Kiwi Kobori captures Western Amateur

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Kazuma Kobori is a 5-foot-7 dynamo from Rangiora, New Zealand, who will be better known in North America within a few years.

He doesn’t hit it long, but he can putt, and even in this era of extreme length, a great putter is a match for anyone.

Kobori proved that on Saturday, scoring a 1 up victory over Christiaan Maas of Pretoria, South Africa to capture the 121st Western Amateur. His 15-foot birdie putt at the last locked up the title in the first all-Southern Hemisphere championship match in Western Am history.

It also made Kobori the first player to win a Western Am after capturing a professional tournament since Phil Mickelson, whose Western Am crown came eight months after he won the 1991 Tucson Open as an amateur. The Japanese-born Kobori, 21, has won two events open to pros, including the New Zealand PGA.

Joining a list of champions featuring Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, along with Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw, Chick Evans and Francis Ouimet, well, that’s another level.

“To win one is something I never imagined,” Kobori said. “It feels incredible.”

Kobori also locked up the Elite Amateur Series title with the victory, and that brings him an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Amateur, a Korn Ferry Tour start in 2024 and an exemption into final qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Open. He’ll also get an exemption into the WGA-sanctioned NV5 Championship next year at The Glen Club for a second Korn Ferry start.

For a while in the championship match, it appeared neither Kobori nor Maas really wanted to grab hold of the George Thorne Trophy. The grind of the format – the title match is their eighth round of competition in five days, plus a pair of practice and co-am rounds – mitigates against really crisp play at the end.

First, Maas hooked an approach into the hedge well left of the par-4 second green. That he escaped with a miraculous par from out of the front green side bunker following chopping our from the hedge is to his credit. 

“He’s left of left, finds it, and then I had a weird feeling he was going to hole the bunker shot,” Kobori said.

But Maas bogeyed the next two holes to give Kobori a 2 up lead. Then Kobori watched Maas go around the turn at North Shore Country Club 3-3-3, winning the ninth and 10th holes to take the lead. Kobori needed to answer.

“I was playing well, but Christiaan was playing well and I knew it was a matter of time,” Kobari said. “He putted unreal.”

Kobari’s answer came on the 12th hole, a short birdie putt to square the match and regain the tee. Kobori wasn’t completely in control – both he and Maas plunked their approaches in the pond on the par-5 15th – but he made the most of it on 17, with a sturdy par 4 while Maas hit his tee shot behind a tree and failed to get up and down from behind the green.

Kobari’s 15-foot birdie putt at the last finished the match. Inches farther away from the cup than Maas, he rolled it perfectly, the ball falling into the cup with its last turn as 300 spectators, many of them North Shore members, watched.

“I just told myself that Christiaan hits unbelievable golf shots,” Kobari said. “If he does that and he beats me, I can live with that as long as I play my game and give it my all.”

For Maas, who at 21st was the highest-world ranked amateur remaining after Friday’s Sweet Sixteen and quarterfinal carnage (Kobori was 49th), it was a case of the swing betraying him at the worst moments.

“It’s kind of sad,” Maas said. “I know there’s a lot of shots out there I should have (made). I three-putted 12 from the fringe, I should have made an 8-footer on 14, and he hits it in the water on 15 and I follow him, flaring it. He kind of gave it to me. I should have been 2 up.”

Instead, the match remained all square. Then came the 17th, where Kobori found the fairway and Maas found a spot behind a giant oak tree to the left of the fairway leading to the bogey that effectively sealed his fate.

“I didn’t feel comfortable over that tee shot the whole week,” Maas said.

Kobori, of course, has the goal of making it to the PGA Tour. He says he drives about 280 yards, which is about 20 yards under the circuit’s average and would place him almost at the bottom of the list, at 190th. Only David Lingmerth and Brian Stuard average less than that.

Kobori was mentored around North Shore by Jack Hammond, a 42-year-old member who caddied at the club as a kid and picked up his bag as well as hosting him. That knowledge was critical at times.

“I’m so happy he jumped on,” Kobori said. “He provided a lot of insight.”

