Ghim and bear it: He's the medalist

    Writing from Chicago
    Thursday, July 31, 2014

    Doug Ghim all but admitted it.
    He took the morning off, which is why and how he scored 2-over 73 in the third round of the 112th Western Amateur.
    But there was an extenuating circumstance: The course-record 63 the 18-year-old Arlington Heights standout chalked up at Beverly Country Club the day before.
    “I never quite got acclimated in the morning,” Ghim said. “The 63 put pressure on me.”
    Apparently, the 73 took the pressure off, for Ghim, who went from leader to pursuer, fired a 6-under-par 65 in the afternoon round, with birdies on the first two holes and an eagle on the seventh to light the way. That resounding rebound, punctuated by a two-putt birdie at the last, brought Ghim the stroke play victory at 14-under-par 270, an honor which will mean only that he’s the biggest target when match play commences and he, as the top seed, shakes hands with 16th-seeded Matt Hansen on the first tee at 7:30 on Friday morning.
    Hansen advanced with a 25-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. He, Nicholas Echavarria and Adam Schenk tied for 16th at 5-under 279, all three scoring even-par 71 in their final round to force extra holes. The trio parred the par-3 10th, and that took them to the par-4 16th, where all three hit the green in two, and Hansen found the cup first.
    Ghim’s closing 65 came with him paired with third-round leader Bryson DeChambeau, who stood at 11-under 202, a stroke ahead of Joshua Mann. Ghim was tied for third, three strokes in arrears.
    Not for long. A few encouraging words from his sister at lunch buoyed the incoming Texas freshman, and he went to the first tee with vigor.
    “It was right off the bat,” Ghim said. “Birdied the first hole and on No. 2, I had a tough 6-footer for birdie. I had it going.”
    Golf’s a funny game that way. But when Ghim’s going, look out. DeChambeau opened bogey-bogey, and the four-stroke swing, coupled with Mann parring every hole on the front nine, put Ghim back in control. His big drive and equally stout second left him about 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh. It might as well have been a gimme, so confidently did he stroke it home.
    “I got to the point I felt confident the rest of the round,” Ghim said. “Honestly, I was a little bit irked with my play in the morning. There were a couple of annoyances.”
    Such as bogeys on the 15th and 17th, for instance. But he birdied the 18th – as he has in every round – and was on his merry way after lunch. Only a double-bogey on the par-4 15th scarred his card.
    Nine-under on the par-5s this week, he wanted to be 10-under with an eagle on the par-5 18th. It was possible after his 350-yard drive on the 599-yard hole, but his 240-yard 4-iron went a hair too far.
    “I wanted it to come up on the collar,” Ghim said. “Past the pin on that hole is not a good spot, and I was 20 feet past the pin. But it wasn’t too stressful.”
    He looked at the scoreboard to see where he stood, and calmly two-putted for birdie.
    The collegiate influence has been strong in top-level amateur golf since World War II, and  nothing this week is different. Three Illinois players (Brian Campbell, Charlie Danielson and inclming Nick Hardy) and three Texas Longhorns (Beau Hossler, Scottie Scheffler and the incoming Ghim) are in the Sweet Sixteen. There are no Fighting Illini-Longhorn matchups in the first round, and probably no favorites, either.
    “Match play is a game of circumstance,” Ghim said. “My match against (Jordan) Niebrugge at the Publinx is a great reminder of that.”
    Ghim needed 23 holes and a 10-footer for par to knock off Niebrugge in the round of 16 at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan. He made it all the way to the championship match.
    “If I stick to my game plan, I’ll be fine,” Ghim said.
    Niebrugge was in the mix for a Sweet Sixteen berth at lunch but shot 3-over 74 in the afternoon to miss the playoff by three strokes. Other notables going home include Frankfort’s Brian Bullington, China’s Zecheng Dou and Tianlang Guan, 32-year-old Andrew Price of Lake Bluff, and 51-year-old Michael McCoy, who needed a final-round 68 to make the playoff and posted a 78 instead.
    The qualifying score of 279 matched the low set at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club in 2004.

