Playing the first nine holes with his sister, Sarah, who is a member of the Penn State University golf team, and the second nine with his father, Mark Willis, and a friend, Cameron had a red-hot round while breaking a record that had stood since Bobby Zimmerman, a former Moraine assistant pro, posted a 64 in 1968.
Willis, a member of the Witt golf team for the last four years, played the course from the blue tees at 6,765 yards. He hit 10 of 14 fairways, hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed only 25 putts to make nine birdies plus an eagle on the 320-yard, par 4 seventh hole where he drove the green and holed a 15-foot putt.
He birdied holes 1, 4 and 6, eagled No. 7 and birdied 8 and 9 to play the front nine in 29 strokes. After making par on the first two holes on the back side, he birdied the 12th and 13th holes, parred three in a row and closed with birdies at Nos. 17 and 18.
“I was planning on playing only nine holes because I had played 18 earlier,” the 22-year-old Willis said, “but I was three-under through six, and when you’re that low, you want to see what will happen. I went into the pro shop to see if I could join dad for nine holes. We finished at about eight o’clock.”
A graduate of Eaton High School, Willis won the Ohio Division II individual championship by six strokes as a freshman in 2012 when he shot 75-76 – 151. As a senior he was medalist in the 2016 Division II sectional at Pipestone Golf Course. He was an all-state selection in 2012 and 2013.
In 2015 he qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois by finishing third in a qualifying event at Lancaster Country Club.
As a freshman in 2017, he was a member of Wittenberg’s Division III national championship team. His senior season was cut short in March after only three events because of the coronavirus.
Willis said he plans to join the Wright State University team as a graduate student for next season. His best previous score at Moraine was 66.
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