Redman Wins U.S. Amateur For The Ages

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I've put out feelers with those who would know better and have asked: where did the 2017 U.S. Amateur final rank with the great ones they recall. I'll get back to you on that but in the meantime, as far as events I've been lucky enough to cover, Doc Redman's win over Doug Ghim at Riviera will rank with any golf display I've seen.

Yes, it was the dreaded nobody-should-lose situations, as any 37 hole Amateur final would be appropriately labeled. No player was ever more than two up, and while there were a few loose shots, the quality of shotmaking and course management over a long, intense day was astounding.

The two closed morning play with a 31 (Redman) and 32 (Ghim), making them nine-under on the back nine before the lunch break.

But it's this that'll be talked about across the golfing landscape for sometime: 

The most remarkable part? No one following the match all day was shocked by the eagle make to keep Redman alive and one down with one to go. I've never seen anyone make that many feet of putts at Riviera.

Oh, and the Western Amateur runner-up had never seen the course until this week and it was his first foray on kikuyu. Take that, local knowledge!

For now, just enjoy the game stories and coverage. (Sadly I see no replays on the Fox schedule for this instant classic.)

Ron Driscoll's game story at USGA.org covers all the nuts and bolts from an epic day.

GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner writes of Redman:

Little was known about the 19-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., until the recent Western Amateur, where he steamrolled the best field in amateur golf en route to the finals. In the championship match against Norman Xiong, Redman fell 4 down at the turn, but he chipped away at his deficit, lipped out a putt to win on the 18th hole and ended up taking Xiong to 22 holes before eventually falling.

“A lot less dramatic,” he said with a wry smile.

Golfweek's Brentley Romine tells us about Redman's background and recent golf spurt that has him now on the Walker Cup team.

For as good as Redman is in golf, he’s equally as brilliant, showing in interest in the stock market and securing a math internship at Clemson. Clemson assistant Jordan Byrd said after Redman came to him after his first semester and asked how he could get into the Honors College.

“No one’s ever asked that before,” Byrd said.

Tom Hoffarth in the LA Daily News with this on Ghim, who played beautifully:

Ghim said the fact neither could get apart from the other all morning and afternoon was “testament to how good we played. For most of the day we stepped up and executed. Whenever someone got in the lead we knew it was probably going to last for awhile unless we could pull off an incredible shot. Both guys were just waiting for a moment to maybe try to take a chance, but no one really wanted to because it was so risky.

“It was like a chess match … It was like a blinking contest. Who’s going to blink first?”

Mike James on how close the match was, filing this for the LA Times with a quote from UT's Ghim:

Four times in the first 18 holes, the players tied each other with birdies, including on the difficult 18th.

“I felt like every time we won a hole it was so significant because we weren't giving each other anything; nothing was easy,” said Ghim, 21, a senior at Texas. “Every hole that we won was super hard earned…. It was like do or die every time you had a chance.”

Their matching up-and-downs at the par-3 sixth:

 

 

And Redman's last hole birdie to send the match to sudden death.

 

Other fun stuff from the USGA, starting with the early morning highlights.

And the later day highlight reel that won't disappoint.

The full final round photo gallery includes some beauties from Chris Keane in a really nice gallery format.

U.S. Amateur At Riviera Final Is Set: Ghim v. Redman

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Better work today Angelenos on the attendance front! You were treated to a pair of U.S. Amateur semi-finals that reached the 17th and 18th holes. Remember, you park for free at Paul Revere Junior High and can get a free shuttle ride to the club next door, so no excuses for skipping out on a chance to walk the perfect kikuyu fairways at Riviera.

Plus, you'll be treated to the joys of match play, which includes strategizing, emotions and other micro-dramas that you won't enjoy just watching on television.It just so happens that you'll also be treated to some world-class golf is Saturday's semi's are any indication. Doug Ghim defeated Theo Humphrey 2&1 and Doc Redman beat Mark Lawrence 1 up, setting up Sunday's 36-hole finale at Hogan's Alley.

