Stewart Hagestad has a chance to make some U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship history this week at Kinloch Golf Club. Becoming a four-time champion to join Nathan Smith in that exclusive club might subconsciously be in the Southern Californian’s mind, but the veteran of now 31 USGA championships knows he can’t be focused on such trivialities.
Now that match play has begun, however, Hagestad, 33, of Newport Beach, can take a vastly different approach into each round. He can narrow his mindset to just himself, the course and opponent. Everything else is just white noise.
That determination was on display Monday as the defending champion played the equivalent of 8-under-par golf – with the usual concessions – in eliminating M. Tyler McKeever, of Atlanta, Ga., 5 and 4.
It upped Hagestad’s impressive U.S. Mid-Amateur match-play record in eight starts to 29-4.
He was joined in the last 32 by the competitor he defeated in last year’s 36-hole final, co-medalist and No. 2 seed Evan Beck, 34, of Virginia Beach, Va., who ousted 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links runner-up Cody Paladino, of West Hartford, Conn., 5 and 3.
But fellow co-medalist Segundo Oliva Pinto, 25, of Argentina, had a much tougher challenge. The youngest player in the 2024 field – he turned 25 on Sept. 1 – rallied from 1 down with two to play to defeat playoff survivor and No. 64 seed Justin Kaplan, 36, of Houston, Texas, 1 up.
Three other USGA champions also advanced: Scott Harvey, 46, of Greensboro, N.C. (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball); Matthew McClean, 31, of Northern Ireland (2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur); and Brian Blanchard, 32, of Scottsdale, Ariz. (2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball).
Like he did at the recently completed Crump Cup at Pine Valley – a loss in the semifinals to 2024 U.S. Amateur medalist Jimmy Ellis – Hagestad got off to a slow start in stroke play, carding an even-par 72 at Kinloch before shooting a 3-under 67 at stroke-play co-host Independence Golf Club, in nearby Midlothian, a round that included four consecutive birdies.
This after a disappointing missed cut in last month’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn. He also missed the cut in the Masters and U.S. Open, exemptions he earned by winning last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, in Scarborough, N.Y., to pull even with the legendary Jay Sigel in titles won with three. A week earlier, he competed in his fourth Walker Cup Match, a USA victory on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.
But the Mid-Amateur has essentially defined Hagestad’s post-college career, even though he has advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur on two occasions (2020 and 2022).
“What’s nice about this week [so far] is [my game is] just getting a little bit better every day,” said Hagestad, a University of Southern California graduate who is a broker for BDT & MSD Partners.
“Hopefully, we can keep adding arrows to the quiver as far as shots that you have. If you can get to match play and then singularly focus on one person and doing what you need to do, then it makes it a little simpler.”
Against McKeever, an Auburn graduate, Hagestad jumped out to a quick 2-up lead after four holes with a birdie on the par-4 second and a conceded eagle-3 on the par-5 fourth. McKeever eagled the drivable, 313-yard sixth to cut the deficit in half, but Hagestad responded with winning birdies on eight, 11, 12 and 13 to put the match away.
“Everyone is really good at every level. Look at what the cut was [for match play]. These are two hard golf courses and 1 over went to a playoff. It’s crazy. We’ll take it one match at a time, and we’ve got a tee time [on Tuesday] morning. I’m excited about that.”
Oliva Pinto, a 2023 University of Arkansas graduate who captured the 2021 Southeastern Conference individual title, found some late magic to overcome the feisty Kaplan, who chipped in from 66 yards out on the par-5 12th to take a 1-up lead and then won No. 13 to put the top seed in a 2-down hole. A winning par at the par-3 14th trimmed the margin before the 2024 Argentina Mid-Amateur champion heated up over the final two holes.
Faced with a 178-yard approach from the intermediate cut, Oliva Pinto knocked an 8-iron to 10 feet and cooly converted the right-to-left sliding 10-foot birdie putt. But he saved his best for the 581-yard, par-5 closing hole. From 244 yards, he laced a 7-wood to 3 feet. The only thing missing was former NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller saying, “The shot of his life!” Which it just might have been.
When Kaplan failed to get up and down for birdie – he missed his 7-foot birdie attempt – Oliva Pinto was conceded the eagle and the match.
“It felt like a final,” said Oliva Pinto, who also claimed the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association title during his two years at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. “It was a great match. We both played great.
“This one will definitely be up there in the top position [of my career shots]. It’s hard to describe.”
Beck, playing two hours from home, did not match the nine-birdie performance from Sunday’s final stroke-play round at Kinloch when he shot a 6-under 65, but his performance was more than good enough to earn a Tuesday morning tee time against Jackson Spires, of Apex, N.C.
The two-time Virginia State Open champion and 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up bolted to a 3-up lead on Paladino, thanks to birdies on Nos. 3 and 5 and a winning par at the fourth. The two foes tied the next eight holes until Beck won Nos. 14 and 15, the latter with a birdie.
