marino, a Fairfax native, played in every tournament during his career at Virginia from 1999 to 2002. He recorded 13 top-10 finishes and earned All-ACC honors as a senior.