Completed Event: Men's Golf at John A. Burns Intercollegiate on February 12, 2026 , , 13th of 19
M Golf
at John A. Burns Intercollegiate
13th of 19
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Lampson pushes pros for 2nd place
5/8/2020 11:07:00 AM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU senior shot -18 in 1st competition since February
For the past three years, Grand Canyon golfer Trevor Lampson improved his game enormously to become an outstanding amateur with the WAC's second-best scoring average last season.
This week, he proved he can hang with the pros too.
Lampson took second place at The Legacy Classic, a Golden State Tour event with a field almost exclusively comprised of professionals.
Lampson shot 18 under par over three rounds at The Legacy Golf Club in Phoenix, where he was the only amateur in the 75-player field to make the cut and came within inches of winning on his final two regulation holes on Wednesday. Considered a longshot in his first competition since GCU played in Hawaii in February, Lampson lost on the first playoff hole to 37-year-old pro Matt Picanso of Vista, California.
"It was awesome to be able to play something," Lampson said. "All the amateur stuff is canceled so it was good to get out there and get some competition.
"I'm bummed that I didn't walk away with the trophy even though I wasn't able to win any money anyway. Even in the playoff, he (Picanso) was like, 'I can't lose. I'll still win the same money.' I definitely had a little bit more pressure on me."
The Golden State Tour is one of the few sports organizations that remains in action, giving Lampson a sports-starved audience of live-stream viewers. He surprised them by taking the lead into Wednesday's final round after firing a tournament-low round of 8-under 63 in Tuesday's second round.
Lampson eagled the 18th hole on each of the first two days, doing so with a 25-foot putt on Monday and a highlight shot on Tuesday.
"I hit it just left of the green and there's a big hill so I could only see the top of the flagstick," Lampson said. "I hit a big flop shot and didn't get to see it go in. The guys in my group said it trickled in."
He needed another 18th-hole eagle to win the tournament Wednesday but his putt stopped short of the hole, just a hole after missing a birdie putt by an inch on No. 17. He missed a birdie to extend the playoff but Lampson did not lack for par breakers in the tournament, leading the event with 20 birdies and two eagles over three rounds.
"I definitely have improved a lot since I got there," said Lampson, a Phoenix-area native who attended Valley Christian High School in Chandler. "I would contribute a lot of it to Coach (Mark) Mueller being on me since Day 1 about working on my short game, wedges within 150 (yards) and stuff like that. This past season, I've really started worked hard on that kind of stuff and it has improved my game a ton."
Lampson posted a scoring average of 71.3 during GCU's 2019-20 season to come within two-tenths of the conference lead. That was nearly a two-stroke improvement over his 2018-19 season and nearly a five-stroke improvement over his 2017-18 season.
"From the time he got here to now, Trevor is figuring out what he needs to work on," Mueller said. "Even with him understanding what he needs to work on, he know it's his mental game too. He is putting the time in and starting to see results."
That mental game of positive thinking has been helped by the Psychology degree he completed this spring at GCU. Lampson plans to return as a graduate student to play the senior season that was cut short by COVID-19 just as the Lopes were taking the course for their GCU Invitational in March.
"I think it'll be really good for my career to be able to come back," Lampson said. "Luckily, the NCAA is giving seniors an extra year of eligibility to come back and I'm really fortunate that President Mueller is letting seniors come back. I think it'll be great for my career. I have more that I want to accomplish at GCU."
This week, he proved he can hang with the pros too.
Lampson took second place at The Legacy Classic, a Golden State Tour event with a field almost exclusively comprised of professionals.
Lampson shot 18 under par over three rounds at The Legacy Golf Club in Phoenix, where he was the only amateur in the 75-player field to make the cut and came within inches of winning on his final two regulation holes on Wednesday. Considered a longshot in his first competition since GCU played in Hawaii in February, Lampson lost on the first playoff hole to 37-year-old pro Matt Picanso of Vista, California.
"It was awesome to be able to play something," Lampson said. "All the amateur stuff is canceled so it was good to get out there and get some competition.
"I'm bummed that I didn't walk away with the trophy even though I wasn't able to win any money anyway. Even in the playoff, he (Picanso) was like, 'I can't lose. I'll still win the same money.' I definitely had a little bit more pressure on me."
The Golden State Tour is one of the few sports organizations that remains in action, giving Lampson a sports-starved audience of live-stream viewers. He surprised them by taking the lead into Wednesday's final round after firing a tournament-low round of 8-under 63 in Tuesday's second round.
Lampson eagled the 18th hole on each of the first two days, doing so with a 25-foot putt on Monday and a highlight shot on Tuesday.
"I hit it just left of the green and there's a big hill so I could only see the top of the flagstick," Lampson said. "I hit a big flop shot and didn't get to see it go in. The guys in my group said it trickled in."
He needed another 18th-hole eagle to win the tournament Wednesday but his putt stopped short of the hole, just a hole after missing a birdie putt by an inch on No. 17. He missed a birdie to extend the playoff but Lampson did not lack for par breakers in the tournament, leading the event with 20 birdies and two eagles over three rounds.
"I definitely have improved a lot since I got there," said Lampson, a Phoenix-area native who attended Valley Christian High School in Chandler. "I would contribute a lot of it to Coach (Mark) Mueller being on me since Day 1 about working on my short game, wedges within 150 (yards) and stuff like that. This past season, I've really started worked hard on that kind of stuff and it has improved my game a ton."
Lampson posted a scoring average of 71.3 during GCU's 2019-20 season to come within two-tenths of the conference lead. That was nearly a two-stroke improvement over his 2018-19 season and nearly a five-stroke improvement over his 2017-18 season.
"From the time he got here to now, Trevor is figuring out what he needs to work on," Mueller said. "Even with him understanding what he needs to work on, he know it's his mental game too. He is putting the time in and starting to see results."
That mental game of positive thinking has been helped by the Psychology degree he completed this spring at GCU. Lampson plans to return as a graduate student to play the senior season that was cut short by COVID-19 just as the Lopes were taking the course for their GCU Invitational in March.
"I think it'll be really good for my career to be able to come back," Lampson said. "Luckily, the NCAA is giving seniors an extra year of eligibility to come back and I'm really fortunate that President Mueller is letting seniors come back. I think it'll be great for my career. I have more that I want to accomplish at GCU."
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