Smith takes a Knapp in Mid-Am Sweet 16

    Tuesday, September 11, 2012
    Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

    Sean Knapp was best man for Nathan Smith at his wedding. The two western Pennsylvanians play golf together often, so much that Smith has felt it in his wallet.
    “He’s been taking my money all year,” Smith said.
    Rest assured that Smith has won his share back, and Tuesday, with only pride on the line, Smith won the biggest match the two have met in, taking 19 holes to capture a Sweet Sixteen match in the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms Golf Club.
    “I don’t know where I am right now,” Smith said after winning his second match of the day.
    He’s in a most familiar position. Smith, 34, has won this championship three times, the biggest one designed for post-college age players, most recently two years ago.
    But in all those previous occasions, in all the matches, he was playing either casual acquaintances or complete strangers. Not one of his closest friends.
    “It’s tough playing a friend like that,” Smith said. “When I saw he was in my half of the bracket, I said, ‘Oh, no.’ But once you get out there, you play.”
    Play Smith did, as did Knapp. They traded holes back and forth with regularity. Knapp had a 1-up lead at the turn, and then the fun began. Dual birdies on the par-3 11th hole, Smith sinking his putt from 30 feet and Knapp answering from just a bit less. Smith making a 15-footer for a birdie on the par-5 14th, then another bird on the 15th after driving the green with from the 284-yard forward tee, squaring the match.
    It came down to the first extra hole, Conway’s 385-yard first, a dogleg right that coasts downhill. Smith hit the fairway. Knapp hit the rough and was blocked by trees.
    “I thought he had a shot,” Smith said.
    He didn’t, clipping the trees and missing the green with his approach. That led to his defeat and his friend’s advancement.
    Wednesday brings the quarterfinals and semifinals, the two survivors advancing to Thursday’s 36-hole championship match, where two things will be on the line: Possession of the Robert T. Jones Memorial Mid-Amateur Trophy, and, according to custom, an invitation to next year’s Masters Tournament. The latter is a bauble that would be hard to turn down, even for players thinking of turning pro.
    Garrett Rank, for instance, a Canadian who has survived testicular cancer and referees in the Ontario Hockey League. He’s considering turning pro next year, but not until the fall, and certainly not until after mid-April should be snag the title.
    “No, it’s Q school next year,” Rank said, fully aware of the calendar. The youngest player in the field, he turned 25 and became eligible for the Mid-Am on Sept. 5.
    So is Dennis Bull, an Illinois native who calls Norwalk, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines, home. The Illinois State graduate grew up in Fairbury, a town of about 3,900 southeast of Pontiac, and kicked around turning pro before finding business more lucrative. He said he’d missed qualifing for USGA championships by one stroke eight or nine times before advancing to Conway Farms.
    Now, he’s already exempt for next year’s Mid-Amateur by virtue of making the quarterfinal round, and three matches from Augusta National. For Bull, the key shot Wednesday was his last one, a wedge to a foot on the 452-yard par-4 18th that afternoon opponent Charlie Blanchard couldn’t match.
    But Bull has his work cut out on Thursday morning. He faces Tim Jackson, a 53-year-old two-time Mid-Amateur champion who last won in 2001.
    “I have an advantage to be as old as I am,” Jackson said. “I’m still motivated to play. Winning a third Mid-Am would mean as much as the first two, maybe a little more.”
    – Tim Cronin
    -----
    Tuesday’s Round of 16 results: Dennis Bull, Norwalk, Iowa, d. Charlie Blanchard, North Providence, R.I., 2 up; Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn., d. John Patterson, Bluffton, S.C., 4 & 2; Corby Segal, Santa Clarita, Calif., d. Uly Grisette, Winston Salem, S.S., 2 up; Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, d. Sean Knapp, Oakmont, Pa., 19 holes; Todd White, Spartanburg, S.C., d. Kevin Wassmer, Poseyville, Ind., 1 up; Casey Boyns, Monterey, Calif., d. Michael Muehr, Potomac Falls, Va., 1 up; Matthew Mattare, New York, d., Stephen Cox, Jonesboro, Ark., 2 & 1; Garrett Rank, Elmira, Ontario, d. Matt Cohn, San Francisco, 5 & 3.
    Wednesday morning’s quarterfinal matches: Bull vs. Jackson, 7 a.m.; Segan vs. Smith, 7:15 a.m.; Smith vs. White, 7:30 a.m.; Mattare vs. Rank, 7:45 a.m.