T-R PHOTO BY ANNE VANCE - Marshalltown native Nate Vance poses on Sunday with the flag after winning the amateur division of the Waterloo Open by nine strokes over three days and three Waterloo public golf courses.

WATERLOO — The professionals didn’t play this year at the Waterloo Open.

But that didn’t stop Nate Vance from playing like a pro.

Vance turned in a phenomenal 54-hole performance to cruise to victory in the amateur division.

He recorded an eagle and three birdies in the first six holes en route to a 5-under-par round of 67 on Sunday at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course. Vance’s 17-under total was nine shots better than runner-up Nate McCoy.

“It feels great to win this tournament because I’ve put in a lot of work the last couple of summers,” Vance said. “Being able to put together three straight rounds like this was big for me. It’s awesome to see all of the time and effort I’ve put in pay off.”

Vance started the final 18 holes of the three-day event with a five-shot lead. His advantage quickly grew to seven on the 496-yard, par-5 opening hole.

Vance blasted a booming drive down the left side of the fairway and then followed by hitting a pitching wedge just past the hole. Putting from the fringe, he rolled in a delicate downhill putt for eagle. Vance pumped his right fist as the ball disappeared into the cup.

“That was huge for me to start out with an eagle,” he said. “That really gave me some momentum and got me rolling again. I kept it going and was playing really, really solid golf.”

Two pars followed before he collected birdies on three consecutive holes to build a commanding 10-shot lead over the rest of the field. Vance was superb with a 32 on the front nine.

The 20-year-old Vance, a 2017 state champion for Marshalltown High School, plays collegiately at Loyola. He opened with a 67 on Friday at South Hills and followed with a 65 while playing in Saturday’s final foursome at Gates Park.

Even though he’s only 5-foot-8, Vance consistently hammered long drives throughout his round. He also excelled with his short game, showing superb touch on the greens.

He was playing in his first Waterloo Open. He had never played Gates or Irv Warren until teeing the ball up at those courses this weekend.

Vance’s blazing start Sunday eliminated most of the suspense on a beautiful sun-splashed day with temperatures in the low 80s and a light breeze.

Vance finished third last weekend at the Iowa Masters and plans to play in the Iowa Amateur this week. He has aspirations of coming back to the Waterloo Open as a professional.

“I still have three more years of college left,” Vance said. “Obviously, the goal would be to turn pro after that. That’s the ultimate goal that I’m working toward.”

McCoy, playing in the second-to-last group, fired a 66 on Sunday to finish second overall at 8-under.

Clayton Larsen, who was in the final group, shot a 72 on Sunday. The powerful 6-foot-7 Larsen finished third overall at 7-under.

“I felt like I was rolling the ball well,” Larsen said. “I had some good looks for birdie – I just didn’t capitalize and the putts didn’t happen to fall today.”

Larsen, a 2016 state champion for West Delaware High School, was competing in this event for the second time. He carded a 65 on Friday before shooting even-par in his last two rounds.

“This was a fun event – this is a really good tournament and I had a great experience here,” he said. “Seven-under-par is a good score and I’m pleased with that. I was just a little bit overshadowed by Mr. Vance, who was killing us all this week. He played really solid golf, hit a lot of quality golf shots and made some putts. That’s a recipe for a really low number. He really put it on us this week.”

Jordan Even, who teed off nearly an hour before the leaders, turned in the day’s best round with a 7-under 65.

Even’s scorecard featured six birdies and an eagle. He shot a sparkling 31 on the back nine after suffering his only bogey on the last hole. He finished fourth overall with a 6-under total.

Jonathan Feldick, a Cedar Falls resident, finished in a tie for fifth after shooting 72 in the final round. Feldick was fourth in this tournament in 2019.

Michael Fastert was in contention for second place for much of the day, but had a bogey-triple bogey finish to fall to seventh.

First-round leader Jake Patterson, who carded a course record 61 on Friday at South Hills, finished ninth overall. Patterson came back from an 80 on Saturday at Gates Park to shoot 73 at Irv Warren.

2018 Amateur champion Dusty Drenth carded a 2-under 70 on Sunday to finish 13th overall.