The morning semifinals didn’t get past the 16th green. Maas led Drew Goodman of Norman, Oklahoma and the Sooners all the way, but only by 2-up at the turn, and only 1 up after Maas bogeyed the 10th hole. But Goodman’s putter betrayed him and Maas used birdies on 14 and 15 to go dormie 3, winning 3 and 2.

Kobori made even quicker work of Matthew McClean of Belfast, Northern Ireland, racing to a 5-up lead at the turn even after losing the first hole. Kobori won the par-5 12th with a birdie to go 6 up and eliminated the optometrist on the par-3 13th by matching McClean’s par for a 6 and 5 outcome.

– Tim Cronin 

Semifinals

Kobori d. McClean 6 & 5

Maas d. Goodman 3 & 2

Championship

Kobori d. Maas 1 up

Can a Goodman win again at North Shore?

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Friday, August 4, 2023

Ninety years ago, Johnny Goodman won the U.S. Open at North Shore Country Club.

Saturday, another fellow named Goodman – different family, same fine golf game – has a chance to win the 121st Western Amateur on the same course.

Johnny Goodman became the most recent amateur to capture the National Open with 36 holes on a sweltering Saturday. Drew Goodman, of the University of Oklahoma golf team, will need to go 36 holes, more or less, to lift the George Thorne Trophy.

“It would be kind of cool to have the same name up there on the board,” Goodman said. “But there are two more matches tomorrow.”

Goodman played his way into position by knocking off the world’s No. 2 amateur, Michael Thorbjornsen, the 2021 Western Am winner, in 20 holes in Friday morning’s Sweet Sixteen match. Then he made much quicker work of Jimmy Zheng of New Zealand and Duke in the afternoon. That 5 and 3 dispatching allowed him to leave North Shore for a pizza dinner well before sunset.

“I felt I drove it well in the first round, like I have all week,” Goodman said. “It was ugly (in the afternoon). Besides the first few holes, I was kinda running out of gas. Driving it all over the place. Jimmy kind of gave it to me at the beginning and led me get a lead.

“I made a good birdie on No. 7 and a really, really good par (save) on No. 8. After that, he gave me No. 10.”

After that, it was a matter of maintaining the lead. Goodman’s birdie on No. 14 closed the match.

Goodman faces Christian Maas of Pretoria, South Africa and Texas in the semifinals. Kazuma Kobori plays Matthew McClean, a 30-year-old optometrist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and last year's U.S. Mid-Amateur winner, in the other semifinal.

At No. 21, Maas is the highest-ranking player remaining in the knockout competition.

“I’m still rusty from winter back home,” Maas said after a 3 and 2 dispatching of Nick Dunlap in the quarterfinals. “But there are a lot of positives. I kind of know where the golf ball’s going and I’ve been putting well.”

That combination will take you a long way at North Shore, where the rough is up and the greens are slick. Maas also closed his morning match out on the 16th hole, beating Wenyi Ding of Beijing 3 & 2 as well.

Local favorite Mac McClear of Hinsdale and the Iowa Hawkeyes fell in 20 holes to Kazuma Kobori of Rangiora, New Zealand in the Round of 16. They traded the lead back and forth across the first 16 holes until McClear tied it with a birdie at the par-4 17th. They halved the next two holes. Both players needed three strokes to reach the green on the 505-yard par 4th, but McClear missed from six feet and Kobori made from three feet, prompting a handshake.

McClean because the last mid-amateur standing after Gustav Frimodt knocked off 32-year-old finance expert Stewart Hagestad, 4 and 2, in the Sweet Sixteen. Hagestad still has hopes for the U.S. Walker Cup team, and McClean could have enhanced his chances to make the Great Britain and Ireland team.

– Tim Cronin

Sweet Sixteen

Carson Bacha d. Brendan Valdes, 19 holes

Kazuma Kobori d. Mac McClear, 20 holes

Gustav Frimodt d. Stewart Hagestad, 4 & 2

Matthew McClean d. Preston Summerhays, 2 & 1

Drew Goodman d. Michael Thorbjornsen, 20 holes

Jimmy Zheng d. Caden Fioroni, 5 & 3

Nick Dunlap d. Cole Sherwood, 3 & 1

Christiaan Maas d. Wenyi Ding, 3 & 2

Quarterfinals

Kobori d. Bacha, 2 up

McClean d. Frimodt, 5 & 4

Goodman d. Zheng, 5 & 4

Maas d. Dunlap, 3 & 2

Saturday’s Semifinals

Kobori vs. McClean, 8 a.m.