Brentley Romine at Golfweek.com writes of Ghim's emotional swings in defeating the feisty Humphrey.

The dramatic win, which also gets him in the U.S. Open should Ghim remain an amateur, comes just a few years after a near-miss at the U.S. Amateur Public Links that cost the Texas golf team member a Masters invitation.

Ryan Lavner with that side of the final story for GolfChannel.com.

The quality of the golf has been solid to ridiculously good given the stakes and difficulty of Riviera. USGA Highlights from the Ghim and Redman wins.

Kids take note: both finalists wore pants in their semi-final wins. Meet them here in this USGA video.

Official image galleries from the matches, which capture some of the proceedings played under perfect conditions.

Sadly Fox Sports 1 has Bundesliga Soccer to air Sunday morning (priorities!), so the first 18 of Gihm v. Redman is only viewable on USGA.org.

The afternoon round coverage begins at 4:30 pm ET on big Fox.

2017 U.S. Amateur: Record Low Medalist, Down To (Almost) 64

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Medalist Hayden Wood, of Edmond, Okla., broke the U.S. Amateur Championship 36-hole stroke-play qualifying record with a total of 131 at Riviera and Bel-Air. The score is impressive on many levels given the firmness and speed of greens and launguid pace of play brought on my ball searches (no spotters and few marshals).

Wood followed his 64 at Riviera with a 67 at Bel-Air to break the 132 record set by Hank Kim in 1994, Gregor Main in 2011 and Bobby Wyatt in 2012.

“It feels good, with 312 guys it is awesome,” Wood said. “To play that way these last two days has been good. I like where my game is. I feel comfortable on this course (Riviera) and it fits my game. I am looking forward to it because the tournament starts tomorrow (Wednesday).”

As I write for Golfweek, Wood will face the last player out of Wednesday morning's hole-by-hole playoff where 8 spots are available for 13 players. They start on Riviera's 10th. Streaming details here.

Tom Hoffarth with the lowdown on SoCal players for the LA Daily News.

Here are the pairings:


AmateurGolf.com's roundup of notes from round 2.

Full field scores.

This And That From Day One, 2017 U.S. Amateur

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The world's best amateurs gathered in Los Angeles for day one of the U.S. Amateur under glorious mid-70s conditions interspersed with an abundance of agents and club manufacturers hawking their wares.

Of course, Riviera is the annual host to the Los Angeles Open, currently the Genesis Open until further notice, where the PGA Tour pros are "wusses" compared to the players who go the distance this week. From Tom Hoffarth's story for the Daily News and OC Register.

Michael Yamaki, the corporate officer or Riviera and general chairman of the U.S. Amateur Championship, said what sets this event apart from any other golf championship should be obvious, starting with the shorter window of opportunity for an amateur to play in this should he be good enough to turn professional. And, if Yamaki can be blunt, he said “the professionals are wusses … they’re only playing four days. We have to play seven straight days, plus 36 (holes) on the last day. … when you look at the Amateur, it’s really old school.”

So old school that there were almost no volunteer marshals or spotters available for the tees and fairways, leading to numerous lost balls and slow play. Woohoo old school!

At Riviera, Western Amateur champion Norman Xiong fired a brilliant 64 on day one of medal play, matched by two others as Pete Kowalski writes here for USAmateur.com. He will try to wrap up low-medalist at Bel-Air Country Club on Tuesday.

Amateurgolf.com's Kevin Cassidy has a variety of notes and points out the strong play from one of the marquee groups.

Cameras and the occasional IPhone streaming to Facebook could also be found at the 8:34 tee time with Doug Ghim, Cameron Champ, and Norman Xiong. This featured group was chirping for the cameras all day with 15 birdies between them. Champ finished up at even par (70), Ghim three-under (67) and Xiong is tied for the lead at six-under (64).

