Alabama’s Brandt wins Big Break Myrtle Beach

Jimmy Brandt of Auburn, Ala., can finally exclaim that he is the champion of Big Break Myrtle Beach.

Brandt won the 18-hole match play championship match 3 and 1 over Toph Peterson of Logan, Utah, on June 25 at Barefoot Resort’s Fazio Course, but had to maintain his silence for more than 5 1/2 months until the final episode of the 22nd season of the Golf Channel reality competition series aired Tuesday night.

“I can’t believe it, this is surreal right now,” an emotional Brandt said immediately after the match. “This is going to change my life.”

The series was filmed over two weeks in June at Barefoot Resort and Pawleys Plantation.

The final victory earned Brandt a prize package that includes an exemption into the PGA Tour’s $5.9 million Valspar Championship in March, $75,000 cash, exempt status and entry fees on the 2015 Grand Strand-based SwingThought.com Tour, an endorsement contract from Adams Golf, $10,000 in Avis car rental credit, $10,000 in Travelocity travel credit, and a seven-day expenses-paid return trip to Myrtle Beach with accommodations at North Beach Plantation and six rounds of golf on courses of his choice.

The match was all square through nine holes before Brandt took control by winning three out of the first five holes on the back nine. A 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole was conceded by Peterson to end the match.

The effect of the pressure of the winner-take-all final was evident in both players in the championship match.

“I would say it’s more pressure than I’ve ever felt in my life,” Peterson said Monday. “When you’re playing on mini-tours you’re playing for maybe $15,000 for the winner, at the most. You get a chance to walk away with $100,000, an exemption onto a mini-tour, which is free money and a chance to make more, a PGA Tour exemption. Probably after the third hole I was starting to really feel the pressure because I wasn’t hitting the ball solid.”

By winning challenges during the course of the series, Peterson earned $10,000 cash courtesy of Macanudo, a $2,500 Dick’s Sporting Goods shopping spree, $500 in Travelocity credit and $2,500 in Avis credit. Brandt earned an additional $7,500 cash and $2,500 in Avis credit during the series.

The two finalists had never met before the show, but developed a friendship over their two-plus weeks in Myrtle Beach, often hanging out and talking at length following each day’s filming. “I had never seen that hillbilly in my life before he showed up [for the show],” Peterson joked of Brandt.

Both players had been competing on mini-tours in 2014 prior to the show’s taping.

Since the episodes were shot, Brandt, 31, entered the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament but was unable to get through the first stage. He has played only sparingly since then – a Hopkins Tour event in Georgia and eGolf tournament in Hilton Head Island.

He intends to make use of his Big Break winner’s package by playing full time in 2015 on the SwingThought.com Tour Pro Series.

Peterson, 28, has gone back to working full time in construction and part time at a local golf course in Utah, and he’s playing sporadically as he’s still trying to fund his golf career. He hopes to enter the qualifying tournament for the Asia Tour and is also considering Q-Schools for PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour China.

Peterson started a designer walking bag company prior to Big Break and is going through the patent process.

Big Break Myrtle Beach was a rewarding experience for both finalists. “It was the best thing I’ve ever done other than marry my wife,” Brandt said. “It was the most fun. And getting to meet the cast and crew, the whole experience was just amazing.”

Peterson said the experience “was priceless. You don’t get that opportunity too often. They give you a heck of an opportunity to win a lot of money and play in a PGA Tour event, and that’s hard to come by nowadays. It’s well worth the stress. I can live through a little bit of pressure to hopefully advance my career in golf and live out my dreams.”

The future successes in the game of Brandt, Peterson and the rest of the 12-player Big Break Myrtle Beach cast will be something to keep an eye on.

Several past Big Break competitors have gone on to have successful careers. They include PGA Tour winners Matt Every and Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey of Bishopville, and LPGA members and Solheim Cup competitors Gerina Piller, Ryann O’Toole and Kristy McPherson of Conway.

The host location of the 23rd season of Big Break is expected to be announced this week.

This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Alabama’s Brandt wins Big Break Myrtle Beach."