Uihlein Donates £10,000 To Help Scottish Golf Union Player

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Martin Dempster reports that the European Tour's Peter Uihlein, one of the hottest golfers on the planet right now heading into the Race To Dubai, has donated £10,000 to the Scottish Golf Union, "to specifically help with Bradley Neil’s playing expenses after being impressed by the Blairgowrie teenager during their four days together in last month’s Dunhill Links Championship."

Now I know your heart strings have been tugged at upon learning of this noble charitable act, but the question has been asked by the five people who still think there is such thing as amateur golf: how is that one can donate money to be used for a specific player and said player remains an amateur?

Dempster says the R&A is monitoring the situation but there is no evidence whatsoever of tampering.

“Bradley was a pleasure to partner and I was very impressed with his performance,” Uihlein, the Madeira Islands Open champion, told the Associated Press. “He has a great chance of achieving success in the game if he continues to work hard. I will be following his career and hope the donation can play some small part in helping him progress in the right direction.”

Privately, Neil is understood to be delighted – understandably so. Due to the Rules of Amateur Status preventing players in the non-paid ranks from promoting themselves or being linked with either individuals or companies assisting them in such a way as Uihlein, though, he is prohibited from commenting publically on the matter.

Doing so would be deemed as publicising a sponsor and, in this instance, the R&A is likely to be watching the situation closely due to Uihlein’s links with equipment manufacturer Titleist. His father, Wally, is the CEO of Acushnet, its parent company.

Hey, just like IMG thought Earl Woods was just that good at scouting young talent, I'm sure there's nothing here. Move along!

Reminder: Asia-Pacific Amateur On ESPN2 Starting Thursday

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A spot in the Masters is on the line and last year for the golfer named Tianlang Guan or Guan Tianlang captured the title.

All four rounds of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will be carried by ESPN2 starting Thursday. All times ET:
 

Thursday, Oct. 24  2:30 a.m.  First Round  ESPN2, WatchESPN

Sunday, Oct. 27 4 a.m. Final Round ESPN2, WatchESPN

4:30 p.m. Final Round Highlights ESPN2, WatchESPN

Friday, Oct. 25 2:30 a.m. Second Round  ESPN2, WatchESPN

Saturday, Oct. 26 4 a.m. Third Round ESPN2, WatchESPN

Nanshan International Golf Club in China hosts the 2013 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, and in 2014 Royal Melbourne is the host.

Royal Porthcawl & Muirfield Top List Of R&A's '16 Amateur Venues

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Another step for Wales and Royal Porthcawl in possibly hosting The Open Championship one day.

And great to see Muirfield hosting something other than The Open:

THE R&A ANNOUNCES 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP VENUES

21 October 2013, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A has announced the venues for its amateur championships in 2016 which include some of the most prestigious courses in Great Britain and Ireland.

Royal Porthcawl in Wales will host the Amateur Championship for the seventh time and the first occasion since 2002 when Spain’s Alejandro Larrazabal triumphed over Englishman Martin Sell by one hole in the 36 hole final. The preliminary stroke play rounds will also be played at Pyle & Kenfig on the South Wales coast.

It will be the 121st staging of the Amateur Championship which features a field of 288 world-ranked amateur players with the winner earning a place in The Open Championship and the following year’s US Open. Traditionally the winner also receives an invitation to The Masters.

Former Major Champions such as Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Louis Oosthuizen have all played in the Amateur Championship.

Muirfield, which hosted The Open Championship for the 16th time this year, and its neighbouring course, The Renaissance, will welcome the world’s leading boy golfers when they host the Boys Amateur Championship for the first time in 2016.

In recent years more than half of the 252-strong field has come from across Europe, America, South America, Africa and Asia and the 90th staging of the championship will attract a strong international field once again.

Some of the game’s leading players including Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald have played in the Boys Amateur over the years. The 2012 champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick, went on to win the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at this year’s Open Championship and the McCormack Medal as the world’s leading male amateur player.

Peter Dawson, the Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are delighted to have such excellent championship venues in 2016. Royal Porthcawl and Pyle & Kenfig will be wonderful venues for the Amateur Championship and we expect the Welsh galleries will relish the opportunity to see leading amateur players in action.

“Muirfield is one of the finest links courses in the world and will provide a stern challenge for the leading boy golfers in the Boys Amateur Championship.”

Elsewhere, the St Andrews and Jacques Leglise trophy matches between Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent of Europe will be played at former Open Championship venue Prince’s in Kent for the first time.

It will also be a first visit for the Boys Home Internationals to Ireland’s most northerly golf course, Ballyliffin (Glashedy Links), which has hosted European Tour and Ladies’ European Tour events.

The Seniors Open Amateur Championship will return to Merseyside at Formby, which hosted the inaugural event in 1969.

