Featherstone wins The Shootout at El Camino Country Club

Since his 2007 graduation from Fallbrook High School, Colin Featherstone has golfed throughout the world. He traveled with the San Diego State University golf team for four years and turned pro after his May 2012 graduation from SDSU. During 2014, he played in two Latin American tournaments, but most of his competition is on the Golden State Tour and on Feb. 23 he won that tour’s The Shootout at El Camino Country Club tournament in Oceanside.

“It was something I think I needed. I hadn’t been playing all that great,” Featherstone said.

Featherstone had a score of 67 strokes for the 18-hole tournament. “I kind of broke through and felt more comfortable,” he said. “I finally felt good again.”

Featherstone noted that in recent tournaments he had struggled to put his short game and his long game together for the entire tournament. “It all came together as one,” he said of his winning score.

Featherstone acknowledged that the one-day tournament wasn’t as prominent as some of the tour’s multi-round competitions. “It’s always nice to win a tournament,” he said. “It feels good to win anything.”

Since turning pro, Featherstone has played in the eGolf Gateway Tour and two PGA Tour Latinoamerica tournaments. “For the most part, when I’m here, I play on the Golden State Tour,” he said.

The director of the Golden State Tour is former Fallbrook Golf Club pro Mike O’Leary. “He was actually my first coach way back in the day,” Featherstone said.

Featherstone’s two PGA Tour Latinoamerica tournaments were both in March 2014. “That was a very fun experience. I played fairly well in both events. I made the cut in both events,” he said.

The first was the TransAmerican Power Products CRV Open in Guadalajara, Mexico. A pair of 66-stroke rounds placed him one shot behind the leader after the first two days before a round of 76 strokes took him out of contention. “Had a rough day on Saturday but overall it was a very fun experience,” Featherstone said.

A score of 68 on the final day of the Mexico tournament gave Featherstone a share of 40th place. The following week, he tied for 45th place at the Stella Artois Open in Antigua, Guatemala.

The international competition didn’t match his achievement the previous month. On Feb. 4, 2014, Featherstone participated in the Twin Oaks Gamble Tournament at San Marcos’ Twin Oaks Golf Club. His score of 63 won the 18-hole tournament by four strokes and is currently his best round.

Featherstone played two 2015 Golden State Tour tournaments prior to winning The Shootout at El Camino Country Club. He tied for 16th at the Feb. 4-6 Bakersfield Open with a score of 215 for 54 holes. “The first one I played okay,” he said.

Featherstone was 22nd at the Feb. 18-20 Beaumont Open. “The second one I didn’t play very well the first round,” he said.

Featherstone followed his 77-stroke first round with a pair of 71-shot rounds.

Featherstone, who also maintains his http://www.colinfeatherstone.com website, is sponsored by Pala Casino Spa and Resort, Link Soul, and Golf Club of California. “They’ve been very good to me, kind of enabled me to pursue tournaments that weren’t so local,” he said.