    The first round matches for Friday morning:

    7:30 – Doug Ghim (270), Arlington Heights, vs. Matt Hansen (279), Los Osos, Calif.
    7:45 – Cheng-Tsung Pan (276), Miaoli Country, Taiwan, vs. Beau Hossler (276), Mission Viejo, Calif.
    8:00 – Taylor Macdonald (274), Brisbane, Australia, vs. Scottie Scheffler (278), Dallas
    8:15 – Geoff Drakeford (274), Traralgon South, Australia, vs. Nick Hardy (278), Northbrook
    8:30 – Joshua Mann (272), Palmerston North, New Zealand, vs. Brian Campbell (278), Irvine, Calif.
    8:45 – Cory Crawford (276), Sanctuary Cove, Australia, vs. Lucas Herbert (276), Ravenswood, Australia
    9:00 – Bryson DeChambeau (272), Clovis, Calif., vs. Xander Schauffele (278), San Diego
    9:15 – Hunter Stewart (275), Nicholasville, Ky., vs. Charlie Danielson (277), Osceola, Wis.

    Only two of the 16, Pan and Hossler, have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before, and they’re matched against each other in the Round of 16.

    – Tim Cronin

DeChambeau to Western Am lead

    Writing from Chicago
    Thursday, July 31, 2014

    Sixty-three one day, 73 the next. Such was the fate of Doug Ghim on Thursday morning at Beverly Country Club. Ghim, the 18-year-old who fired a course record 63 in the second round of the 112th Western Amateur, scored 73 in the third round to fall out of the lead and into a tie for third.
    The leader after 54 holes, with the fourth round just underway, is Bryson DeChambeau, whose 4-under-par 67 moved him to 11-under 202 and a stroke ahead of Joshua Munn, who also scored 67. Ghim, Taylor Macdonald and Zecheng Dou were at 8-under 205 going into the afternoon round.
    The fight for the medal is one thing, but the biggest battle is for the final places in the Sweet Sixteen. Entering the final round, there was an eight-way tie for 11th, which included defending champion Jordan Niebrugge. Michael McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa, the lone senior in the field – he’s 51 – was tied for 27th, as was Brian Bullington of Frankfort. Tianlang  Guan of China, the 15-year-old sensation, scored 2-over 73 in the morning and was at 214, six strokes out of a Sweet Sixteen spot.
    – Tim Cronin

