By Mike London [email protected] SALISBURY — Keith Dorsett won his fifth Horace Rowan Billings Amateur on Sunday at Corbin Hills, ending a string of aggravating near-misses in the major local tournaments.
Dorsett, a grandson of golfing legend A.D. Dorsett, has carved out his own legendary status with a stack of wins in the Rowan Masters and Rowan Amateur, the two biggest Rowan individual tournaments, but it had been a while since he had walked to the winner’s circle.
When Dorsett was 38 in the summer of 2017, he had swept both events, but then Nick Lyerly came on the scene and dominated those tournaments for years. The calendar churned relentlessly, Father Time shows little mercy, and Dorsett didn’t know if he’d ever taste victory in a local major again. “It had gotten pretty irritating, getting to a lot of finals, but not being able to win,” Dorsett said.
“I’m one of those guys who never plays in a golf tournament just to be playing. If I’m in it, I want to win it.” Dorsett, the ultimate competitor, is back on top at age 45.
He beat defending champion Shane Benfield 4 and 3 in a well-played final. “Sometimes championship finals are pillow fights because of the pressure,” Benfield said. “But this wasn’t a pillow fight.
This was an old-fashioned shootout.” Dorsett played sensational golf during Sunday’s semifinal against Kevin Lentz (Dorsett won 5 and 4) as well as in the final against Benfield. Dorsett made more eagles (2) than boge.
