2010. Gregor Main, the 2010 runner-up,
made it to match play for the third time, while
Andrew Yun and this year’s champion, Ethan
Tracy, had made match play once before.
As they have done on the summer amateur
circuit trail all summer, Tracy and his father,
Dan, who also caddied for his son, lived in
their camper at a KOA Campground, approximately an hour from the course. That daily
commute made his 141-hole marathon victory
at the Western Amateur even more of an endurance test.
Tracy’s victory was his first since 2008,
when he won the Maryland Collegiate Invita-
tional, and represented his best finish since
an eighth-place showing at this year’s Ohio
Amateur. Tracy happily accepted a tournament program autographed by Jack Nicklaus,
the 1951 champion, when it was presented
to him by John Lynch, the immediate past
president of North Shore and a Western Golf
Association director.
Chris Williams dazzled with his record-set-ting stroke-play performance, but he became
the 10th medalist or co-medalist to lose in the
first round of match play since 2002. It was
Williams’ bad luck to see the No. 1 amateur in
the world, Cantlay, in his first match. Cantlay
won, 3 and 2, after making five birdies in an
11-hole stretch in the middle of the round.
North Shore rewrote the playbook for hosting – and paying for – the Western Amateur.
Not only did the club forego a week’s worth of
typical summer revenue, it paid for all tournament expenses, estimated to be six figures,
and endowed a $136,000 caddie scholarship
with the host organization, the Western Golf
Association. The scholarship is intended to be
awarded to eligible caddies at the club.
A funny thing happened to Phil Kenny on
the way to serving as co-chairman of the tournament last week. Kenny, 58, and a member
at the North Shore, qualified to play among the
flatbellies.
When the Western decided to leave Point O’
Woods three years ago and rotate the tournament among some of Chicago’s great courses,
one exemption category was added. The host
club was given a spot for its best player, however the club chose to determine that status.
And at North Shore, that meant 15-time club
champion Kenny. However, Kenny also had
been called upon by the club hierarchy to help
With eight USGA appearances under his
belt, they figured he knew something about
conducting a big-time amateur tournament.
Back in the day, he was a regular contestant
in the Western Amateur, making the first
cut several times but never advancing to the
Sweet Sixteen. He had no such luck this year,
missing the 36-hole cut by 10 shots.
The 2012 Western Amateur will be played
at Exmoor CC in Highland Park, Il. Exmoor,
which hosted the 1952 Western Open, is partially a Donald Ross course, one that dates to
1896. The 2013 tournament is rumored to be
moving to the Alotian Club in Arkansas, as the
WGA intends to periodically take the tournament to nationally recognized venues outside
of Chicago. l
Heart Of America:
Rismiller, Seeman
Find Their Rhythm
David Rismiller and Jason Seeman were victorious in the Open Division of the Heart of America
Four-Ball at Mission Hills Country Club in Kansas
City. The Rismiller-Seeman duo outlasted the team
of David Catt and Josh Weems, winning their 36-hole
match, 3 and 1. This
marks the second
Heart of America
Four-Ball title for
Seeman, the first
coming in 2003.
Andy Smith
and Steve Groom
claimed the Masters Division crown,
beating the 2010 Heart of America champions Jeff
Hanslick and John Noblit, 5 and 4. In the Senior
Division, Kevin Handlan and Bill Hanger cruised to a
6 and 4 victory in their 18-hole match against Mike
Vose and Jim Beatson.
RESULTS: STROKE PLAY | MATCH PLAY
David Rismiller and Jason Seeman
MILLER DOWNS BERNSTEIN AT MET AM
Three down after 22 holes, Mike Miller came
storming back to win the Metropolitan (N. Y.) Golf
Association Amateur at Piping Rock Club in Locust
Valley, N. Y., 3 and 1, over Sam Bernstein. Miller
eagled the par- 5 eighth and 10th holes on the way to
a 4-up advantage after 31 holes.
Bernstein tried a comeback of his own, but Miller
birdied the 35th hole to close him out. Both players are college juniors. Edfort is a member of the
University of the Pacific golf team while Bernstein is
a standout at Yale University. RESULTS
