Royal Oaks champion almost Lett victory get away

Nigel Lett built himself a big cushion.

He played strong in the first round for a 71. Then his putting stroke was pure in the second round for a 67. With nine holes to play Sunday in the final round, he had a five-stroke lead.

Those cushions can come in handy.

Lett, a who just finished his redshirt sophomore season at the University of Oregon, took advantage of that cushion to win the Royal Oaks Invitational Tournament, topping former Skyview High School golfer Kevin Beavers by one stroke. Lett went 71-67-76 for a three-day total of 2-under par 214.

Lett had a double-bogey on No. 14 and another double on No. 15 as his huge lead became miniscule Sunday evening.

“I was just trying to get in there with good next three holes and hoped it would be good enough,” Lett said.

The best golfers in the world, he said, do not have mental lapses. Bad holes, yes, but his goal was to not let two bad holes turn into three bad holes.

“You just gotta move past it,” Lett said. “You can’t be thinking of the past.”

His tee shot on the par-3 16th landed 15 feet from the hole. Two-putt par.

His approach on No. 17 was 8 feet from the hole. Just missed a birdie. Easy par.

Then he found the fairway on No. 18, was about seven feet short of the green on the approach, then used his touch with the putter to sneak the ball up close to the hole. From there, another par for the win.

“The nerves were kicking in at that point,” Lett said.

He was free and clear of the other three golfers in his group. With those scores posted, he knew he was ahead of them, even after his struggles. But he had no idea how the other golfers were faring up ahead of him.

Beavers, a 2002 Skyview graduate and former University of Portland golfer, had a birdie on No. 5 and an eagle on No. 6 to get his round going in the right direction. He had two birdies and a bogey on the back nine, just missing a birdie on the 18th hole.

“I just wanted to finish strong,” said Beavers, now 31 and an engineer working for Boeing, living in Seattle. “Not enough, unfortunately.”

Beavers credited Lett for his play through the first 45 holes and then the final three holes.

“He finished strong and deserved it,” Beavers said.

This tournament has a special meaning to Beavers. His mother, who passed a couple of years ago, used to walk the course with him whenever he played in this event.

“I will be back as long as I can walk and swing a golf club,” Beavers said.

Lett said this tournament is big among most college golfers in the Northwest.

“Everyone talks about it. ‘Are you going to be playing in the ROIT?’ ” he said, noting this is one of the biggest wins of his career.

Tye Gabriel finished third, three strokes off the lead. Joe Harvie was fourth, and Justin Kadin and Fort Vancouver High School sophomore Spencer Tibits finished in a tie for fifth place. They all were looking up to Lett.

“I’ve been playing in this tournament for three or four years,” said Lett, who graduated from Southridge High School in Beaverton, Ore. “It’s one of my favorites. It’s so well hosted. The conditions by the greens crew are like no other. I didn’t find one bad shot to hit from.”

He had a couple of tough holes Sunday, but Nigel Lett played too well to let that lead get away from him.

2015 Royal Oaks Invitational Tournament

Top 10

1, Nigel Lett, 71-67-76—214

2, Kevin Beavers, 72-73-70—215

3, Tye Gabriel, 77-68-72—217

4, Joe Harvie, 70-75-73—218

5t, Justin Kadin, 74-72-73—219

5t, Spencer Tibbits, 72-72-75—219

7t, Michael Johansen, 70-74-76—220

7t, Nick Baines, 71-73-76—220

9, Drew McCullough, 75-71-75—221

10t, Erik Hanson,70-78-74—222

10t, Arthur Kim,74-75-73—222

10t, Spencer Weiss, 78-70-74—222