The dates for the championships in 2016 are as follows:

The Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl and Pyle & Kenfig:  13 – 18 June

Boys Home Internationals, Ballyliffin (Glashedy Links):  2 – 4 August

The Seniors Open Amateur Championship, Formby :  3 – 5 August

The Boys Amateur Championship, Muirfield and The Renaissance:  9 – 14 August

St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophies, Prince’s:  26 & 27 August

Jack Nicklaus On Bill Campbell: "He always thought of others in the game of golf."

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Jack Nickaus on Bill Campbell after Campbell's passing on Aug. 30, 2013:

I first ran into Bill Campbell in 1955, when at 15 years old, I was playing in the US Amateur qualifier at Camargo in Cincinnati. I managed to qualify for the US Amateur and Bill must have evidently been impressed with something he saw in me, because the next year, he called the Sunnehanna (Amateur Invitational) people and got me an invitation there at age 16. He said to them, “This young man won’t embarrass you.” Thanks to Bill, I went to Sunnehanna and finished fifth.
 
I became good friends with Bill back then, although he was 17 years my senior. Bill was a wealth of knowledge, and if Bill saw something I needed to do or he had advice for me, he didn’t hesitate to call me. I appreciated that very much. He always had a good word to say; always was a great supporter; and always a good friend.
 
Through the years, we have enjoyed a special friendship and he was a tremendous member of our Captains Club for the Memorial Tournament. “A member of the Captains Club for 24 playings of the Memorial Tournament, Bill missed only one Captains Club meeting—that was two years ago—since the inception of the tournament in 1976. He was always there and involved. Bill always had something to contribute and was great with suggestions. Bill had a résumé that was unparalleled in the game of golf, so he provided a uniquely qualified perspective. His whole interest was whatever is good for the game of golf. To my knowledge, I don’t think Bill Campbell ever thought of Bill Campbell one time. He always thought of others in the game of golf.
 
Bill Campbell was such an intelligent and thoughtful man. He was successful in business. He served his country as an Army Captain in World War II. And he served our game for a lifetime. I thought he was the ultimate amateur in the game of golf. The game was never any purer than Bill Campbell. He absolutely did it all the right way.
 
Bill and I played a lot of golf together. In fact, we played together in the US Pro-Am in Cincinnati, when I partnered with Pandel Savic (long-time friend and former Chairman of the Memorial Tournament) my first year as a pro in 1962. Pandel and I were grouped with Bill and Byron Nelson in the final round. Obviously, Bill and I played together in other tournaments and other times, and I will cherish those moments and memories.
 
Barbara and I send out our most heartfelt condolences, our loving thoughts, and our ongoing prayers to Bill’s wife Joan and their entire family. Joan, just like Bill, was always a wonderful supporter and friend to us both.

There was this super profile of Campbell from Kingdom magazine, which included this story about Nicklaus, Campbell and Frank Hannigan:

Former USGA executive director Frank Hannigan likes to tell this anecdote, which sums up the respect Campbell earned from his peers: “I was talking with Jack Nicklaus about the USGA’s amateur status rules, including a prohibition against accepting free balls or clubs from equipment manufacturers. Nicklaus, who had turned professional by this time, was telling me the rule should be changed. He asserted that the prohibition was unenforceable. ‘Name one top amateur who doesn’t take anything from the manufacturers,’ Nicklaus said.

‘Bill Campbell,’ I replied. Nicklaus paused for a moment. ‘Okay. You can have Campbell,’ he said. ‘Name another one.’”

Fitzpatrick, Caddies Shine In U.S. Amateur Final

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Jimmy Golen's AP story on Matt Fitzpatrick's 4&3 win over Oliver Goss at the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club touched on many parts of the first English win since Harold Hilton(!), including this on his deceptive dominance.

From Golen's report:

Fitzpatrick never trailed in the final match, taking the lead for good on the second hole of the afternoon round - the 20th of the day - and going 2 up one hole later. Goss cut it to one on No. 9, but fell behind two again on the 10th hole when he lipped out on a 4-foot putt.

Fitzpatrick went 3 up on the 14th hole and then on No. 15, where he had won four of his previous five matches, he was short of the green and Goss was off the back.

Goss' chip missed the hole by about 6 inches and rolled 3 feet past, while. Fitzpatrick two-putted from the closely mown area leading up to the green, hitting his second from less than 6 feet. When Goss missed his par putt, the two shook hands and Fitzpatrick hugged his brother, Alex, who was caddying for him.

"It was nice to win 4 and 3 again today," Fitzpatrick said. "It's kind of a strange thing. I did have a feeling that I could close it out."

Fitzpatrick, who was the low amateur last month in the British Open, got a gold medal for his victory along with exemptions into the 2014 U.S. and British Opens - where he will be paired with defending champions Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose - and a likely invitation to the Masters. His name will be inscribed on the Havemeyer Trophy alongside five-time winner Bobby Jones, three-time winner Tiger Woods and two-time winners Jack Nicklaus and Ouimet.