Harvey, who shot a 64 at Kinloch on Day 1 of stroke play, survived a tussle from Daniel Stringfellow, a 2024 U.S. Amateur qualifier from Chicago. Holding a precarious 1-up lead through 16 holes, the North Carolinian stuffed a gap-wedge approach from 129 yards to 2 feet for a conceded birdie to post a 2-and-1 victory.
That raised Harvey’s match-play record in 15 U.S. Mid-Amateur starts to 25-12.
While everyone enjoys a comfortable victory, sometimes getting a tough opening match can provide the impetus for a deep championship run.
“I like having to stay focused and not get lost because it’s easy to get out of your rhythm, and who knows if you are going to find it again,” said Harvey, the oldest remaining player in the match-play bracket. “It made me re-focus quite a bit, and I needed that.”
Stephen Behr Jr., 31, of Atlanta, Ga., and Sam Jackson, 31, of West Columbia, S.C., have developed quite a golf friendship/rivalry over the years. Behr, who grew up in the Palmetto State and was an All-American at Clemson University, has played practice rounds with Jackson the past two years at the U.S. Mid-Amateur. A year ago, Jackson, a window and door salesman who played at Presbyterian College, knocked out Behr in the quarterfinals, 1 up.
This year, the two drew each other in the opening round, but Behr avenged that defeat with a 4-and-2 decision, playing 3-under golf without a bogey over 16 holes.
“When you lose in this tournament it hurts, so I wanted to come out here and focus on me and just play my game,” said Behr, who works for SAP in the global strategy and sales operations department. “If I lost I was okay with that.
“I would like to think that Sam and I are two of the best players in this field. So whenever you get a great caliber of player like that in the first round it’s scary. No one wants to go home in the first round. Unfortunately, one of us was going to go home after today.”
Hours before Oliva Pinto’s remarkable comeback, the most dramatic Round-of-64 match saw Will Minton, of Raleigh, N.C., walk off lefty Phillip Mollica, 37, of Charleston, S.C., by holing out a 9-iron from 167 yards on the par-4 19th hole (Kinloch’s first) for an eagle 2. That ended a match that saw the two competitors combine for 11 birdies and two eagles; Mollica, a former Clemson University standout who regained his amateur status in January, made a 2 on the 313-yard sixth hole.
“We couldn’t see the ball, but it landed about 10 feet right of [the flagstick],” said Minton, a 27-year-old who attended the University of North Carolina but didn’t play for the Tar Heels. His last USGA event was the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur at Martis Camp Club, in Truckee, Calif. “It took the slope left and I heard a couple of screams from the next tee, so I knew some good fortune had passed my way.
“It was an unbelievable match. It was probably the highest quality play of match play that I have ever been a part of. It was back and forth. He played unbelievable. Just mighty fortunate to pull it off.”
Minton will face Oliva Pinto in the Round of 32 on Tuesday morning.
What’s Next
Match play continues on Tuesday with the Rounds of 32 and 16, beginning off the first and 10th tees at 7:10 a.m. EDT. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Wednesday with the 36-hole championship match scheduled to begin on Thursday at 7:10 a.m. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
The 14-for-12 playoff for the final match-play spots lasted five holes and just under two hours, with Justin Kaplan, of Houston, Texas, garnering the spot with a 24-foot par putt from the fringe on the 180-yard 14th hole to edge out 2024 U.S. Senior Amateur runner-up Daniel Sullivan. Colin Prater, a 2024 U.S. Open qualifier and high school science teacher in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Andrew Paysse, the brother-in-law of two-time Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, each made birdies from 15 and 25 feet, respectively, on the first playoff hole, the par-4 10th, to earn the Nos. 53 and 54 seeds.
With the addition of World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® exemptions, the U.S. Mid-Amateur has become more global. Of the 64 competitors who advanced to match play, 11 were from foreign countries, including three from Canada and two from Argentina, one of whom was co-medalist Segundo Oliva Pinto. Austria, Cayman Islands, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland and Venezuela were also each represented by one player. Lukas Michel (Australia), in 2019, and Matthew McClean (Northern Ireland), in 2022, are the championship’s only international winners. McClean qualified for match play this week.
Some two dozen friends and family followed local favorite Jordan Utley during his 1-up victory over Austin Langdale. The 38-year-old from nearby Richmond spent three years as the director of finance at Independence Golf Club, in Midlothian, the stroke-play co-host for the championship. The father of three is currently the controller/certified public accountant for Apple Fund Management.
Christian Cavaliere, a Katonah, N.Y., resident who qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club, produced the largest margin of victory in the Round of 64 with an 8-and-6 decision over Nate Smith. It tied for the seventh biggest win in terms of margin in championship history.
