Jake Salyer and Jack Vanderburg challenged early in Sunday's final round of the LakeRidge Stampede. Beau Burgess and Jeff Maciejewski made an extended charge on the final nine.
At the moment, though, no mid-amateur golfer in West Texas can vanquish Brady Shivers, especially when his playing partner Thumper Galyean is draining putt after putt the way he did Sunday.
Shivers and Galyean won LakeRidge Country Club's showcase event for the second year in a row, shooting 25 under par over three days. Their 7-under 65 in the final round was good for a three-shot victory over both Salyer-Vanderburg, who shot 66, and Burgess-Maciejewski, who shot 63.
It was the 14th Lubbock major championship for Shivers, including the past five major partnerships in a row. He's won seven of those titles with Michael Pruitt, three with Galyean, two with childhood friend Kale Hughes and one apiece with Lane Branum and Ryan Rogers.
"Winning never gets old," he said. " I mean, it's not easy. It's like I've said over and over again: These fields are so good. There's so many good players, so winning is fun and I'll never take it for granted."
Shivers had more than a little help Sunday from Galyean, who made four birdies in an eight-hole stretch when the pressure was on.
"Obviously, the more you put yourself in that position, the more comfortable you get," he said. "You're never just comfortable. You're grinding.
"There were some good shots. There were some ugly shots, but you just keep grinding."
Vanderburg eagled the par-5 16th, tying him and Salyer for the lead at 20-under with 11 holes to play.
Galyean was up to the challenge. The former high-school state champion at Paducah birdied three holes in a row, Nos. 18 through 2. He wedged a shot to 2 feet on 18, rolled in a 20-footer after the turn and then, on No. 2, coaxed home a putt that was slippery with a big break.
"He had a 12-foot putt," Shivers said. "He hit it about like a 3-foot putt."
"It was only 12 feet," Shivers said, "but it broke 6 feet and it was faster than all get out. It was huge, because they were both putting for eagle and we knew they were going to birdie."
Vanderburg was a four-time state tournament golfer in high school and Salyers a three-time all-district baseball player, both at Frenship. They matched Galyean's birdie on No. 2, but then parred six holes in a row.
As they were leveling off, Burgess and Maciejewski were making a bid. Maciejewski, the Lubbock Christian University coach, eagled the par-5 6th by blasting a 3-wood from 261 yards to a foot. That came in the middle of a birdie binge by Burgess, the three-time individual Men's City champion.
"I had six birdies on the last nine," Burgess said, "and all of them to me were huge. I was in a zone and my adrenaline was rolling."
They closed a five-shot deficit starting the day to three, but didn't have enough holes left to see how far their hot streak could take them.
"The putters got hot finally," Maciejewski said. "It had been a long time coming."
Galyean holed a birdie chip on No. 7 and Shivers hit a wedge off hardpan to a foot on No. 8 to put them in the clear.
Shivers has won the Hillcrest Swinger six times, the Stampede and the Reese Memorial Day Partnership three times each and the Lubbock Country Club Par Buster once. His streak of consecutive titles will end at five, however. Shivers said he will be out of town during the Par Buster in August.
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