Ghim's record 63 settles the question

    Writing from Chicago
    Wednesday, July 30, 2014

    Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights is the antithesis of the pampered private-course golfer. At 18, recently graduated from Buffalo Grove High School, he’s grown up on private courses.
    “I go wherever there’s a bargain,” Ghim said. “Buffalo Grove, Old Orchard, wherever.”
    His star has been shining bright for some time – he’ll be enrolling at Texas within weeks to start his college career – and gained national attention recently with his runner-up finish in the last playing of the U.S. Public Links Championship.
    Wednesday, he surpassed even that with a course-record 8-under-par 63 at Beverly Country Club in the second round of stroke play qualifying in the 112nd Western Amateur. Coupled with his first round 69, his 36-hole aggregate of 10-under-par 132 earned him a three-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, Calif., entering Thursday’s 36-hole chase for spots in the Sweet Sixteen.
    “We just played smart all day,” Ghim said. “My dad (his caddie and teacher) and I made sure, especially after yesterday, seeing how important having uphill putts is here, that pin high was about as far as we’re going to go into the green. For most of the day I was below the hole, and made a couple of putts along the way.”
    More than a couple, actually. After opening with five pars, Ghim birdied the sixth, seventh and ninth holes, then added birds on Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14 for seven in nine holes, and one more for good measure on the par-5 18th. That one, a 10-foot left-to-right sidehill adventure, added a back nine 30 to his front nine 33.
    Ghim, who tied for 11th in the Western Junior at Beverly three years ago. He rides home with his dad every night. The feeling of familiarity and neighborliness has created a cocoon of comfort for him.
    “It’s a little bit easier when a tournament this big is at home,” Ghim told the WGA’s Barry Cronin. “Sleeping in your own bed, I’m not really that tired.”
    The rest of the field may tire of chasing him. DeChambeau added a 68 to his 67 for 7-under 135, while Illinois senior Brian Campbell, tied for third at 6-under 136, threw 11 threes on his card to post a 7-under 64, which would have tied the all-time course record, before and after the 2003 renovation by Ron Prichard, before Ghim worked his magic in the morning.
    “The wind was down, so the course was gettable,” Campbell said. “Just keep grinding for birdies.”
    Such as the one on the par-5 18th, where his second shot landed on a downhill slope to the front right of the green and with a small tree in the way. He slashed a lob wedge through the rough, the ball popped over the tree, bounced onto the green and finished on the collar, left and 25 feet from the cup.
    Now the fun began. Campbell surveyed the tilted green, which features a 5 percent slope where the cup was cut, and aimed high. The ball probably rolled 40 feet to find its target, falling into the cup from the high side.
    “It could have been the putt of my life,” Campbell said.
    Xander Schauffele and first round co-leader Geoff Drakeford are also at 136.
    A host of notables follow, including first round co-leader Zecheng Dou (tied for seventh at 5-under 137 after 1-over 72), 2012 U.S. Open contender Beau Hossler and Scott Scheffler (tied for 10th at 4-under 138), defending champion Jordan Niebrugge (tied for 13th at 3-under 139), and Frankfort’s Brian Bullington and 15-year-old Tianlang Guan of China (tied for 30th at 1-under 141).
    Niebrugge’s birdie putt at 18 which brought him in at 70 may have outdone the heroics of Ghim and Campbell combined. He was above the hole to the left, and had to aim slightly uphill and away from the cup to get the ball rolling on the proper trajectory.
    “Up the hill and 20 feet across, then 15 feet downhill,” Niebrugge said.
    He also said he was fortunate to be at 139, given his propensity to miss fairways, sometimes by wide margins.
    “I hung in and did what I could,” Niebrugge said. “When you’re not hitting fairways, it’s a struggle to attack pins. I’m hitting it fine. It’s more of a mental thing. But I’ve been able to get it up to the green somehow and able to make par.”
    The key for everyone on Wednesday was to get to the low 44 and ties to advance to Thursday’s 36-hole marathon, which will trim the field to the 16 eligible for match play. The cut fell at even par 142 and includes 50 players. Among those missing the cut: Trevor Sluman (nephew of Jeff Sluman), Wheaton’s Tim “Tee-K” Kelly, and Beverly club champion Dave Lubnik, whose 82-83 for 23-over 165 brought up the rear.
    – Tim Cronin

Texan Collins crushes IWO field

    Writing from Romeoville, Illinois
    Wednesday, July 30, 2014

    It’s a good feeling to have a five-stroke lead entering the final round of a tournament.
    Emily Collins had that feeling going into the finish of the 20th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open.
    She had an even better feeling down the stretch, when she led by as many as 10 strokes.
    Collins, a recent graduate of Oklahoma who hails from Colleyville, Tex., scored a nine-stroke victory and collected the first prize of $5,000 with a final round of 1-under-par 71 and a 54-hole aggregate of 4-under 212 at Mistwood Golf Club, her first victory as a professional.
    “I had won a couple other little things (as an amateur) in Texas,” Collins said. “I wouldn’t say I was surprised (at the final round). This is definitely exciting.”
    Knotted in fourth place were a quartet at 5-over 221: amateurs Ashley Armstrong of Flossmoor, who hadn’t played since representing Notre Dame in the NCAA regionals, Ember Schuldt of Sterling, and Lisbeth Brooks of Waunakee, Wis., and professional Allyssa Ferrell of Edgerton, Wis.
    “It was boring today, one bogey, one birdie,” said Armstrong, whose summer golf has been truncated by internships the last two years. “I could have had four or five more birdies.”
    Including one at the par-5 18th, where her curling uphill 10-footer stopped on the lip.
    Still, not bad for someone who’s barely playing these days. An engineering major, Armstrong has spent most of the summer interning at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, working on developing new prosthetics.
    “Design engineering,” Armstrong said. “It’s been an incredible experience.”
    She’ll be a senior in the fall and play one more season for the Irish, and after that, she doesn’t know.
    Collins, who graduated from Oklahoma with a communications degree, has her sights set on the LPGA circuit. On Monday, she’ll try to qualify for the LPGA tournament in Grand Rapids, and has a trip to the tour’s qualifying tournament penciled in for the fall.

