Mitchell done, not disappointed; U.S. Am quarterfinals set

Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois

Thursday, August 20, 2015

At 37, Todd Mitchell was the oldest player to make the Sweet Sixteen in the 115th U.S. Amateur.

From Bloomington, he was the last Illinoian left standing.

Given everything, including the site – Olympia Fields Country Club – Mitchell considered his run in the Am a success, even though he was bounced, 4 and 3, by Matthew Perrine of Austin, Tex., on Thursday afternoon, in a windblown match where the only birdie was Mitchell’s, on the first hole.

That lead was short-lived, but Mitchell’s experience will stay with him.

“Making it to the Sweet Sixteen here at Olympia, it being so close (to Bloomington), it’s really the perfect place for it to happen,” Mitchell said. “I don’t really know how it happened. I’m disappointed with the way it finished; I didn’t give him a match at all. He just kinda had to stay out of his own way. I was unable to bring anything to the table.

“That said, I’m extremely proud of where I stand and where I finished. It’s a big accomplishment to do that.”

Mitchell said the only reason he tried to qualify for this year’s U.S. Am was because it was at Olympia Fields. He saw it under every condition: wet, dry, windy, and calm.

Thursday’s wind blew out of the west at 22 mph much of the day, with gusts to 31 mph. More than one player eyed the starched-out flags atop the clubhouse’s famous clock tower with disdain before picking a club on holes coming back home.

“The wind blew the entire time (Thursday),” Mitchell said. “These golf courses are hard for the best players in the world when you have not much wind, and then you have something like this, it makes it even more difficult. To have five mid-amateurs make the cut and then be the last man standing, it means a lot.”

Mitchell had beaten Ryan Ruffels of Australia, 3 and 2, in the morning, which gained him entry into the third round. But his game all but left him at lunchtime. Mitchell bogeyed six straight holes, then double-bogeyed the ninth, and was fortunate to only be 3 down at the turn.

That’s because Perrine had two bogeys on those holes and also doubled the ninth. He blamed the wind.

“There were a lot of holes where you feel it’s dead into the wind, then we’d get up there and hit our tee balls, and they’d go straight for 100 yards and all of a sudden, just veer off,” Perrine said. “We both got into some sticky situations a number of times.”

Perrine was better able to come away with a par save when needed. His par on the par-4 14th moved him 4-up, and while Mitchell won the next hole with a bogey when Perrine four-putted, Mitchell’s bogey on the 15th ended the match. Perrine was 7-over, Mitchell 11-over, with the usual concessions.

Mitchell still had the Illinois Mid-Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying ahead this summer. But first?

“I don’t even know if I’m going to hit balls next week,” Mitchell said.

The three other players with Illinois connections – including Belgium’s Thomas Detry, a key member of the Fighting Illini squad – fell in the morning round of 32. Detry fell to Japan’s Kenta Konishi on the 19th hole, Konishi making a five-foot birdie putt to close out the match.

Illinois teammate and CDGA Amateur winner Alex Burge dropped a 2 up decision to Kyle Mueller of Watkinsville, Ga. Mueller, who knocked off medalist Brett Coletta on Wednesday, rolled in a 60-foot putt with six feet of break on the 18th hole to seal the victory. That’s the same green – usually the ninth in member play – that Jerry Barber made a similar putt on to force a playoff with Don January in the 1961 PGA Championship.

“That putt that kid just made!” Burge said. “But hey, I had my chances and couldn’t get them to go. It’s done.”

Detry and Burge will be back at Olympia Fields soon for the Illini Invitational.

“My confidence is good; I feel my game has taken a turn and mentally I have, which is the biggest thing,” Burge said. “It’s nice to know you don’t have to play incredible. Just solid golf will take care of a lot of things.”

Finally, David Cooke, who prepped in Bolingbrook and is a senior at North Carolina State, dropped his morning match to David Oraee, 2 up.

That meant the end of the summer golf season for the Illinois Open winner, and the start of his senior year at North Carolina State.

“I definitely had some positives this summer, had some confidence-building events,” Cooke said. “Being able to hang with guys out here and winning the Illinois Open makes me believe I’m doing the right thing. It kinda motivated me to turn pro after my college career.

“It was a good tournament. I played well for three days and got some good experience out here.”

Cooke lost a 1-up lead when Oraee birdied the eighth hole and fell behind when he triple-bogeyed the ninth hole, Oraee winning it with a double-bogey 6. Cooke squared the match with a par on the 13th, but his bogey on the 16th put him 1 down. A 12-foot comebacker for par on the par-3 17th forced the match to the last, where Oraee’s approach stayed on the green despite hitting the flagstick. Cooke failed to make birdie to force extra holes.