Another lopsided result saw 36-year-old professional athletic trainer Bobby Massa, a quarterfinalist in last month’s U.S. Amateur, post a 7-and-5 victory over Doug Albers. The long-hitting Texan – Massa can belt drives in excess of 350 yards – also reached the final eight of last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.
A total of five matches went extra holes, but only one went past the 19th. Ben Reeves, of Birmingham, Ala., birdied the last two holes of regulation before winning the par-5 21st with a par to eliminate Texan Andrew Paysse, the brother-in-law of 2024 Olympic gold medalist Scottie Scheffler.
Co-medalist Segundo Oliva Pinto eschewed a caddie for the two stroke-play rounds, choosing to use a pushcart. But when fellow competitor and friend Carlos Ardila, of Colombia, failed to qualify for match play, he found a reliable caddie he could trust. The two often compete against each other in South America and Latin America events.
Quotable
“I think it could help me out in the long run. I don’t know if I will be more nervous than I was today. I was nervous. I was trying to handle myself … and play with the nerves.” – Segundo Oliva Pinto
“Take what you can get. A win is a win. I am glad we didn’t have to play them all [holes] today.” – Evan Beck
“In match play, you can focus on one thing at a time. You’re playing one guy, and you are going to have to respond to what he does. With the stroke-play part, it gets a little busier. I wouldn’t say more fear or more thoughts by any stretch, but when you shoot even [par] the first day, you’ve got to go play a great round the second day just to get in. So, it’s a little more stressful…It blows my mind that 1 over went to a playoff. It’s pretty remarkable.” – Stewart Hagestad
“For me, my game is fine. It’s more about my body. Speaking of that, I am going to fill it up with something and try to refuel for tomorrow…I felt OK [today]. I [just] overdosed on Ibuprofen yesterday.” – Scott Harvey
“[I] stayed very even keeled and I was really committed to what I was doing. I just focused on what I needed to do and was less wrapped up in the heat of he hits this shot and I hit the next shot and how are you going to respond… At the end of the day, you just have to execute your shots. It’s all you can do, everything else is a distraction.” – Stephen Behr Jr. on his mindset for each match
“When stuff like that happens, it’s weird. You feel like it’s not your doing. The emotions are gratefulness, you feel bad a little bit because you battled all day with him, and it ends like that. It was a great day, very fortunate.” – Will Minton after beating Phillip Mollica in 19 holes on a walk-off hole-out from the fairway
MANAKIN-SABOT, Va. – Pairings and tee times for Tuesday’s Round of 32 of match play at the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, played at the 7,261-yard, par-71 Kinloch Golf Club.
All Times EDT
Round of 32
(Upper Bracket)
Start on No. 1 tee
7:10 a.m. - Segundo Oliva Pinto, Argentina (133) vs. Will Minton, Raleigh, N.C. (140)
7:20 a.m. - Bobby Massa, Dallas, Texas (135) vs. Jordan Utley, Richmond, Va. (139)
7:30 a.m. - Markus Habeler, Austria (142) vs. Derek Busby, Choudrant, La. (140)
7:40 a.m. - Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C. (134) vs. Torey Edwards, Long Beach, Calif. (140)
Start on No. 10 tee
7:10 a.m. - Josh Persons, Fargo, N.D. (138) vs. Adam Barkow, Oakland, Calif. (141)
7:20 a.m. - Nick Barrett, Catonsville, Md. (136) vs. Brian Blanchard, Scottsdale, Ariz. (141)
7:30 a.m. - Drew Kittleson, Scottsdale, Ariz. (141) vs. Charles Fitzsimmons, Canada (139)
7:40 a.m. - Colin Prater, Colorado Springs, Colo. (142) vs. Hugh Foley, Republic of Ireland (141)
(Lower Bracket)
Start on No. 1 tee
7:50 a.m. - Evan Beck, Virginia Beach, Va. (133) vs. Jackson Spires, Apex, N.C. (140)
8 a.m. - Paul Mitzel, Seattle, Wash. (142) vs. Steele DeWald, Park City, Utah (141)
8:10 a.m. - Parker Edens, Brookings, S.D. (134) vs. Matthew McClean, Northern Ireland (140)
8:20 a.m. - Christian Cavaliere, Katonah, N.Y. (135) vs. Stephen Behr Jr., Atlanta, Ga. (139)
Start on No. 10 tee
7:50 a.m. - Michael Buttacavoli, Miami Beach, Fla. (138) vs. John Jonas, Nashville, Tenn. (141)
8 a.m. - Connor Doyal, Charleston, S.C. (142) vs. Zach Lassetter, Carrollton, Ga. (141)
8:10 a.m. - Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif. (138) vs. Will Davenport, Palm City, Fla. (141)
8:20 a.m. - Ben Reeves, Birmingham, Ala. (137) vs. Trent Leon, Fort Worth, Texas (139)
*Round of 32 winners advance to the Round of 16 of match play on Tuesday, beginning at 12 noon from the first tee.
No comments:
Post a Comment