Las Vegas’ Josh Goldstein made it two straight Nevada amateur golf titles, winning the 2021 Nevada State Mid-Amateur by one stroke. It was Goldstein’s second state amateur title in the last three weeks–and the second of his career. He also won the Nevada State Amateur Championship in mid-July. The Mid-Am was held Aug. 13-15, 2021, at Genoa Lakes Golf Club’s Lakes Course.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider staff
In the end it came down to a three-man race as Goldstein, Joseph Fortunato and Eric Hansen all made the turn in the final round at five-under-par.
The turning point came when Goldstein birdied two of his first four holes on the back nine. He had bogeys on the 15th and 16th but parred the final two holes to hold on for the victory.
“This one was hard-fought all day…put it that way,” Goldstein said.
It didn’t start off well as Goldstein put a triple bogey on the card on the third hole.
“I hit a bad shot off the tee and thought I hit my second drive absolutely perfectly,” he said. “But it careened into the hazard for the second time and I wound up with a triple. But I fought back from that.”
And with style.
He birdied three of his next five holes and made the turn at even-par and was back in the hunt.
He added two birdies early on the back nine but then ran into trouble again.
“I had a one-shot lead going down 16,” he said. “My drive ended up in a hole in the middle of the fairway. I tried to play the best shot I could but the club grabbed and added about 30 yards to the shot and it flew into the hazard. I had to make a 20-footer for bogey and found myself one down. I thought…all right, I better start fighting back again.”
He said his plan was simple.
“I just tried to play as smart as I could the last two holes and give myself a shot,” he said.
Two pars did just that.
“I wanted to just have another fun tournament,” he said. “I didn’t have any expectations but it kind of worked out well.”
Now he’s gearing up to get back into the work portion of his life as a cello instructor.
“School is just getting back into session so I’m looking to start building my studio back up,” he said of his musical instruction which he does out of a studio in his home. “I’ve been teaching since my junior year of college…about 10 years…and I’m really ready to get back into it.”
2021 Nevada State Mid-Amateur
Josh Goldstein, 72-68-71—211
Joseph Fortunato, 74-65-73—212
Eric Hansen, 70-72-70—212
Kevin Stratton, 74-72-68—214
Scott Lytle, 72-74-71—217