    – Tim Cronin

Red is the color of amateur golf

    Writing from Chicago
    Tuesday, July 29, 2014

    It is amateur golf in name only, the game the field at the Western Amateur displayed on Tuesday at Beverly Country Club.
    How about 33 players under the testing par of 71 and another 23 at par in the first round of stroke play qualifying?
    How about a pair of 6-under-par 65s, a post-course renovation record posted by Australian Geoff Drakeford in the morning, and matched by China’s Zecheng Dou in the afternoon? How about a 66 by Adam Schenk of Vincennes, Ind., and a trio of 67s, one by China’s 15-year-old Tianlang Guan?
    That was just the start of it. Defending champion Jordan Niebrugge of Wisconsin scooted around in 69, the same as Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim, the recent runner-up in the U.S. Public Links Championship.
    Throw a field of proven pros on the course, and it’s not likely their average would have been much lower than what the amateurs posted in the opening round. These guys are also good.
    This international field has only just begun their barrage on Beverly. There’s another 18 holes on Wednesday, followed by a cut to the low 44 and ties, the survivors going 36 holes on Thursday. Then, after the equivalent of a PGA Tour tournament, the Sweet Sixteen advance to match play, which culminates in Saturday afternoon’s championship match.
    How low can they go? That, more than who will make the match play portion, is the question of the moment. Oh, and how many members will faint if a 64 or something lower goes on the board? (There have been 64s scored at Beverly before, but from shorter distances, both before the 2003 renovation and stretch to 7,016 yards by Ron Prichard, including as recently as a fortnight ago.)
    “It’s a terrific golf course, pretty challenging, especially on the greens,” Guan said after his 67. “You have to hit it on the fairway, on the green to score here.”
    Guan did that most of the time, though a sparkling save from a greenside bunker on the par-3 third also contributed to the cause. A 25-foot downhill slider for birdie on the par-4 ffith was even more impressive.
    And his drive on No. 8, a 424-yard par 4? Incomprehensible. It was a 330-yard bomb just to the left of the centerline bunker some 95 yards from the center of the green. Not only was he beyond everyone else’s drive, he was beyond everyone else’s divot. Was that the plan?
    “No,” Guan said. “But the wind was kind of crossing, and fairways were a bit firmer today.”
    Ghim, in Guan’s group, was impressed.
    “At any age, he’s a good player, and especially at that age,” said Ghim, himself merely 18. “It was an honor to play with him. Great to play with someone from the other side of the world.”
    Ghim was the rare player in the field who has tackled Beverly before. He played in the 2011 Western Junior, finishing 11th. Thus, good memories upon his return, and in one of his tournaments with an all-adult field. He was eligible to play in one more PGA Junior, but, with his enrollment at Texas imminent, thought it best to get into the big-time swing this summer.
    “For the first round, not bad,” Ghim said. “There are a couple of things I have to work on.”
    One of them isn’t putting. With a 10th tee start, he ran down three straight birdies from the 18th through the second holes and had four in all.
    Drakeford, who calls Traraigon South, Australia, home, birdied seven of his first 14 holes and was in sight of a 64, the mark established by Tom Weiskopf in the 1967 Chick Evans Pro-Am in advance of the Western Open. It has since been matched three times, but the Beverly that Weiskopf traversed, albeit with persimmon woods and a wound ball, was, at 6,867 yards, 149 yards shorter than the Beverly of today.
    “I missed three eight-footers on the front nine or it could’ve been scary,” Drakeford said of his round.
    He came in on a high, winner of last week’s Porter Cup in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Beau Hossler of Mission Viejo, Calif., who came in second in the Porter, scored 67 for a share of fourth place, including a sizzling 30 on his back nine.
    Drakeford was finished when Dou teed off. The Beijing resident who spent some of his formative years in Canada was 6-under after 12 holes and parred in, finishing on the front nine.
    “It was really windy two days ago, and I thought the course was going to play tough,” Dou said, recalling a practice round. “The wind was a lot softer, not moving as much.”
    
    – Tim Cronin