“I played some good holes out there, and I definitely played some bad ones,” Cooke said. “It was a good match.”

Friday’s Quarterfinal Matchups

12:45 p.m.: Kenta Konishi, 21, Tokyo, Japan, vs. Matthew Perrine, 19, Austin, Tex. Born in Hiroshima, Konishi has played since he was 3. Perrine is a sophomore at Baylor who made match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur two years ago.

1 p.m.: Derek Bard, 20, New Hartford, N.Y., vs. Jon Rahm-Rodriguez, 20, Barrika, Spain. Bard is a junior at Virginia, winner of this year’s Sunnehanna Amateur. Rahm-Rodriguez, a senior at Arizona State, was last season’s Ben Hogan Award winner and tied for fifth in the Phoenix Open.

1:15 p.m.: Paul Dunne, 22, Greystones, Ireland, vs. Bryson DeChambeau, 21, Clovis, Calif. The feature match of the day pits Dunne, the co-leader of the British Open after 54 holes – the first amateur to do so since Bobby Jones in 1927 – against the NCAA champion from Southern Methodist. Previous NCAA-U.S. Am double winners in the same year: Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore.

1:30 p.m.: Austin James, 19, Bath, Ontario, vs. Sean Crocker, 18, Westlake Village, Calif.    James, a junior at Charleston Southern, won the Canadian Junior last year. Crocker, Zimbabwe-born, is a sophomore at Southern California with dual citizenship and thus eligible for the Walker Cup team.

Around Olympia Fields

After Sunday’s title match, there’s no USGA visit to Illinois on the calendar, the first time in memory nothing’s been scheduled. Said Mitchell, “People across the country say some of the best golf in the country is here. There are some clubs here that are extremely good, extremely difficult, and could host. I’ve played a lot of the places in the area, and I don’t know that there’s any place better than Olympia Fields. It’s extremely demanding and they know how to set it up right.” ... For once, it was sunny all day, and the grounds crew was able to put in a full grooming of the North Course. The greens ran at least a foot faster, said more than one player.

– Tim Cronin

Mitchell last Illinoisan standing in U.S. Amateur

Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Todd Mitchell of Bloomington survived the U.S. Amateur’s round of 32 this morning on Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course, and moved into a round of 16 match against Matthew Perrine of Austin, Tex., slated for 1:10 p.m.

His citymate, Alex Burge, was not so fortunate. Burge dropped a 2 up decision to Kyle Mueller of Watkinsville, Ga. Mueller, who knocked off medalist Brett Coletta on Wednesday, rolled in a 60-foot putt with six feet of break on the 18th hole to seal the victory. That’s the same green – usually the ninth in member play – that Jerry Barber made a similar putt on to force a playoff with Don January in the 1961 PGA Championship.

Burge’s Illinois teammate, Thomas Detry, also lost. He fell to Japan’s Kenta Konishi on the 19th hole, Konishi making a five-foot birdie putt to close out the match.

David Cooke, who prepped in Bolingbrook and is a senior at North Carolina State, dropped his match to David Oraee, 2 up.

A full report later today, after the round of 16 concludes.

– Tim Cronin

U.S. Am Wednesday: Illinois' perfect day

Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Todd Mitchell chuckled when he asked if he’d thought of playing golf for money, as in, on the PGA Tour.

“I spend money to play golf,” Mitchell said, grinning.

He had a right to grin after surviving his opening round match in the 115th U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields Country Club, a 1 up victory over Chase Koepka, the brother of PGA Tour regular Brooks Koepka. Mitchell was 3 up with six holes to play, watched Koepka rally to square the match on the 17th holes, then got up and down for par at the last to advance to a second-round match against Australian Ryan Ruffels.

“It was kind of a battle of who can make the least mistakes,” Mitchell said.

It’s the first time in three U.S. Amateur match play appearances that Mitchell, a Bloomington insurance executive, has advanced to the round of 32. Last time, he went up against Webb Simpson, who has since won the U.S. Open.

He’ll have hometown company. Illinois redshirt senior Alex Burge rolled over Sam Stevens, 5 and 4, in his opening round test. And David Cooke, who prepped in Bolingbrook and now calls Lisle home, scored a 3 and 2 victory over Hank Lebioda of Winter Springs, Fla., making Illinois residents 3-for-3.

Thomas Detry, Burge’s Illini teammate from Belgium, also scored a first round victory.

