Richmond, Texas – Earlier this week at the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship, 54-year-old Randal Lewis said he was eagerly looking
forward to next year when he could start competing in senior-level
events.
Turns out the Alma, Mich., resident can still play with the “young” guys.
And he’ll continue to enjoy that privilege at the Mid-Amateur through
2021 after defeating Kenny Cook, 31, of Noblesville, Ind., 3 and 2, on
Thursday at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in the 36-hole final of the 31st
Mid-Amateur, the USGA’s national championship for golfers 25 and older.
Lewis, a financial advisor who played professionally for four weeks
on a Florida mini-tour after graduating from Central Michigan in 1980,
also became the oldest Mid-Amateur champion in the event’s 31 years,
surpassing George Zahringer, who was 49 when he claimed the 2002 title.
Lewis outpaced the average age of the previous 30 Mid-Amateur champions
(34.8) by nearly 20 years.
The victory came 15 years after Lewis lost to John “Spider” Miller in
the Mid-Amateur final at Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford, Conn.
That defeat to Miller, who like Cook is a Hoosier (from Bloomington),
was an identical 3 and 2, but the match was contested over 18 holes.
Thirty-six-hole finals at the Mid-Amateur started in 2001.
Of course the biggest prize – other than taking custody of the Robert
T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy for one year and receiving a gold medal –
was earning a likely invitation to the 2012 Masters, a perk that Augusta
National Golf Club started granting with the 1989 tournament.
“I know the Masters is a dream come true,” said Lewis, “but to be a
USGA champion, especially the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, is just
unbelievable.”
Lewis will also be exempt into the next two U.S. Amateurs, the next
USGA Senior Amateur (he turns 55 in 2012) and will have three years of
exemptions out of local U.S. Open qualifying, not to mention several
other major amateur competitions that will likely be sending him
invites.
Lewis admitted that the Masters invitation was on his mind 15 years
ago, the night before he played Miller, and that might have altered his
focus during the final. After beating medalist Mike McCaffrey and
two-time defending champion Nathan Smith on Wednesday in the
quarterfinals and semis, respectively, Lewis said he would have a
different mindset entering the final. He wasn’t going to think about
Augusta or the Masters and would just go out and enjoy the moment.
“I got a decent night’s sleep last night,” said Lewis, the father of
two college-age boys, Christopher (22) and Nicklaus (19). “I just wanted
to focus on my game and take it one shot at a time.”
Cook, an accountant for the Department of Defense, had dominated his
opponents leading into the final, trailing for only one hole over his
previous five matches (80 holes). But the trend ended not long after the
first tee shot. Despite giving up as much as 60 yards off the tee,
Lewis won the first two holes and never trailed. The match was all
square for only two holes, that coming during the morning 18 when Cook
birdied the par-5 14th and the two halved the par-4 15th.
Lewis overcame his lack of power by being a model of consistency,
making only three bogeys and shooting the equivalent of four under par
over the 34 holes, with the usual match-play concessions.
“With the technology of today … at least I can still get the ball out
there,” said Lewis, who wasn’t bothered by Cook’s length. “I just hoped
that I hit it good enough and made enough birdies to keep it close.”
Lewis was 2 up at the lunch break after posting winning pars at holes
16 and 18. At the par-5 18th hole, Cook, who played professionally for
seven months after graduating from Ball State in 2003, found the water
twice – the first time with a 6-iron in his hand from 201 yards – and
eventually conceded Lewis’ par.
“I was definitely furious walking off 18,” said Cook, “just because I
didn’t give myself an opportunity there. I kind of gave it to him.”
Cook came out strong for the afternoon 18. He reached the par-5 first
hole in two with a mid-iron and two-putted for a birdie. But Lewis also
reached in two with a hybrid and two-putted to halve the hole. Cook did
cut the deficit to 1 down when he drove the 342-yard, par-4 second hole
and two-putted for a birdie.
Lewis, however, never let Cook gain any sustained momentum.
“Today, I just rolled it terrible,” said Cook of his putting. “The
speed just wasn’t there. I had a difficult time even reading the greens.
“But it was a good week. I had a lot of positives.”