Goodman vs. Maas, 8:12 a.m.

Valdes captures Western Am medalist honors

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Brendan Valdes looks like he has something left in his tank after 72 holes in the Western Amateur.

That’s a good thing, because the real tournament is just beginning.

Valdes, from Orlando, Fla., and Auburn, captured Western Amateur medalist honors at North Shore Country Club on Wednesday, adding rounds of 3-under-par 68 and 2-under 69 for a four-round total of 15-under 269 on the 7,193-yard course.

For that, he received a silver plate and gets his name on the Cameron Eddy Trophy.

And he gets to play more golf along with 15 fellow competitors in the match-play portion of the competition bright and early on Friday, beginning with a Sweet Sixteen match against Auburn teammate Carson Bacha. If Valdes wins four more matches, he wins the 121st edition of the Western Am, and will be remembered far longer than for being the medalist.

“I’ve played five rounds including the practice rounds,” Valdes said. “I’m through one tournament and now I have another one. I’m excited about it.”

To Valdes, switching from stroke play to match play doesn’t mean a completely different mentality.

“It’s the same thing,” Valdes said. “Instead of going out and beating the whole field I have to beat one guy. I wouldn’t say it’s too different. Maybe go at a few more pins?”

Why not? He’s already made 21 birdies and an eagle. At North Shore, that doesn’t happen by being bashful.

Valdes, whose first big splash in golf came five years ago by winning the Boys 14-15 bracket of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at Augusta National, made the U.S. Open field but missed the cut, and also qualified for the U.S. Amateur later in the month.

As always, the Sweet Sixteen is studded with notables, mostly young, but with one oldster.

The only Illinoisan who advanced is Mac McClear, the two-time Illinois Amateur and Big Ten individual champion from Hinsdale and Iowa. McClear plays Kazuma Kobori of Rangiora, New Zealand, at 8:12 a.m. Friday.

The one former champion advancing is Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass., who was on the bubble or close to it most of the day. Thorbjornsen saw his birdie putt on the 72nd hole lip out, forcing the 2021 winner into a seven-for-four playoff for those at 8-under 276. He acquitted himself admirably, lifting his 95-yard approach to within three feet of the cup on the first playoff hole, North Shore’s testing ninth, to advance.

The old man in the field is Stewart Hagestad, the only mid-amateur to make the Sweet Sixteen. The 32-year-old financial executive also used a playoff birdie to get in. That could help his chances at making a fourth straight Walker Cup team. Those selections will be made after the U.S. Amateur in a fortnight. Thorbjornsen has already been named to the squad.

Carson Bacha of York, Pa., and Cole Sherwood of Austin, Tex., also advanced in the playoff. Ian Gilligan of Reno, Nev., Karl Vilips of Perth, Australia, and Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown, Ohio, were eliminated.

Ben Sluzas of Lockport and Ryan Banas of Winnetka, the latter part of a North Shore member family, missed the playoff by nine and 22 strokes, respectively.

Live coverage of match play will be on www.westernamateur.com and on Peacock at 10 a.m. CT., with the quarterfinals following in the afternoon. The semifinals and championship match are on Saturday.

– Tim Cronin

Round of 16 Matches

8 a.m. – Brendan Valdes (269), Orlando, Fla. vs. Carson Bacha (276*), York, Pa.

8:12 a.m. – Mac McClear (274), Hinsdale, Ill., vs. Kazuma Kobori (275), Rangiora, New Zealand

8:24 a.m. – Gustav Frimodt (272), Glomsbjerg, Denmark vs. Stewart Hagestad (276*), Newport Beach, Calif.

8:36 a.m. – Matthew McClean (272), Belfast, Northern Ireland, vs. Preston Summerhays (275), Scottsdale, Ariz.