Even with a whiff on the 11th when his ball was sitting on roots between trees, Mitchell was 3 up on Koepka after 12 holes. Then Koepka won the 13th, 16th and 17th holes with pars to take the match to the 18th tee. Neither player found the fairway, and neither found the green with their approaches. Mitchell was in the deep greenside bunker to the left with little green to work with, but stopped his bunker shot five feet past the hole and sank the slider to save par. Koepka couldn’t match that, and Mitchell could breathe again.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Mitchell said. “Everybody knows who Chase Koepka is, one of the best amateurs in the world. We both made some mistakes.”

Mitchell’s final putt was perfect, turning to the left and disappearing.

“I just knew where I wanted to start it and knew how hard to hit it. That's all I thought of,” Mitchell said.

Burge used birdies to win the fourth and fifth holes of his match against Stevens and never looked back. Pars on Nos. 9, 10 and 11, against bogeys by Stevens, gave Burge a 5-up bulge.

“I was even par on a windy day,” Burge said. “I didn’t really change my mind-set from the first two days. Just hit fairways and greens and try to have other people make mistakes. I did a pretty good job of that today and it turned out well.”

What Burge wasn’t at the start was settled down. Stroke-play qualifying had to conclude before match play began, even as an 18-for-10 spots playoff was going on.

“It was a little hectic,” Burge said. “I got here at 8:40 or so and I was just hanging out to hear about tee times. I knew the first tee time was 9:45. I went out to putt at 9:15 and got a call at 9:20 that my tee time was 9:45. It was kind of a quick warm-up. I hit seven balls and a few putts and was on the tee."

Cooke rattled the cage of Hank Lebioda right away, reaching the green of the 627-yard par-5 first hole in two and two-putting for birdie, then slamming his tee shot on the par-4 second about 50 yards to the left of the fairway, and recovering for another birdie. Two up after two holes, and Lebioda never knew what hit him.

“It was a good start,” Cooke said matter-of-factly.

It got better. He and Lebioda nearly aced the par-4 fourth, Cooke’s shot trickling down a slope to 14 inches, Lebioda’s to six inches.

“That was pretty cool, having two shots inside two feet and going ‘good-good,’ ” Cooke said. “We couldn’t see from the tee, but did when we walked over the slope and seeing both balls in there was pretty cool.”

Cooke never led by less than 2 up after the sixth hole and closed Lebioda out with a par on the par 4 16th hole.

Detry beat Matt Oshriner of Baltimore 2 up, rallying from a 3 down deficit after six holes. Detry won five of the last 12 holes, including the 18th, to move on.

The round of 32 sees Burge facing Kyle Mueller, who knocked off medalist Brett Coletta, at 7 a.m., Detry playing Kenta Konishi of Japan at 7:10 a.m., Mitchell lining up against Ryan Ruffels at 7:20 a.m., and Cooke facing off with David Oraee at 8:20 a.m.

Around Olympia Fields

Defending champion Gunn Yang fell 3 and 2 to Cameron Young, then barely shook Young’s hand. Said Young, “I think it was just a little frustration, nothing personal. I think it was a moment of shock after missing a short putt.” ... NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau routed Robby Salomon 8 and 6, which wasn’t the widest margin of the day. Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, Mo., scored an 8 and 7 victory over New Zealander Josh Munn. ... DeChambeau escaped a two-stroke penalty for a late start in stroke play qualifying because he was relying on a tee-time sheet that the USGA revised, but never advised him. ... Ruffels advanced via a 5 and 4 victory over 2014 Western Amateur champion Beau Hossler. ... Paul Dunne, who made a big splash in the British Open, beat Robbie Ziegler 2 up. ... World No. 1 amateur Jon Rahm-Rodriguez of Spain hit his approach to three feet on the third extra hole to eliminate George Cunningham of Tucson, Ariz. ... Coletta's 7-under-par 133 won the stroke-play qualifying medal.

Fox’ broadcast booth is by the first fairway of the South Course, which isn’t being used for match play, because the backdrop of the clubhouse is more attractive than the view from the North Course, which would include the parking lot. As is standard in television golf coverage, Joe Buck and Greg Norman are calling the action off monitors. ... Tuesday night’s monsoon, which hit just after 8 p.m., dropped another 1.5 inches of rain on the golf course, making the total 4 inches over the last 10 days. The grounds crew couldn’t even cut the fairways on Wednesday morning, things were so soaked. Said Todd Mitchell, “It's hard to describe how difficult it’s playing out there. The golf course is playing long because it’s soft. They’ve moved some tees up but when the wind’s blowing 25 mph, it doesn’t make it any easier.”