Lewis began to pull away after losing the 26th hole with a bogey,
thanks to a poor approach shot. He told himself going to the 27th tee
that he was not going to make any more mistakes.
He didn’t. His wedge approach to the par-5 27th hole – No. 9 on the
course – stopped 8 feet above the hole. Lewis converted the birdie to go
2 up.
He went 3 up with a par on the par-3 29th hole and 4 up with a birdie
on the 264-yard, par-4 31st hole. Cook got one back with a birdie at
the par-5 32nd, but the two halved the next two holes with pars and the
match ended on the 16th green.
“That’s as good as it gets for me,” said Lewis. “You saw my peak performance.”
As a finalist, Cook receives exemptions into next year’s U.S. Amateur
and a three-year exemption to the Mid-Amateur. He also is exempt from
local qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Open.
Previous article:
Richmond,
Texas – Randal Lewis, 54, of Alma, Mich., will face Kenny Cook, 31, of
Noblesville, Ind., in the 36-hole championship match on Thursday at the
2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship being contested at 7,170-yard, par-72
Shadow Hawk Golf Club.
Lewis, bidding to become the oldest winner of this championship for
golfers 25 and older, defeated two-time defending champion Nathan Smith
of Pittsburgh, Pa., in 19 holes to reach the final. Earlier on
Wednesday, he knocked out medalist Mike McCaffrey of League City, Texas,
3 and 1.
Lewis, a financial advisor who played professionally for four weeks
on a Florida mini-tour after graduating from Central Michigan in 1980,
is the oldest golfer to make the championship match of the Mid-Amateur.
He will look to surpass George Zahringer, who was 49 when he won in
2002, as the oldest champion.
Cook, an accountant with the Department of Defense who played
professionally for seven months after graduating from Ball State
University in 2003, posted a pair of victories on Wednesday to reach the
final, defeating Tony Behrstock of Los Angeles, 3 and 2, in the
quarterfinals and second-seeded John Engler of Augusta, Ga., 6 and 5, in
the semifinals.
Ironically, the only previous time Lewis advanced to the Mid-Amateur
final, he played an Indiana resident (John “Spider” Miller), losing 3
and 2 at Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford, Conn., 15 years ago. He
also was a Mid-Amateur semifinalist in 1999 at Old Warson C.C. in St.
Louis, losing to Jerry Courville, 1 down.
“I hope it’s not the same outcome,” said Lewis, who was inducted into
the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the Golf Association of
Michigan’s Golfer of the Decade for the 1990s.
Lewis never trailed in the semifinal against Smith, a two-time USA
Walker Cup participant (2009 and 2011) who had his Mid-Amateur
consecutive-match winning streak stopped at 16. He led 2 up at the turn
after holing a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth.
But Smith kept battling, winning the par-4 15th with a birdie and
then knocking a 5-iron from 197 yards to 18 feet on the par-5 closing
hole, where he holed the eagle putt to force extra holes.
At the par-5 19th hole – Shadow Hawk’s first hole – Smith’s tee shot
found the right rough and he laid up to 135 yards with a mid-iron. His
approach from 135 yards stopped 30 feet left of the flagstick. Lewis’
second shot found the intermediate cut of rough 60 yards short of the
green.
“I had that shot earlier in the tournament and I dumped in the
bunker,” said Lewis. “I told my caddie that and he said I shouldn’t be
thinking about that. I said I was just calibrating how much harder I
have to hit it.
“I had a perfect lie. I could slide that lob wedge under it and get
the elevation I needed. I knew I needed to do something special to beat
him.”
The ball stopped 4 feet from the hole and when Smith’s birdie try slid by the hole, Lewis calmly stroked the ball into the hole.
“He played great and came up with a lot of great shots today,” said
Smith, who was seeking an unprecedented fourth Mid-Amateur title. “That
[pitch] over there … I mean he deserved it. I didn’t even know if he
could hold the green out of that stuff.”
Smith was coming off a whirlwind month of golf that saw him play the
U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills in late August and the Walker Cup at Royal
Aberdeen in Scotland a week before the Mid-Amateur. After a day at home,
he flew to Houston last week to prepare for a third consecutive
Mid-Amateur title. He will now put the clubs away for the winter and go
back to his regular job as a financial advisor.