8:48 a.m. – Drew Goodman (271), Norman, Okla., vs. Michael Thorbjornsen (276*), Wellesley, Mass.

9 a.m. – Jimmy Zheng (274), Auckland, New Zealand, vs. Caden Fioroni (275), San Diego, Calif.

9:12 a.m. – Nick Dunlap (272), Huntsville, Ala., vs. Cole Sherwood (276*), Austin, Tex.

9:24 a.m. – Wenyi Ding (273), Beijing, vs. Christiaan Maas (275), Pretoria, South Africa

India inks Illinois Open title

Writing from Flossmoor, Illinois

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Vince India came into Illinois Open week unsure of his swing.

He left, racing to O’Hare to catch a 7:59 p.m. flight to Salt Lake City, more sure of every phase of his game.

India, three strokes behind with six holes to play, first passed Luke Gannon of downstate Monticello, then caught Dylan Meyer with a birdie on Flossmoor Golf Club’s par-5 18th hole to force extra holes. India then beat Meyer with another birdie on the classic finishing hole, the last of a three-hole aggregate, to win the Illinois Open for the second time.

The prize, along with $21,702, was the confidence that he could accomplish what he attempted to do. By his admission, the 34-year-old India didn’t play perfect golf, but outlasted Meyer.

“I had to be smart about where I was attacking and where I was laying down,” India said. “You could be in some awful spots on the wrong side of the hole. I rolled the ball really well. My putter kind of bailed me out, to be honest.”

Twists and turns abounded all day, including at the end. India rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the 17th hole to tap in for birdie on the 18th for a 54-hole total of 8-under-par 208, then, after matching Meyer with a par on the first playoff hole, was wide and short with his approach on No. 17 in the second hole of the playoff.

“I whiffed it,” India said of his 6-iron.

His third went over the green and he hit a sub-par chip, but recovered to sink a tremendous 10-footer for bogey, then watched Meyer three-putt for a matching five. The third playoff hole loomed.

India split the fairway, picked up at least 60 yards of roll, and had only a 9-iron in on the 535-yard hole. Meyer was in the left rough, and still managed to get home, but his approach drifted into the left bunker, and on a downslope, at that, close to plugging.

“Bad rake job,” he said. “I went for the hero shot, went a little right and got in that bunker. I tried to hit a high spinner. It went high and it ran.”

He caught more ball than he wanted and saw his third shot end up well past the hole, about 18 inches off the back edge of the green. From there, his birdie putt went wide left. India two-putted from about 20 feet for the birdie and win.

India, who won his first title in 2018, becomes the 13th multiple winner of the championship. Mike Small had been the most recent repeat winner, with four titles in a five-year span ending in 2007.

“I haven’t won something in a long time,” India said. “In a sport full of losing, this is pretty awesome.”

India hadn’t played in the Illinois Open since that 2018 triumph, settling in on the Korn Ferry Tour. He registered for this year’s state championship because the KFT was in town last week. He finished 21st in the NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club, earning $9,392. Thursday, he has an afternoon tee time in the Utah Championship, about $31,000 richer for seven rounds of golf close to home.

Remarkably, Small was in the hunt when the day began, trying to become the oldest winner at age 57, but stumbled to a 4-over 76 for 1-under 215, part of a fivesome tied for 13th.

Meyer, eager to gain full-time KFT status this fall, took the solo lead at the turn thanks to a birdie at the par-5 ninth. He was 8-under, India and Gannon 7-under and nobody else closer than three strokes. He played the back nine in even-par 36, kicking himself verbally on several occasions for missing putts.

“Pretty disappointing,” Meyer said. “Hit it pretty solid but didn’t make any putts. Made a few 20-footers, missed a few crucial five-footers. That led to some pretty unfortunate bogeys. I keep looking back on hole 4, playing it 2-over on a 280-yard hole. It’s pretty piss-poor, honestly.”

Gannon led twice only to see Meyer and India rally. Gannon was 9-under after birdies on the 10th and 12th holes, but paid the price for attempting to drive the green on the 293-yard 14th. He left his ball in the front bunker and was fortunate to escape with bogey while both Meyer and India birdied, but then bogeyed the 15th and 16th as well.

