By Mike Blum

There are lots of ways to win a golf tournament.

Hitting the ball in the water twice on the final four holes when in contention is not one of the more accepted methods.

But that’s what Alpharetta’s Roberto Castro did in scoring his sixth professional victory since graduating from Georgia Tech less than three years ago.

Castro won the second tournament of 2010 on the eGolf (formerly Tar Heel) Tour in Savannah, the second time in six months he captured an eGolf title in the southeast Georgia city. Last year’s tournament was played at Savannah Harbor, which also hosts the annual Legends of Golf on the Champions Tour and will be the site of this year’s Georgia Open, with Castro the defending champion.

This year, Savannah Harbor shared host duties with Savannah Quarters, which was the site of the final round of the 54-hole event.

Going to the final round of the tournament, which was reduced from 72 to 54 holes due to all sorts of weather issues, Castro trailed Nationwide Tour player Will McGirt by one stroke, and was paired in the final group with McGirt and fellow Georgian Jonathan Fricke, who plays out of Golf Club of Georgia along with Castro.

Thanks to six birdies on his first 13 holes, Castro held a 2-stroke lead over McGirt with four holes to play after leading for most of the final round.

But what Castro thought was a “solid” tee shot on the island green, par-3 15^th splashed in the water, resulting in a double bogey. McGirt, meanwhile, holed a lengthy birdie putt.

After being two ahead with four to play, Castro was suddenly one down with three to go.

Castro was still one behind playing the par-5 17^th. After McGirt’s second shot found a greenside bunker, Castro hooked his second into the water. But McGirt was unable to get up and down for birdie and Castro nailed his par attempt of some 30 feet to remain one behind going to the final hole.

After a poor tee shot, McGirt missed the green on the par-4 18^th while Castro fired his approach within 10 feet of the hole. McGirt went on to make bogey and Castro seized his opportunity, holing the putt to take home the first place check of almost $35,000.

Despite several frost delays and constant weather problems, Castro described his victory as “one of those weeks where nothing really bothered me.” After a few early bogeys in his opening round at Savannah Harbor, Castro birdied four of his last six holes for an opening 70, and followed that with a bogey-free 69 at Savannah Quarters to stay within one of McGirt’s lead going to the final round.

Castro’s next trek around Savannah Quarters was not nearly as smooth, as he mixed in three bogeys with his six birdies before his eventful stretch of play beginning at the 15^th.

“I was running out of balls,’ Castro cracked about his two shots that went to watery graves. “But I didn’t get flustered. I was still playing good. I came to 18 one down and had a chance to finish it off with a birdie.

“A ten-footer to win on No.18 is awesome. I’ve never done that before.”

Castro enjoyed an outstanding career at Georgia Tech, earning first and second team All-American honors during his four years there. But after 10 top-5 finishes, he finally broke through with his lone win as a collegian during the Spring of his senior season.

In addition to his achievements on the golf course, Castro excelled in the classroom and graduated with a long list of academic and personal honors. He took what he learned in school and quickly applied it to his new profession as a tour pro.

In his first start as a pro golfer, Castro tied for 7^th. He won his second tournament in Charlottesville, Va., on what was then known as the Tar Heel Tour, and added a second win in 2008. Castro captured two more titles in ’09, winning for the second time in Charlottesville and for the first time in Savannah.

Those two victories were worth $90,000, and freed up Castro to compete in Monday qualifiers for Nationwide Tour events around the country. He played his way into Nationwide events in Valdosta, Knoxville and Omaha, but failed to make the cut in any of the three, before finally making it into the field and getting to the weekend in Chattanooga.

In the span of one weekend, Castro went from never having made a cut on the Nationwide Tour to being in contention for a victory. An opening 66 left him two strokes off the first round lead, and a third round 67 boosted him into a tie for 6^th going to the final day of play.

After an up-and-down front nine (three birdies, three bogeys), Castro shot 4-under on the back for a 68, highlighted by an eagle on the long, par-4 12^th. He ended up where he started going to the fourth round, tying for 6^th to finish just three behind the winner,  earning him a spot in the final full field Nationwide event of the season the next week in Miami.

Castro shot 74 the first day, but rebounded with eight birdies and a 66 to again make it to the weekend, and improved his position each day with scores of 69 and 71, tying for 12^th.

Those two weeks provided Castro with the confidence that he could play and succeed at that level. But it also meant that he would be playing for the fifth straight week in the first stage of Q school, with the previous four weeks including finishes of 15^th, 3^rd (Hooters Tour), 6^th and 12^th.

“I was ready to play,” Castro said of the first stage of Q school last year. “It was five weeks in a row, but I was playing good. I won’t use that as an excuse.”

Castro hung right around the cut line for advancing to the second stage for each of the first three rounds, and was one shot outside the number going to the final round. After 12 holes, Castro was 2-under for the day and hovering right around the number, needing one more birdie to advance.

He got the birdie and one other over the final six holes. But he carded a bogey and two double bogeys over that stretch, failing to advance by four strokes.

Castro was clearly disappointed by his failure to advance past the first stage of Q school, but has taken a philosophical approach to the temporary setback.

“Golf is a crazy game. That’s just one of those things. It was tough to take for a while.”

Castro eventually got over it, and when he returned to the course to open his 2010 schedule, picked up where he left off in ’09.

“I felt like I knew what I was doing,” he said after his succession of outstanding efforts in the latter stages of last season. “Going into this year, I was hoping there would be a carry over from the sixth and 12^th place finishes on the Nationwide Tour.

“It’s the same thing with winning. In college I had a number of chances to win before I finally did. Now when I have a chance, I know I’ve done it before.”

Winning as often as he has since turning pro has enabled Castro to remain patient in his quest to make it to the PGA Tour.

“Everyone progresses at a different rate. Guys I played with last year, I’ve watched on TV this year. As long as I continue to believe in my game, I’ll end up where I want to be.”

Castro will be competing in his home state this month, he’s just not sure where. He will attempt to Monday qualify for the Nationwide Tour events in Valdosta and Athens after an appearance in a Hooters Tour event in Gainesville early in the month. If he doesn’t get into the Nationwide tournaments, a Hooters Tour event at Crystal Lake in south metro Atlanta is also a possibility.

Three of Castro’s six pro victories have come in the state, the 2009 Georgia Open at Barnsley Gardens among them. All three Georgia victories have come in the last eight months, and Castro will be looking to add to that total in the near future.

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