Washington's de Perrot wins gold at Iowa Games

Washington?s Dillon de Perrot took a chance with three holes left in the juniors golf tournament at the Iowa Games in Ames on July 12, and it paid off with a gold medal.

De Perrot hit his drive right down the middle on the par-5, 544-yard 16

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hole at Iowa State University?s Veenker Memorial Golf Course, leaving him about 190 yards from the green. However, the green is tucked into the woods and over Squaw Creek, and he couldn?t see the flagstick from where he was. That left de Perrot with a difficult decision.

?I thought to myself, ?Go for it and win or play safe and place,?? de Perrot said.

He decided to go for the gold, pulling out his 7-iron and aiming for the left side of the green. The left-hander hooked the ball over the creek and just missed the green. He ended up with a birdie on the hole.

?I was so relieved after I saw the ball make it over the water,? de Perrot said. ?Right then and there I felt like this tournament was mine.?

De Perrot two-putted for par on the par-3 17

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hole and then hit the green with his second shot on the par-5 18

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before two-putting to victory. He finished with a 3-over-par 75, finishing two shots ahead of Trevor Ullestad of Jewell in the boys? 16-18 division. Devon Woody of Reasnor shot a 7-over-par 79 to win the bronze medal.

De Perrot, who has competed in nearly a dozen tournaments so far this summer, said it was his best finish of the summer.

?Going to the tournament, I hadn?t won a tournament this year besides high school golf, so I really wanted to win that tournament,? he said. ?There were a lot of good players there. It was a pretty good honor to win it.?

De Perrot, the son of Mark and Stacia de Perrot, had a very successful high school season this spring, helping Washington to its fifth-straight state tournament appearance, where the Demons placed sixth. De Perrot was a sectional champion and district runner-up individually along the way. He will be a senior for the Demons next spring, trying to lead the squad to the state tourney for the sixth straight year.