– Tim Cronin

U.S. Am: Burge makes a surge

Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Alex Burge is the forgotten member of Illinois’ golf team. The Bloomington resident is the Fighting Illini who didn’t get to fight last season, when the Illini won the Big Ten and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship.

He’s making up for that disappointment. Earlier this summer, he won the CDGA Amateur  and annexed medalist honors to boot. Now, he’s barged into the match-play field of 64 players for the 115th U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Burge, now in masters studies at Illinois, said he didn’t turn pro because his game needs honing. With the opportunity to practice at the team’s new facility in Champaign, Burge may be better than he thinks.

Tuesday on Olympia’s North Course, he added a 1-over-par 71 to Monday’s even-par 70 on the South to total 1-over 141, eight strokes behind medalist Brett Coletta, an Australian who went around the North in 4-under 66 to total 7-under 133 for 36 holes.

Burge’s effort was good for a tie for 25th when play was suspended because of darkness, and a berth in match play. His opponent won’t be known until Wednesday morning, when the second stroke play round concludes, along with the almost-inevitable playoff for the final spots.

“It’s a grind out here,” Burge said. “Just hit greens was my goal. I didn’t care if I was 35 feet away.”

That was a prudent play, given the deep rough – about three inches, and thick after a downpour late Monday night that delayed the start of Tuesday’s activity – and the other disasters that can befall one straying from the fairways and greens.

“I thought right around even (par) would be in for sure,” Burge said. “I want to shoot as low as I can just to shoot a low number, but once you get to match play, it’s anyone’s game.”

Burge went 4-0 in matches to win the CDGA Amateur at Knollwood Club, so he’s not unfamiliar with the mano-a-mano battles to come. Before that, he’d played on the Illinois team that took second in the NCAAs in 2013. But Mike Small red-shirted him after his junior year.

“Sitting out last year wasn’t the most fun thing to do, but I think it’ll pay off in the future,” Burge said. “I thought an extra year playing with coach (Small), playing and learning, just growing more can only help.”

Burge and Illinois Open winner David Cooke were the only Illinoisans to advance to match play from a group of 12.

Cooke also scored 141, adding an even-par 70 on the North. He birdied the par-4 16th to get back to 1-over at a time when it appeared 2-over 142 would be the score needed to make the playoff for match play. Later, the wind blew and the scores went up, shoving the likely cut to 143 before play was suspended for the day.

“I was on the bubble,” Cooke said of his nine-foot birdie putt on the 16th. “I knew I needed to get at least one or two back coming in. The 16th was the last good look I’d have.”

The par-3 17th hole was stretched to 240 yards and the par-4 ninth to 466, the cup back on the top shelf.

The big surprise among the state contingent was Northbrook’s Nick Hardy. The Illinois sophomore-to-be fired a 7-over 77 on North to blow himself out of the tournament at 5-over 145.

Other Illinois scores that failed to make the grade included Roselle’s Dan Stringfellow (73-72–145, +5), Western Springs’ Daniel Hudson (76-70–146, +6), Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim (76-70–146, +6), Lake Bluff’s Andrew Price (75-73, 148, +8), Knoxville’s Mack Foster (79-76–155, +15), Marion’s Jordan Lewis (80-81–161, +21), and, next to last in the field of 312, St. Charles’ Jordan Wetsch (89-77–166, +26). Yet to finish were Bloomington’s Todd Mitchell (3-over overall, 1-under on his opening nine) and Crystal Lake’s Ethan Farnam (12-over overall, 1-over with one hole to play).

Around Olympia Fields

The horn blew to suspend play for darkness at 7:11 p.m. The last group to finish on the South Course putted out in the gloaming at 7:25 p.m. There are 54 players left to finish. ... George Cunningham of Tucson aced the par-3 14th on the South Course en route to a 4-under 66 for 3-under 137. ... Notable trunk-slammers – as the late Phil Kosin would have said – included mid-amateur notable Nathan Smith (145), 2013 Western Amateur champion and 2015 British Open low amateur Jordan Niebrugge (146), Fighting Illini team member Charlie Danielson (147), and, in the morning, Western Amateur runner-up Aaron Wise (T127 at suspension, 6-over with nine to play). ... And Hogan didn’t make it either. Jonny Hogan of Santa Barbara, Calif., that is. He shot 149. ... On the bubble: World No. 1 amateur Jon Rahm-Rodriguez and 2014 Western Amateur winner Beau Hossler (T56 at suspension, 2-over 143). ... The deluge late Monday night that shoved back the start of play on Tuesday brought the total for the eight days since the USGA took over the course to three inches, grounds superintendent Sam MacKenzie said. ... The delay was only 90 minutes because MacKenzie’s ace staff was all over the place before dawn, picking up debris, doing squeegee work on greens, and repairing bunkers. As a result, aside from a bit of standing water in the rough, there was no way to tell it had rained at all.

