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U.S. MID-AMATEUR

Merkulov Earns Medalist; Brown Takes 64th Spot With Eagle

By Ron Driscoll, USGA

| Sep 27, 2021 | Siasconset, Mass.

Sam Straka was one of three players to finish the Round of 64 as the Mid-Am worked to get back on track from the fog delays. (Chris Keane/USGA)

40th U.S. Mid-Amateur Home

What Happened

The Round of 64 got underway on Monday in the fog-delayed 40th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Sankaty Head Golf Club, a windy day highlighted by the winnowing of the field to 64 players, with a dramatic eagle hole-out earning Hayes Brown, of Charlotte, N.C., the final spot in the match-play bracket.

The championship record 9-under-par performance by Yaroslav Merkulov, 29, of Rochester, N.Y., from Sunday held up as more than half of the 264-player field completed stroke play on Monday at Sankaty Head and co-host Miacomet Golf Course. Garrett Rank, 34, of Canada, an NHL referee and the runner-up in this championship in 2012, and Harvin Groft, 36, of Berwick, Maine, both posted 36-hole totals of 7-under 133 to earn the No. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively.

The field was trimmed on Monday afternoon to 64 with a 13-for-7 playoff that took place on the par-4 10th hole and the par-4 15th hole. Six players parred No. 10 to earn spots, while one was eliminated with a double bogey, and six were left to battle for the No. 64 spot. Brown spun a 58-degree wedge shot back into the hole from 96 yards to make an eagle on the 411-yard 15th hole and earn a matchup with No. 1 seed Merkulov. Merkulov led their match, 2 up, through seven holes when play was suspended for the day at 6:17 p.m. EDT.

Groft, the No. 3 seed, a 2008 graduate of Penn State University, is making the most of return to the game after nearly a 10-year hiatus. The father of four, including a 4-week-old son, helps raise his family during the school year while his wife, Andrea, teaches high school Spanish. Groft also raises vegetables as part of an initiative begun by local chefs and farmers called the Heirloom Harvest Project, an unusual occupation for this field of competitive players.

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Harvin Groft (right), a father of 4 who operates a farm in Maine, is making the most of his return to competitive golf this week. (Chris Keane/USGA)

“My wife is at home in the summer, which frees me up a little to play golf and she’s super-supportive of it,” said Groft, who returned to competition in the 2016 New Hampshire Mid-Amateur after a few months of hitting balls twice a week at a self-serve driving range near his home. “It was such a long break that I didn’t know where my game was, how it compared at a national level.”

Groft got a barometer for his performance when he qualified for the 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur and missed the cut by just a few strokes. Most recently, he has been working on his mental approach with coach Scott Hacker, of Portsmouth, N.H.

“He’s helped me a lot with staying present, just enjoying the day and the challenge of each shot,” said Groft. “I’m a much better golfer mentally than I was back in college.”

Three Round-of-64 matches concluded on Monday, with No. 17 Richard “Skip” Berkmeyer, of St. Louis, Mo.; No. 33 Sam Straka, of Valdosta, Ga., and No. 49 Josh Nichols, of Morrisville, N.C., earning victories. Nichols was the runner-up in this championship in 2017 at the Capital City Club, in Atlanta, Ga.

What’s Next

The extensive fog delays that affected this championship over the weekend prompted a revised schedule that will see a champion raising the trophy one day later than expected. The Round of 64 will continue on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. EDT, with 20 matches in progress and nine yet to start. The Round of 32 will begin at 11 a.m. The Round of 16 and quarterfinals will be contested on Wednesday, with the semifinals (7:30 a.m.) and the first 18 holes of the championship match (12:45 p.m.) scheduled for Thursday. The final 18 holes of the championship match will be played on Friday, starting at 7:30 a.m.

