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Davidson junior Alex Ross shoots a crazy low 57 during the third round of the Dogwood Invitational

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Tim Crowie/DavidsonPhotos.com

Low scores are fairly common at the Dogwood Invitational, a notable men’s amateur event held at Druid Hill Golf Club in Atlanta. Webb Simpson shot a course-record 60 during a practice round in 2007, then shot consecutive 63s to win the event. Rory Hie shot the competitive course record with a 62 in the final round in 2008 to win the event. Brian Harman won with a closing 66 in 2009, Michael Johnson with a 64 in 2013 and Nate McCoy with a 65 in 2011. The winner’s final-round score in the last decade has been no worse than a four-under 68.

But during Thursday afternoon’s third round, Alex Ross took red numbers at the Dogwood to, well, a new low. The 20-year-old Atlanta native who will be a junior at Davidson next fall shot a 15-under 57, making 13 birdies and an eagle. After shooting a 30 on his front nine, Ross shot a nine-under 27 on the back.

Ross’ record round is made all the more intriguing by the fact that he played 36 holes on Thursday, recording a one-over 73 in the morning. In other words, he improved by 16 shots from morning to afternoon.

This past season at Davidson, Ross started in 11 tournaments and had a 73.03 scoring average. He did not win an event, but did have four top-10 finishes. However, Ross’ best career college score was just a 67.

After an opening-round 75 on Wednesday, Ross sits a 11-under 205 through 65 holes, in a tie for ninth, four strokes back of Spencer Ralston and Jacob Solomon.

Overall third-round scores at Druid Hills were fairly low; 17 of 45 rounds posted were 67 or better.

In the pantheon of low numbers, Ross’ round racks up with any score at any level. The record low score on the PGA Tour was a 58 from Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2017. Stephan Jaeger shot a 58 on the Web.com Tour and Ryo Ishikawa shot a 58 on the Japan Tour. Bobby Wyatt shot a 57 during a round at the Alabama Boys Junior in 2010.