Players have been saying Riviera is playing at least three shots harder and they will be looking at more birdie opportunities at Bel-Air Country Club.

Former Angel and Mariner Shigetoshi Hasegawa qualified at age 49, and while he struggled to an 81, the retired pitcher appeared to enjoy his first USGA event. I filed this for Golfweek.

Things weren't dull over at Bel Air according to a well-known member and now part-time scribbling great...

The player in question whose probably got his entire set of clubs drying out tonight: Wilson Furr.

Todd Mitchell opened with a 67 but did not sign his card and was disqualified.  

USGA photos from day one. 

All day one scores here.

History! 13-Year-Old Wins 30-Hole U.S. Women's Am Match

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You'll want to watch the highlights of the record 30-hole U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinal match eventually won by 13-year-old Chia Yen Wu over Lauren Stephenson. There was no shortage of near makes that would have iced the match, which goes down as the longest in the 117-year history of USGA championships...by two holes!

Vanessa Zink reported this for USGA.org

“My caddie just told me, ‘I want to go eat dinner,’” said a smiling Wu, referring to Scotty Patel, a two-time club champion at San Diego Country Club who is on Wu’s bag this week as they approached the 18th tee. “He reads the lines pretty well, and he tells me, ‘You can make it,’ and gives me confidence.”

In her story from Chula Vistas, Beth Ann Nichols at Golfweek points out that Patel is making quite the sacrifice to stay on the bag for Lu on Saturday.

Her caddie, local businessman Scott Patel, won the club championship here two years ago and was supposed to see his daughter off to college this weekend at UC-Berkeley. That will have to wait.

(Nichols also files a wonderful story on semi-finalist Alexis Valenzuela and her brother-caddie.)

This was just one of the crazier moments:

 

 

Romo Hit With Slow Play Penalty En Route To Western Cut Miss

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Former Cowboys QB and scratch golfer Tony Romo struggled in his Western Amateur debut, but the future CBS football analyst did struggle to keep pace, writes the Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein.

Romo beat only two of the 155 players who completed 36 holes, and he was assessed a one-stroke penalty Wednesday for slow play.

"He was very gracious about it," Western Golf Association tournament chief Vince Pellegrino said. "His group fell behind and missed two checkpoints. The others in the group did not receive a penalty. They made an effort to close the gap. Tony readily accepted it."

The WGA invited Romo to draw more eyes to the event and highlight the outstanding play of amateurs such as Florida State's John Pak, who shot a competitive course-record 63 on Wednesday, and Illinois' Nick Hardy.

Fox Rolls Out 2017 USGA Schedule, Walker Cup To Get 12 Hours

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The Fox Sports/USGA press release provides fantastic news for fans who love team events and the first chance for a national audience to see Los Angeles Country Club's North Course, home to the 2023 U.S. Open. Twelve hours of coverage was announced for the September event.

The overall package pledges over 140 hours of USGA coverage, though by my math it's actually 132.5:

US Open 38.5 hours
Senior Open 20
Women’s Open 20
Junior Am 6
Girls’ Junior 6
Women’s Am 15
Amateur 15
Walker Cup 12

With 54 hours devoted to amateur golf that's down from the 76 hours annually that was pledged when the USGA and Fox announced their partnership in 2013.

Stewart Hagestad Becomes First U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Invitee To Make Masters Cut

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While the great Jay Sigel made a cut in 1988, never has a U.S. Mid-Amateur invitee made the Masters cut since the invitation began in 1989. Until 2017 when Stewart Hagestad, a 25-year-old from Newport Beach who did so comfortably with a 36-hole total of 147.

Brentley Romine at Golfweek.com on Hagestad's unforgettable finish, which was shown on the main ESPN broadcast (video below).

After clipping a pine tree with his drive at the par-4 18th, Hagestad cut a 3-iron from the second cut and landed it on the front part of the green. As the ball took a big bounce some 20 feet past the hole, the gallery seemed unfazed by the performance. But when the ball started coming back down the slope and toward the hole, the patrons’ cheers heightened, culminating in a loud cry when Hagestad’s ball just missed the cup.