– Tim Cronin

Hardy in the hunt at U.S. Amateur

    Writing from Olympia Fields, Illinois
    Monday, August 17, 2015

    The first day of the U.S. Amateur is an interesting study in golf and golfers. Each man in the field of 312 players comes in knowing that only 20 percent of the group will still be around on Wednesday, when match play commences.
    And each man is confident they’ll be among that 20 percent. That represents 64 places. By hitting fairways and making some putts, how hard can it be?
    Then the bell rings and the discovery is made. It can be very hard.
    Monday at Olympia Fields Country Club was only the latest example in a string that stretches back to 1895.
    For every Nick Hardy, the Illinois sophomore-to-be who cruised around the South Course in 2-under-par 68, a score that placed him in a tie for ninth entering Tuesday’s second round of qualifying, there was an Ethan Farnam. His 11-over 81 on the North Course all but guarantees he’ll be going back to Crystal Lake on Tuesday night without a berth in the field of 64.
    Golf can be tough that way. Style counts for nothing, pedigree even less. The raw number rules.
    Just ask Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights. The sophomore-to-be at Texas scored 6-over 76 on the testing North Course, despite authoring what might have been the shot of a day, a 180-yard approach from the to the ninth green that flew under the branches of one tree, soared over the next tree, missed the one after that, caught the green by inches and rolled to within four feet of the cup.
    Ghim missed the putt. He’s in a tie for 219th going into the second round. Golf can be tough that way.
    The rest of his round? Tough.
    “I didn’t make enough putts, didn’t put it in play enough, and didn’t play smart,” Ghim said. “I came in thinking to shoot around even par and have a relatively stress-free day (Tuesday).”
    Now, the heat will be on. The South Course is about a stroke easier, but that doesn’t mean his morning will be easy. Even with a 65 or 66, he’ll have to wait several hours to see if he makes the field – or ends up in a playoff.
    “I have to think my way around,” Ghim said. “Today, I let emotions get in my way.”
    Those bubbled up when he double-bogeyed the second hole. And with family watching a rare home game, it was difficult for Ghim keep them in check. Tuesday may be different. Nobody wants to go home, whether near or far, before match play begins.
    A 65 on the South is possible. Matt NeSmith of North Augusta, S.C., carded precisely that on Monday morning, a stroke better than the 66s of Ryan Ruffels and Kenta Konishi on the North and Lee McCoy and Nathan Yankovich on the South.
    Nobody else in the Illinois resident contingent could keep up with Hardy, though fellow Fighting Illini teammate Alex Burge (Bloomington) scored even-par 70 on the South to come close.
    David Cooke (Bolingbrook) fired a 71 on South, Dan Stringfellow (Roselle) opened with a 73 on North, while Todd Mitchell (Bloomington) fashioned a 74 on North.
    Andrew Price (Lake Bluff) shot 75 on North, Daniel Hudson (Western Springs) a 76 on North to match Ghim, Mack Foster (Knoxville) scored 79 on South, Jordan Lewis (Marion) took 80 on South, and Jordan Wetsch (St. Charles) brought up the rear with an 89 on North for solo possession of 312th place.
    Illinois senior-to-be Charlie Danielson fired a 75 on South, while teammate Thomas Detry of Belgium answered to a 72 on North.
    Defending champion Gunn Yang opened with a 73 on North. Beau Hossler, last year’s Western Amateur champion, scored 75 on North. Jon Rahm-Rodriguze of Spain, the world’s top-ranked amateur, opened with a 74 on North.
    Western Amateur runner-up Aaron Wise had a 75 on South, while British Open low amateur Jordan Niebrugge scored 73 on South, while Paul Dunne, whose showing at St. Andrews through 54 holes prompted a special invitation from the USGA, carded a 71 on North. NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau fired a 70 on South.
    Missing from the field of 312 is Western Amateur champion Dawson Armstrong, who triumphed 10 days ago at Rich Harvest Farms. Armstrong failed to make it through U.S. Amateur qualifying, and the Western Am champ doesn’t get an exemption.

    – Tim Cronin