Reigning U.S. Amateur champion
Peter Uihlein shattered the tournament record at one of America’s oldest
and most prestigious summer amateur events, shooting 15-under-par
261 to win the Northeast Amateur at
Wannamoisett CC in Rhode Island. A
native of the New England area, Uihlein
cruised to a final-round, 4-under-par
65 in front of a supportive local gallery
to defeat a fast-closing James White by
three shots.
Uihlein seized control of the tournament with a bogey-free, third-round
62, 7-under on the par-69 Donald Ross
designed parkland course. He had a
run at tying the course record, but his
15-foot birdie putt on No. 18 slipped by
the hole.
“Some great players have played
here, and some great players have
won here, so to win is pretty nice,” said
Uihlein after carding four under-par
rounds.
The senior at Oklahoma State Uni-
versity took a three-shot lead into the
final round, where he was paired with
Stanford University-bound Patrick Rog-
ers. Rogers did all he could to make it
interesting on the front side, and closed
to within a shot of the lead after seven
holes. But Uihlein birdied Nos. 8 and 9,
and Rogers fell out of contention with
two bogeys on the back nine. Uihlein’s
15-under score eclipsed the previous
11-under-par mark set by Dan Wolt-
man in 2009.
Amateur championship at Erin Hills GC
in Wisconsin in late August.
NORTHEAST AMATEUR NOTES
Rain plagued the first two rounds of
the tournament, rendering the beautifully manicured Wannamoisett CC
almost defenseless. The flags were
tucked, but the greens were so soft that
players could go at them aggressively
for all four rounds. Red numbers were
prominent, as 21 competitors finished
under par.
Luke Guthrie, a senior at the University of Illinois who won the Big Ten
Championship this year, shot a new
tive round there. The previous record
was 62 shot by Billy Horschel in 2007
and Michael Harris in 1998. Guthrie
missed a five-foot birdie putt on No. 17,
and later admitted that he had his eyes
on 59. Guthrie finished T13 on 2-under-
par 274.
Luke Guthrie
from Gatwick to the Heathrow Airport
to make his flight to Atlanta, and then
get another flight to Providence, R.I.
Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as
he disqualified himself. When he got to
the course for the third round he looked
at the scoreboard and realized he had
signed an incorrect scorecard. “It was
a stupid mistake on my part,” he said
afterward.
Tim Jackson was low mid-am,
finishing T13 at 274 and taking home
the Joseph J. Sprague Award. Senior
amateur Paul Simson wanted so much
to test his game against the college
kids that he passed up defending his
National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame
championship. He finished T34 at
3-over 279.
Peter Uihlein will play the AT&T
National in Philadelphia this week
before heading to the U.K. to play in the
Scottish Open and Open Championship.
He is expected to compete in the Western Amateur before defending his U.S.
Consider the effort Australia’s
Bryden Macpherson made to get to the
Northeast Am. After winning the British
Amateur in a 36-hole match and then
speaking to the golf media for 90 min-
utes, Macpherson drove seven hours
to Inverness to catch a flight to London
Gatwick Airport. He had to transfer
Nate McCoy used a third-round 63
to best his father, Mike, and claim low
McCoy honors for the week. Nate shot
1-under 275 to clip his dad by six shots.
Patrick Rogers and Bank Vongvanij,
who finished T5. He did not get to see
mid-am Nathan Smith in action; Smith
withdrew before hitting a shot in the
second round due to severe bronchitis.
Holtgrieve lamented never playing the
Northeast in his younger amateur days;
it always conflicted with the Missouri
State Amateur, which he felt fealty to by
virtue of winning it in 1978.
Walker Cup captain Jim Holtgrieve
was in the house all week, scout-
ing the many Walker Cup candidates
in attendance. He witnessed some
good performances by Blayne Barber,
Last week was the 15th anniversary
of the Northeast Amateur. For the first
time a 54-hole cut was employed. The
low 50 and ties from the 84-player field
advanced to the final 18 holes. l