Hagestad tees off Saturday at 12:40 pm ET with Brian Stourd, who he played the first two rounds with alonside 1987 Masters Champion, Larry Mize.

 

 

Global Golf Post Picks Up SF City Championship Fees (Again)

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Last year Randy Haag pointed out that male and female semi-finalists in the historic San Francisco City were paying high fees at the expensive post-renovation (TPC) Harding Park. So Global Golf Post picked up the costs in a kind gesture for one of the nation's oldest city championships.

Once again all 22 finalists competing at Harding in various male and female city championship flights won't have to pay green fees.

Nice going GGP!

Luck Will Have It! Aussie Curtis Wins U.S. Amateur

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Lucky because even Curtis Luck is a tough name for USGA President Diana Murphy to rearrange as only she can!

Not that he cares, as Luck wins golf's most prestigious amateur title and all of the perks that go with it. He becomes the third Aussie (Travis, Flanagan) and first wearer of a manbun to win the Havermeyer Trophy.

Sure, Luck dashed hopes for a trophy ceremony Grand Slam by President Murphy, but alas, the damage on the USGA leadership front has been done.

Ryan Herrington at GolfDigest.com writes about Luck's secret weapon on the bag, dad Curtis, who kept things light, allowing for a turnaround of epic proportions.

Rather than risk doing more damage with his putter, he conceded the par putt of his opponent, Brad Dalke, and walked off 1 down.

At that moment, Luck heard a voice offer some meaningful, albeit straightforward, advice.

“OK,” said Stuart Luck, Curtis’ 46-year-old father who doubled this week as his caddie, “now we need to play some good golf.”

The brief moment of levity—“He usually likes being very obvious with his statements out on the golf course,” Curtis would say later—helped the No.7 ranked amateur in the world shrug off the stumble and re-set himself.

Jeff Babineau at Golfweek.com notes in his game story that Luck will remain an amateur to enjoy the scheduling benefits that come with the title.

Luck, who will now stay amateur, can fill out his 2017 schedule with starts at the Masters (traditionally, the U.S. Am winner gets invited), U.S. Open and British Open, as well as traditional starts in PGA Tour events such as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial.

As for holding off on turning pro? As they say back home in Australia, no worries, mate.

“It was something I always was thinking might happen,” Luck said. “I’m very happy with staying amateur.”

Herrington also wrote about a fun touch by the Oakland Hills chef Dan Vallone.

Here are the USGA highlights.

And an interview with the winner.


The Case For Amateur Golfers In The Olympics...Isn't Strong

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No offense to all who have written in the wake of star WD's from the Rio Games who have suggested that this would not be happening if we had amateur golfers instead of pros.

Zane Bojack is just one of many who have written this in recent days, suggesting many of the emerging new talents in golf would have remained amateurs for the Olympics.

I think he has a point with the amateur game farewelling stars like American Bryson DeChambeau, Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, Spain's John Rahm and Australia's Ryan Ruffels in the past 12 months.

If you don't know them yet, then you soon will as these athletes who've recently turned professional are the future of the game.

DeChambeau finished tied 15th in the recently completed US Open, Fitzpatrick took out the 2015 British Masters, John Rahm just finished third in a PGA TOUR event at Congressional and Ryan Ruffels turned pro at the ripe old age of 17.

These young guns should be the players competing for a gold in Rio, with the Olympics keeping them in the amateur game for longer.

Already there are fears Ruffels may have turned professional too early after missing the cut in seven events he has taken part in on the PGA Tour.

Unfortunately, the money to be made coming out of college is still there, as is the pressure to begin playing and earning status on various tours. I'm not seeing how an Olympic opportunity would change that or cause more to remain lifelong amateurs.

Here is the current World Amateur Golf Ranking top 20. All fine young golfers with immense talent but would anyone want to watch this field?