Gannon finished with even par 72 for 6-under 210, tied for third with defending champion David Perkins, whose 4-under 68 matched the best round of the day, and low amateur Quinn Clifford, the 20-year-old who plays out of Beverly Country Club and attends Illinois Wesleyan.

“It means a lot,” said Clifford, who holed out for eagle for 1-under 71 from the same bunker that brought Meyer his greatest distress in the playoff. “It’s good for confidence rolling into school season, but for me, it resonates that I can compete with the best out here.”

Gannon’s decline left it between India and Meyer, which was what the smart money figured in the first place. They were the most experienced players of the moment, and their matching 70s on a day with the course set up to punish showed their worth.

Meyer left kicking himself, India left thrilled, and both – India beginning Thursday in Utah, Meyer beginning Friday in the Iowa Open – will try to make magic happen again this weekend. The grind goes on. 

Around Flossmoor

Flossmoor owner George Goich, a PGA pro, missed the 36-hole cut but caddied for Meyer on Wednesday. … India joins Bob Harris and Lance Ten Broeck as Illinois Open winners at Flossmoor. … It’s India’s third state major title. Along with the 2018 Illinois Open, he captured the 2010 Illinois Amateur. … It was the first playoff since 2013, when Joe Kinney won a three-way battle with Carlos Sainz Jr. and amateur Dustin Korte at The Glen Club. ... The field of 52 survivors averaged 74.26 strokes on Wednesday. … Gannon, Joe Zawaski (T-13), Timothy Lim (T-13), Zach Burry (T-20), Tim “Tee-K” Kelly (T-24), Kyle Kochevar (T-26), Luke Armbrust (T-32), Roy Biancalana (T-38) and Ethan Farnam (MC) are among those who followed Meyer down I-80 to the Iowa Open, which offers a $25,000 first prize but only $53,800 overall. India won it in 2009.

– Tim Cronin

Illinois Open shootout looms at Flossmoor

Writing from Flossmoor, Illinois

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

A dartboard might be the best way to predict the winner of the 74th Illinois Open, which finishes Wednesday after a tumultuous second round at Flossmoor Golf Club on Tuesday.

The protagonists vying for the trophy and the $20,000 first prize are a mixture of players from near and far:

• Vince India, a Chicagoan on the Korn Ferry Tour who won the Illinois Open in 2018 and says he’s searching for his swing even after a 4-under 68 to share the lead at 6-under 138 through 36 holes;

• Luke Gannon, from downstate Monticello, who scored 67 for 138 on Tuesday, finished second to Tim “Tee-K” Kelly at Stonebridge Country Club two years ago, and whose stumble down the stretch last year still gnaws at him;

• Dylan Meyer, a Hoosier from Evansville who also stands at 138 and is threatening to win in his first appearance under the recent rule change allowing non-Illinoisans who went to an Illinois college to play;

• Mike Small, who coached Meyer at Illinois, the likely best 57-year-old golfer on the planet, whose 70 for 5-under 139 places him tied for fourth; 

• Quinn Clifford, an Illinois Wesleyan student who wasn’t recruited by Meyer, probably because he switched from basketball to golf after his sophomore year at Brother Rice, but has proven his worth after rounds of 69 and 70 to lead the amateur brigade;

• Kyle English of Bloomington, bidding to become the first club professional to capture the state championship of Illinois golf since Todd Tremaglio in 1990;

• and Anthony Albano Jr., an erstwhile Illinois Wesleyan grad who has finished eighth and tied for seventh the last two years while kicking around mini-tours, the last of the quartet at 139 thanks to one-putting the last seven holes.

Another seven players are within four strokes of India, Gannon and Meyer. That gaggle includes David Perkins of East Peoria, the defender at 2-under 142 after back-to-back 71s.

For all of the above, the goal is to win. For India, who’ll fly to the Korn Ferry tournament in Utah late on Wednesday, there’s more at stake.

“My golf swing’s in a pretty awful spot,” India said. “My confidence is fairly low. I feel I just need to keep playing in things. If I find something this week, that would be great. If that means I have to beat up on some local pros, that’s totally fine. Sometimes that’s what you have to do.”