And for the first time in three years, he won’t be preparing for an
April trip to Augusta (Ga.) National. The Mid-Amateur champion has
traditionally received a Masters invitation since 1989.
“What do I do now?” said Smith. “It’s been a fun couple of years and
they’re going to have another great champion this year. And somebody is
going to be able to live the dream down there in April. I’ll be watching
and rooting.”
As for playing 36 holes on Thursday, Lewis said, “My goal has been
the same every day and it will be the same tomorrow. The key to match
play is just being patient and not getting ahead of yourself. I’m really
looking forward to it.”
In his five matches leading to the final – a total of 80 holes – Cook
has only trailed for one hole. That came on the par-5 first hole in his
third-round match Wednesday against Matt Smith.
He jumped out quickly in both of his matches Wednesday. Against
Behrstock in the quarterfinals, he birdied the par-3 fourth hole and
never looked back.
Then in the semifinals against the left-handed swinging Engler, he
played 3-under-par golf on the outward nine in building a 4-up
advantage. Engler, who had not gone past the 16th hole in his four
previous wins, couldn’t recover and on the short par-4 13th hole, his
tee shot found a hazard and the former Clemson All-American lost the
hole and match.
“Obviously, I have played well,” said Cook. “I’ve hit quality golf
shots, both on the tee and to the green. I’ve been comfortable out here.
“It has been a grind. But I’ve … stayed in the moment. That’s kind of been my success.”
Cook admitted he does not play much tournament golf in the summer.
Because of his 40-hour-per-week job and the costs involved in traveling
to events, his competition schedule is limited. He plays a lot at his
home club, Sagamore, in Noblesville, but he hasn’t competed in any
Indiana state competitions. The last two years he has teamed with his
ex-college teammate Todd Perry and won the Olympia Fields Four-Ball, a
36-hole event played on the North and South courses at Olympia Fields
(Ill.) Country Club.
In 2003, he qualified for the U.S. Amateur and made match play. He
also played the U.S. Amateur two years ago and missed the cut. That same
year, he advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
This year, both he and his wife, Lisa, were medalists at their
respective Mid-Amateur sectional qualifiers. Lisa failed to make match
play this week at Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va., while Kenny
is now a win away from a national title.
“I’ve got a good opportunity tomorrow,” said Cook. “I just have to go
out there and play golf. I just have to play the golf course and
whoever I play, I play, and we’ll see what happens.”
Both the champion and runner-up are exempt into next year’s U.S.
Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban Denver and receive an
exemption out of local qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic
Club in San Francisco.
The winner receives a 10-year Mid-Amateur exemption, custody of the
Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy for one year, a gold medal and a
likely invitation to the 2012 Masters. The runner-up gets a three-year
Mid-Amateur exemption and a silver medal.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur is one of 13 championships conducted annually by
the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for
amateurs.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer with the USGA. E-mail him at dshefter@usga.org.
Richmond, Texas – Results from Wednesday’s quarterfinal and
semifinal rounds of match play at the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur being
conducted at 7,170-yard, par-72 Shadow Hawk Golf Club.l round is
scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. (All times CDT):
Quarterfinals
Upper Bracket
Randal Lewis, Alma, Mich. (148) def. Michael McCaffrey, League City, Texas (136), 3 and 1
Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa. (142) def. Michael Stamberger, Plainfield, N.J. (145), 2 and 1
Lower BracketJohn Engler, Augusta, Ga. (139) def. Michael Muehr, Potomac Falls, Va. (142), 3 and 2
Kenny Cook, Noblesville, Ind. (142) def. Tony Behrstock, Los Angeles, Calif. (149), 3 and 2
Semifinals
Randal Lewis, Alma Mich. (148) def. Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa. (140), 19 holes
Kenny Cook, Noblesville, Ind. (142) def. John Engler, Augusta, Ga. (139), 6 and 5
Richmond, Texas – Pairing and starting times for Thursday’s
36-hole championship match of the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur being conducted
at 7,170-yard, par-72 Shadow Hawk Golf Club. (All times CDT):
7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. – Randal Lewis, Alma, Mich. (148) vs. Kenny Cook, Noblesville, Ind. (142)