It's the first time Englishmen have won the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same calendar year.

The story of the caddies was as compelling as the matches, particularly considering this was the home of Eddie Lowery. Saturday, Ryan Lavner noted the amazing occurrence of semi-final loser Brady Watt picking up Goss' bag for the final, where there was Fitzpatrick's younger brother on his bag. Still, it'd be great to know if a semi-finalist has ever looped for the man he lost to the next day? (NBC showed a photo of Watt and Goss going to a Red Sox game Friday night on the eve of their match!)

NBC's coverage, however, lacked one of those thrilling, pulsating and buzz-killing interviews with a member of the USGA Executive Committee or senior staff. The poor affiliates losing out on such a ratings booster.

Anyway, in his story from Sunday, Lavner noted this about Fitzpatrick, who is following in Luke Donald's footsteps by attending Northwestern.

The Fitzpatrick family has a four-year college plan in place, however, no matter how impressive and mature Matt has seemed this summer in earning low-amateur honors at the British Open and winning the U.S. Amateur, all in a four-week span.

“This might be as good as it ever gets,” Russell Fitzpatrick said. “You just never know. Professional sport is really, really tough. I’ve seen players turn pro, and we never hear from them again. If he decides to play professional golf someday, he has no pressure because he knows he has a fallback option. If he turns pro after one year and it doesn’t work out, and he doesn’t have a degree, if he’s just a flash in the pan, then what’s he go with?”

A super USGA image gallery from the final.

Matt Fitzpatrick's post-win interview with Jessica Marksbury.



Fitzpatrick's parents were interviewed.



Oliver Goss' post-match interview.

You can follow Fitzpatrick on Twitter here.

Fitzpatrick's Short Game Carries Him To Final Match With Goss

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Ryan Herrington with a nice account of Saturday's U.S. Amateur semi-final matches won by Matthew Fitzpatrick and Oliver Goss.

The good news for Goss, a 19-year-old who'll start his sophomore season at Tennessee this fall? It would seem hard for Fitzpatrick to repeat his stellar performance around on the greens for a second straight day. On the 12 holes Fitzpatrick failed to hit in regulation, he still made eight pars in addition to chipping in for a birdie that helped swing the momentum in his favor.

"I think my short game was probably the best of my life I think," said the young man who claimed low amateur honors at last month's British Open. "Sort of every chip and putt I looked at was close."

The two finalists, headed to the U.S. Open and most likely a Masters invite for both, later convened at Fenway Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox-Yankees game according to this Golf Channel gallery.

“My father’s life changed when he met Francis"

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Marvin Pave profiles Cynthia Wilcox, the only surviving child of Francis Ouimet looper Eddie Lowery, who is on every serious golfer's mind this week with the 100th anniversary of the historic U.S. Open at The Country Club.

A hundred years later, their win at TCC remains the seminal moment in American golf history and Pave reminds us it was all a bit of an accident.

In his 1963 memoir, Lowery said it was “pure accident’’ that he caddied for Ouimet at the Open.

“My older brother Jack had caddied at Woodland Golf Club [in Newton] which was near our home and where Francis was then playing and Jack knew Francis,’’ he recalled. “We read in the paper about the two Englishmen — Vardon and Ray — who were going to play at Brookline.’’

The brothers arrived at The Country Club, and Ouimet asked Jack Lowery to be his caddie because the person he originally had engaged had hooked up with French professional Louis Tellier.

“So Jack caddied for Francis in the qualifying round and I went out to watch Vardon and Ray,’’ wrote Lowery, who along with his brother was caught by the truant officer and then given a stern lecture by their mother.

When Jack balked at caddying the next day, Eddie ran to the railroad station, hooked school, caught the last train to Brookline and subbed for his brother.

“I said to Francis, whatever you decide to do, you keep your head down and I will watch the ball. I have never lost a ball yet,’’ wrote Lowery, who went on to become caddie master at Woodland, a sportswriter for a Boston newspaper, and an advertising executive before moving to California.

Looking Good: The Country Club Is Back!

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Watching the Round of 32 U.S. Amateur coverage on Golf Channel I'm impressed how much better The Country Club is looking since we last saw at the Ryder Cup. Credit architect Gil Hanse and superintendent Bill Spence for bringing the New England back into the course.

Ran Morrissett has updated his profile for The Country Club with photos taken just a few weeks ago.

Coverage continues Friday on GC with tape delayed coverage from 9-11 pm ET, followed by NBC Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm ET.

And there should be a super-fun awkward tension when USGA President Glen "I like that the Fox Sports guys don't know anything about golf" Nager visits the booth for the annual contractually obligated visit.