After three rounds and two weather delays, the 123rd Indiana State Amateur Championship taking place at the Pfau Course at Indiana University has concluded with University of Cincinnati’s Connor McNeely pulling his first win.
McNeely finished the event with rounds of 67,71, and 73 keeping a focus on his own game and a positive mindset throughout the entire competition. After the conclusion of day 2, McNeely mentioned that his biggest focus going into the final round would be “playing his own game and staying in his lane”. This stable mindset was easy to see after an unfortunate double on the back nine today, followed by an immediate and necessary birdie on the next hole.
“I was playing fine up until eleven and was +1 and needed to be right around even and that double threw me off a bit. It fired me up just a touch and I knew I needed to birdie one of the next two holes. After that I had a lot more confidence and started hitting better shots. I made great pars and that’s all I really needed to do” said McNeely.
McNeely has dressed himself with accomplishments in our Indiana Junior Golf Program, AJGA and Golfweek tournaments, and had some impressive stats his freshman year at Butler University.
“It’s definitely my biggest win so far and it’s a boost for my confidence. I have always thought I could win a big tournament like this and now I have, so I think it’s only up from here” said McNeely.
McNeely’s transfer to the University of Cincinnati begins this August and he is looking to make the lineup and win some big events right at the start.
Our runner-up who pushed himself into contention early on in the final round is Western Kentucky University’s Nic Hofman, who finished with rounds of 69, 72, 72.
“The Pfau Course is very difficult and you definitely have to keep it in play so that was the biggest thing. I drove it great pretty much all week and had some tough holes on the back but that’s golf. It’s a great testament to the golf course and it was a lot of fun playing out there and competing” said Hofman.
Hofman’s next move is heading back down to Kentucky for the Southern Amateur Qualifier and will also be competing at our Indiana Open beginning July 11th. He added “You always have to keep learning and getting better. Just being in contention and kind of handling those nerves a bit more, hitting quality shots and being in the moment is what I will take from this”.