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Lilly Parker, 10, is enjoying some quality family time caddieing for dad Thomas. (Chris Keane/USGA)

Notable

  • For one player, this championship is about setting an example. Thomas Parker, 45, has his daughter, Lilly, 10, caddieing for him and on Monday, he made sure that the duo would stick around for another day. Parker, 45, of North Palm Beach, Fla., shot a 1-over 71 on Monday at Miacomet to complete 36 holes at 1-over 141 and earn the No. 42 seed in match play. Parker will square off against No. 23 seed Mark Costanza, of Morristown, N.J., on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. “This is the first time I have played in one of these in 27 years, and sharing it with her, this is about a good a day as I will ever have,” said Parker after his round of 70 on Saturday at Sankaty Head. Parker is the managing director of the golf division of 4Sports Entertainment, and his firm represents 13 PGA Tour pros, including 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson. “Lilly has really taken to golf and is one of six or seven talented girls under 12 in our area who compete in US Kids Golf. She really wanted to wear the bib. She was up at 6 a.m., taking notes.” Lilly appreciated the beauty of the course, the fact that she was skipping fifth-grade classes to help out, and the importance of keeping up. And not giving up. “I’m just trying my butt off to show her by example,” said Parker. “This is the highlight of my time in golf.”

  • Among those who missed the cut at 2-over 142 were four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Nathan Smith (3-over 143), 2019 runner-up Joseph Deraney (143), 2017 champion Matt Parziale (144), 2013 champion Mike McCoy (144), 2021 U.S. Senior Open low amateur William Mitchell (146), defending champion Lukas Michel (146), and 2011 champion Randal Lewis (154). Sammy Schmitz, the 2015 champion, did not complete Round 2 and was disqualified. Scott Harvey, the 2014 champion, withdrew shortly before the championship due to an elbow injury.

  • With Deraney and Michel missing the cut, it marked the first time since 2008 that neither of the most recent finalists made match play. In 2008, 2007 champion Trip Kuehne did not compete and runner-up Dan Whitaker failed to reach match play.

  • Doug Hanzel, 64, of Savannah, Ga., the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur champion and the oldest player in the field, earned the No. 53 seed for match play and held a 2-up lead in his match with No. 12 seed Jimmy Ellis, 35, of Venetia, Pa., when play was suspended Monday evening.

  • The playoff for the final match-play spots at 2-over-par 142 marked the lowest stroke-play cut in championship history. The previous low came at 146 (5 over par) in 2017, at the Capital City Club (Crabapple Course) and Atlanta (Ga.) National Golf Club.

Quotable

“My youngest [John] is 4 weeks old today. I also have a daughter named Francis (age 4), named after Francis Ouimet, and Severiano (age 2), who is named for Seve Ballesteros. He’s about as rambunctious as Seve was, too. The name suits him. I will enjoy the challenge here and at the end of the day, I will go home to four kids who don’t care what I shoot.” – Harvin Groft, on his young children

“He was 3 up at one point and I hung in there. I talked to my wife [and caddie Kayla] and we reset, quieted the mind and refocused. He missed some putts he should have made and I made some putts that maybe I shouldn’t have made. I just clawed my way back to even.” – Josh Nichols, on his victory over Stephen Hale in 19 holes

“That [2017 championship] I had a realization that I don’t really want to do this as hard as I have been doing it. I had a shift of perspective. I took a couple of years of not playing much, not practicing much. Since this is my third and final year of exemption, I want to finish top eight so I can be in next year. I have put in a little more work because I know it is still there.” – Nichols, on his approach since finishing as runner-up in 2017

“I played well in the wind, that was the difference. I had a lot of chances and then finally made a birdie on 17 to close it out. I had a ton of chances to make putts but under these conditions they are difficult to make. We made one bogey on the back nine combined and in this weather, that’s pretty good.” – Skip Berkmeyer, on his 2-and-1 victory over Darren Fletcher

“I get to sleep in. This is the first time this week I get to sleep in. I was on the wave where I was playing early on Saturday and had to be here all day. I had to come back and play only one hole yesterday. I had to get up early this morning and play the 18-hole round. It will be nice to get some rest.” – Berkmeyer, on the starts and stops over the weekend

Ron Driscoll is the senior manager of content for the USGA. Email him at rdriscoll@usga.org.

The Social Scene




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Championships 40th U.S. Mid-Amateur: Inside the Field
Championships Photos: Saturday at 40th U.S. Mid-Am