These 2 golfers stand strong on a windy Friday at Northeast Amateur

• Stewart Hagestad and Josiah Gilbert tied for the best score among top-15 finishers at the Northeast Amateur Golf Tournament on Friday, battling 30 mph winds.
• Both golfers shot a 2-over par round, maintaining their even score in the tournament.
• Hagestad, a veteran golfer, relied on his experience and patience, while Gilbert, a junior golfer from Australia, used his familiarity with windy conditions to his advantage.

EAST PROVIDENCE – Stewart Hagestad has competed in the Northeast Amateur Golf Tournament seven times and yet, he has never seen a course like Friday’s.

“The wind woke me up this morning,” Hagestad said after his round. “It was blowing all day and hopefully it blows for another hour and a half.”

Wannamoisett Country Club boasted 30 mph gusts and golfers were sent into a frenzy trying to recover their scores. Still, both Hagestad and Josiah Gilbert, who finished 12th in the tournament last year, braved the conditions for a 2-over round, tying the best Friday total among top-15 finishers with John Daly ll. 

They also managed to remain even in the tournament after going into Round 3 2-under.

“That was probably one of the toughest rounds of golf that I ever played,” Gilbert said. “In a good way, though.”

In spite of the forecast, the two were able to use their experience to their advantage in both the same and different ways.

Hagestad, 34, is a veteran. He has made it as far as the Masters and is a three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur winner. He leaned on his patience and past instances to remain locked in.

“I love to practice,” Hagestad said. “There’s a really, really cool, really satisfying feeling you get when you leave the course… and you’re just like yeah I brought it today.” 

Hagestad continued, “I knew that if I could kind of just get it to the back nine like we could maybe do something.”

Hagestad did exactly that. After hitting 37 through nine, he recovered with birdies in the 11th and 17th hole. He has seen it all and simply applied it.

Gilbert, on the other hand, is a junior golfer at Auburn. He leans on his roots.  

The Queensland, Australia, native is used to windy conditions. He came into Friday knowing he’d have a leg up on the competition. 

“Knowing that other people are going to struggle,” Gilbert said of his comfort level. “You can kind of buckle down, find the joy and comfort in knowing that it’s going to suck. That’s a great way to look at it.”

The conditions gave Gilbert a flashback to his performance at Auburn in the Southern Highlands Invitational, where he totaled a 3-under. Friday, he had holes like his double-bogey on the 14th, but also birdied three times, showing comfort in the chaos.

Gilbert said the key to performing in the wind is remaining patient and taking advantage of his putts to erase any mistakes. Hagestad relayed a similar message as he said execution in various spots will “add up.” 

“I’m lucky enough where, when you do draw on past experience,” Hagestad said. “You’ve had rounds where you felt like you were hitting it great then all of a sudden, you hit a couple shots that you’re not used to seeing and you’re just like ‘woah, where did that come from?’” 

Regardless of how Gilbert and Hagestad started, the two continued their run of mirroring each other’s scores in the tournament.

As they move onto the final round, they’re tied for fourth overall. 

The chance to finish at the top comes Saturday and Gilbert is seemingly inviting another day like Friday to help him bring it home.

“Hope for more wind tomorrow,” Gilbert said with a laugh.