India birdied three of the last four holes, including the par-5 18th, to climb into a share for the lead.

“I was in some pretty tricky situations (earlier) where I should have made a bogey and walked away with par,” India said. “I had some good looks coming in.”

Gannon’s trying to play conservatively where necessary and go for the flag when he can. So far, so good.

“I hit the driver better than yesterday,” Gannon said. “Trying to leave myself below the hole was also a key. Even in the bunker or rough in the right spot you can get up and down.

“Same strategy (tomorrow). Go out and make birdies. No one’s going to hand it to you.”

Meyer opened with a 50-foot eagle putt that featured about four feet of break, gave those strokes back – including a bogey at the 280-yard par-4 fourth, then played the back nine in 1-under including a birdie at the last. He hopes those book-ends are joined by more birdies on Wednesday.

“I didn’t trust my instinct of just hitting a 4-iron on the fourth and giving myself 70-80 yards to the pin,” Meyer said. “A bogey on a 280-yard hole doesn’t necessarily feel good. Put me in a funk for the majority of the day.”

The 28-year-old had a fine start to his pro career, including a win in a mini-tour start and a tie for 20th at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Then …

“Things on tour seemed pretty easy,” Meyer said. “I got my Korn Ferry status and I just didn’t play well. I took everything I had for granted and didn’t work as hard as I needed to. Professional golf at the highest level is totally different from the highest level of amateur golf.

“I had a nice self-talk with myself this past winter. I wanted to go play the minor-league golf tour in south Florida, get my game in shape and confidence back before doing Mondays (qualifiers). It went well there, so I figured I might as well keep going.”

His game is coming back. Meyer’s in a stretch of four tournaments in three weeks. He tied for fifth in the Waterloo Open, took seventh in the Cedar Rapids Open, and this weekend will play in the Iowa Open.

Meyer and Small went out to dinner Tuesday night, a case of protege and mentor conferring before competing. Small’s door is always open to his former players.

“I need to call him more than I have,” Meyer said.

Small will try to become the Illinois Open’s oldest winner by eight years on Wednesday. Gary Groh was 49 when he won in 1994, but Groh didn’t fiddle with his swing the way Small does.

“I use myself as a test dummy for my players,” Small said, adding he’s hit it better in the first two days than he has in years. He recovered from a double-bogey on his second hole and a bogey on the third hole, making seven birdies on his last 15 holes to come home in 2-under 70 for 139.

Clifford, three strokes ahead of fellow amateurs Tyler Isenhart and John Wild, went out on the back nine in 4-under 32, and only a pair of bogeys coming in kept him out of the lead.

“I stuck with my game plan,” the 20-year-old Chicagoan and regular at Beverly Country Club said. “Aim at the middle of the green. I had a lot of 20-footers. I aimed at one pin, on No. 4,  and made bogey.”

English said he wasn’t surprised a club pro hasn’t won in 33 years, given the quality of the tour pros in the field, and was pleased to be a stroke off the lead.

“I was fighting it today, but I’ve played here a half-dozen times,” English said of his comfort level.

Albano’s putter caught fire down the stretch, lifting him to a 3-under 69 to slide in as the fourth 139. He’s eager to make happen what he hasn’t been able to yet.

“This is right where I want to be and kind of where I expect to be out here,” Albano said. “If you start thinking ahead you might get a little tight, and you have to be loose out here because the greens and these shots are tough. I plan on using the experiences from the last two years tomorrow. I’ve also been playing on the Dakotas Tour and I’ve been playing well there. I’ve been in the final groups a handful of times out there as well so I been getting experience in this position.” 

Around Flossmoor

Fifteen players are under par and another seven are at even-par 144. The cut fell at 4-over 148 and includes 52 players, with 2021 winner Tim “Tee-K” Kelly and two-time winner Roy Biancalana, 63, making it on the number. … The field averaged 75.77 strokes on the 7,010-yard setup. The par-4 fourth, set up to be drivable at 280 yards, averaged 3.96 strokes with five double-bogeys and a pair of scores above that.

– Tim Cronin