U.S. Mid-Amateur Home

What Happened

After getting off to a slow start and shooting 1-over 37 on the outward nine of Colorado Golf Club, Warnquist, an insurance agent and 2015 graduate of the University of Maryland, blistered the second nine with six birdies over a seven-hole stretch.

“When I made the turn, I got motivated,” said Warnquist. “I hit a few good shots and made a few putts. I birdied [holes] 10, 11 and 12, which was encouraging because you have two par 5s (15 and 16) after that.”

What’s Next

The championship continues on Sunday with the second round of stroke play. Players will swap courses, with the low 64 scorers advancing to match play, which commences on Monday at Colorado Golf Club. A playoff, if necessary to decide the final spots in the bracket, will take place at Colorado Golf Club on Monday morning.

Notable

• Kevin O’Connell’s title defense got off to a rocky start with a 5-over 77 at Colorado Golf Club. The Jacksonville, Fla., resident is vying to become the first back-to-back champion since Nathan Smith (2009-10).
  
  
• Bob Royak, 57, of Alpharetta, Ga., who won the U.S. Senior Amateur on Aug. 29 at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C., registered the 26th hole-in-one in U.S. Mid-Amateur history. He aced the 186-yard sixth hole at CommonGround with a 6-iron en route to an even-par 70. It was Royak’s 11th career hole-in-one.
  
  
• It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Gene Elliott, of West Des Moines, Iowa. On Friday, the 57-year-old won his second Canadian Senior Amateur by five strokes in suburban Toronto. That night, he flew to Denver for his 1 p.m. CDT starting time at Colorado Golf Club. Competing without a practice round, Elliott, who is No. 294 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (highest ranked player 55 and older), carded a 4-over 76.
  
  
• Twelve players in this year’s field competed at CommonGround when it was the stroke-play co-host for the 2012 U.S. Amateur. The list is headlined by four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Nathan Smith, of Pittsburgh, Pa.
  
  
• Speaking of past U.S. Mid-Amateur champions, several recent winners got off to solid starts. Matt Parziale, of Brockton, Mass. (2017); Scott Harvey, of Greensboro, N.C. (2014); and two-time USA Walker Cup competitor Stewart Hagestad, of Newport Beach, Calif. (2016), carded rounds of 70, 70 and 73, respectively. Parziale and Harvey played CommonGround, while Hagestad was at Colorado Golf Club.
  
  
• The stroke average at Colorado Golf Club was 77.8 (5.8 strokes over par), while at par-70 CommonGround the average was 73.8. The toughest hole at Colorado Golf Club was the 199-yard, par-3 17th (3.81), while the 505-yard, par-4 15th was the toughest at CommonGround (4.59).
  
  
• Tim Beans, of Newport Beach, Calif., withdrew after 16 holes at CommonGround due to a back injury. Andrew Price, of Lake Bluff, Ill., also withdrew after six holes at Colorado Golf Club due to an undisclosed injury.

Quotable

“It was probably about as tough and firm of a golf course as I’ve probably ever played in a tournament. And it was also very fair. I think if it was any firmer, it would have been hard getting the ball stopped where you were trying to. In terms of tournament set-up, I don’t think you could have done a better job. I mean it was just a fair, tough golf course.” – Marc Engellenner, of Rocklin, Calif., on course conditions at CommonGround Golf Course.

“I get the feeling that a lot of people are just excited to be here. If you’re excited to be here, you’re going to get killed. You shouldn’t just be excited to be here. You should be trying to win. I could shoot 100 tomorrow and be fine too, but some of the people come out here and are hoping instead of actually playing to win.” – Drew Kittleson, of Scottsdale, Ariz., on the mindset you need to play well in USGA events

“[My caddie and I] were just talking about it. I’ve never played in one, so I don’t know what to think really. I’m a mid-am, I work, I have a family and stuff, so it’s different. But the U.S. Am, the quality of the field is a lot better. Not a knock on this field, it’s just the reality. College kids that play golf every day are better than us.” – Kittleson on competing in his first U.S. Mid-Amateur

“Everything was steady. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I was fortunate to make a couple of mid-range putts to keep the momentum going during the middle of the round. But my back nine (the course’s front nine) I hit it close a bunch and I made all of the [putts] essentially. It was really steady and the rest took care of itself.” – Robbie Ziegler, of Portland, Ore., on his 5-under 67 at Colorado Golf Club

“I came out [to Colorado] quite a bit this summer, and then actually I played the U.S. Am out here in 2012 when it was at Cherry Hills, so I was familiar with the golf course. The elevation I have kind of gotten used to. My caddie, Neil, is local here and he hits it pretty similar to me, so he’s helped me out a lot with yardages. It’s been helpful.” – Ryan Eibner, of Dallas, Texas, on adjusting to the altitude

“I feel like it is a bonus tournament. I feel lucky to be here. I haven’t been able to play the last few years, so playing with that attitude, and hopefully that attitude will give way to a good week.” – NHL referee Garrett Rank, of Canada, who shot 3-under 69 at Colorado Golf Club, on teeing it up in the U.S. Mid-Amateur for the first time in six years

“So cool to be honest. Lot of confidence from it and it really hasn’t sunk in. I am sure during the dog days of winter or in the airport or in a snowstorm somewhere I will be able to enjoy it more. I am really thrilled with that. I have been chasing a big one for a long time and had a lot of good results, it was finally nice to get my name on the trophy.” – Rank on his confidence since winning the prestigious Western Amateur in early August

“Probably one of my better [USGA] rounds. I felt like this was one of the tougher set-ups, this course. I was playing pretty conservatively most of the day. Coming into the back nine there were some shots where I could attack a little bit. That was pretty fun.” – Troy Johnson, of Maple Grove, Minn., after shooting a 3-under 69 at Colorado Golf Club

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

The Social Scene