University of Miami takes 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge

Greensboro, Ga. (April 30, 2013) - The Miami Hurricanes team of Al Golden and Gino Torretta held off a back-nine charge from South Carolina to win the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge by one stroke.

Miami's 11-under-par round was one better than the Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe duo and just good enough to earn the victory in the 14-team field and take home the first-place scholarship prize of $125,000.

Team Miami finished the front nine with five straight birdies to make the turn at -8, one shot ahead of two-time-defending champion Georgia Tech and two shots clear of South Carolina.

The Hurricanes and Yellow Jackets played stroke-for-stroke on the back nine until Miami pulled ahead with birdies on 16 and 17. The Gamecocks went birdie-eagle-birdie over the final three holes to make a run at Miami, but fell just short when Al Golden holed a five-foot putt for par on 18.

"South Carolina and Georgia Tech are really good teams. We had a lot of fun down the stretch and Gino hit some big putts to keep us in it," Miami head coach Al Golden said. "We scrambled and got lucky down the stretch."

"Hitting that 30-footer for par on 15 and another big putt on 17 were huge. We didn't know they were so close on our heels until we finished 17," Gino Torretta said. "We just tried to stay within ourselves and we kept the ball in play. It just seemed to work today."

Final official results from the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge including scholarship winnings:

PLACE: TEAM SCORE: WINNINGS:
    1 Miami (Al Golden, Gino Torretta) -11 $125,000
2 South Carolina (Steve Spurrier, Sterling Sharpe) -10 $65,000
3 (T) Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson, Jon Barry) -9 $50,000
3 (T) Clemson (Dabo Swinney, Steve Fuller) -9 $50,000
    5 Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer, Dell Curry) -8 $35,000
    6 Alabama (Nick Saban, Mark Ingram) -7 $25,000
    7 Wake Forest (Jim Grobe, Riley Skinner) -6 $25,000
8 (T) Auburn (Gus Malzahn, Bo Jackson) -5 $21,667
8 (T) Miss. State (Dan Mullen, Fred McCrary) -5 $21,667
8 (T) Ole Miss (Hugh Freeze, Sean Tuohy) -5 $21,667
  11 Ohio State (Urban Meyer, Jeff Logan) -4 $20,000
  12 North Carolina (Larry Fedora, Roy Williams) -2 $15,000
  13 NC State (Dave Doeren, Tom Gugliotta) -1 $15,000
  14 Syracuse (Scott Shafer, Jim Boeheim) +2 $10,000

Skills Competitions (From Monday):
Long Drive (Coach Div.) Dave Doeren, NC State 292 yards $5,000
Long Drive (Celeb. Div.) Jon Barry, Georgia Tech 319 yards $5,000 (3rd straight win)
Closest to the Pin (Coach Div.) Dabo Swinney, Clemson 9'5" $5,000
Closest to the Pin (Celeb Div.) Sean Tuohy, Ole Miss 3'2" $5,000


After the first nine holes, Miami (-8) led the defending champions from Georgia Tech (-7) by one stroke. Other contenders included South Carolina (-6), Virginia Tech (-5) and seven others tied at -4.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is the country's premier head coach and celebrity charity golf event featuring NCAA head coaches and former athletes and celebrities from the same school competing against their rivals for a share of a $520,000 scholarship purse.

In addition to the $520,000 scholarship purse, another $144,000 was generated for charitable organizations including Chick-fil-A's WinShape Homes foster care program. Over the last seven years, the event has contributed a total of $3.8 million in scholarship and charity, helping make the Chick-fil-A Bowl college football's most charitable bowl game.

Past Champions:

Year: Team: Score: Margin:
2012 Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson / Jon Barry) -10 1 stroke
2011 Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson / Jon Barry) -11 3 strokes
2010 Florida State (Jimbo Fisher / Terrell Buckley) - 7 1 stroke
2009 South Carolina (Steve Spurrier / Sterling Sharpe) -12 1 (Playoff)
2008 South Carolina (Steve Spurrier / Sterling Sharpe) -12 5 strokes
2007 Virginia Tech (Frank Beamer / Dell Curry) -10 1 stroke