Tag: Derek Hitchner

Is this the best amateur golf event you’ve never heard of? The second East West Matches should bring fireworks

The East West Matches bring together some of the best amateurs, mid-ams and senior amateurs in the United States.

In its infancy, the East West Matches is maybe the best amateur golf event you’ve never heard of.

The second playing of the event is set to tee off this weekend, Nov. 4-6.

The brainchild of two-time USGA champion and former Walker Cup participant Scott Harvey, the East West Matches combine some of the best amateurs, mid-ams and senior amateurs in the United States. The Ryder Cup-style event features two amateur players, six senior amateurs and 10 mid-amateur players per side.

The matches are back at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, where the inaugural Cup was won in dramatic fashion by the West in 2020. In fact, the man that clinched the winning half-point for the West, Patrick Christovich, is back to help the West defend their title. 

Captained by 2005 U.S. Mid-Am champion, Kevin Marsh, the West has experience under pressure on its side. Returning Skip Berkmeyer, Derek Busby, Patrick Christovich, Brad Nurski and Robert Funk, the West is armed with a crew that went 9-9-1 and was a large part of the West’s monstrous 23-22 comeback win back in 2020.

In addition, the West has two amateur players ranked inside the top 110 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings — Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner and Arizona State’s Luke Potter are ranked Nos. 105 and 38 in WAGR, respectively. The two should give a spark of energy to their mid-am and senior-am teammates.

The West celebrates its 23-22 comeback win over the East at the inaugural East West Matches (2020) at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.

On the East side, there’s a sense of hunger and redemption. The East is also returning five players from their 2020 team. A murderer’s row of amateur golf talent that had a combined 2020 record of 15-4-1 but left Maridoe empty-handed.

Joe Deraney, Jeronimo Esteve, Scott Harvey, Doug Hanzel and Bob Royak look to take down the West this year and stake claim to what they came so close to having two years ago. The strength of the East team lies in both seniors and young gun amateurs.

Both Hanzel and Royak went 4-0-0 in the 2020 Matches. Now they bolster their lineup even more with the addition of Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked senior amateur Rusty Strawn. Tried and true, the colts in the East’s stable of talent are Alabama’s Nick Dunlap and Tennessee’s Caleb Surratt.

Dunlap was Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked recruit in the 2022 class and the 2021 AJGA Boys Golfer of the Year. Surratt is currently ranked No. 15 in WAGR and is the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up.

Who’s running the stable for the East, you ask? That would be two-time Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby.

The East has brought out the big guns, but will they be able to redeem themselves after such a disappointing finish in 2020? 

Time will tell and if we learned anything from the inaugural East West Matches, we know that anything can happen over the course of three days at Maridoe Golf Club.

Full Rosters

Mid-Amateurs

East: Andrew Bailey, Evan Beck, Chip Brooke, Mark Costanza, Joe Deraney, Jeronimo Esteve, Scott Harvey, Matt Mattare, Tug Maude, Chad Wilfong

West: Jason Anthony, Skip Berkmeyer, Denny Bull, Derek Busby, Patrick Christovich, Nick Guyer, Colby Harwell, John Hunter, Brad Nurski, John Swain

Senior Amateurs

East: Doug Hanzel, Steve Harwell, Billy Mitchell, Bob Royak, Rusty Strawn, Matt Sughrue

West: Tommy Brennan, Jon Brown, Robert Funk, John McClure, Mike McCoy, Mike Rowley

Amateurs

East: Nick Dunlap (Alabama) & Caleb Surratt (Tennessee)

West: Derek Hitchner (Pepperdine) & Luke Potter (Arizona State)

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U.S. Amateur: Sam Bennett and Ben Carr advance to championship final at The Ridgewood Country Club

It all comes down to this.

Sam Bennett looked as if he was going to cruise into the finals of the 122nd U.S. Amateur.

The 22-year-old fifth-year senior from Texas A&M was 2 up with five to play in his semifinal match against Dylan Menante at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Yet on the 17th tee, the match was tied. Menante, a senior at North Carolina, sat in the middle of the fairway while Bennett watched his drive leak right into the trees.

Bennett’s ball came to rest nearly against the trunk of a huge tree. He and his caddie spoke at length about his options, and he opted to hit a high draw that somehow avoided further tree trouble and settled in a fairway bunker. Menante’s 3 wood second shot settled just short of the green.

However, Bennett didn’t let being behind the 8-ball bug him. He flushed his shot out of the bunker and was inside Menante once both players were on the green, and he sank the birdie putt, which ended up being the difference in a 1 up victory to advance to the U.S. Amateur finals on Sunday.

Bennett will face off against Ben Carr, a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern, in the 36-hole final on Sunday. Carr topped Derek Hitchner, 3 and 2, catching fire on the back nine to advance to the championship match.

Both Bennett and Carr secured spots in the 2023 Masters and 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club by advancing to the final.

Menante, No. 8 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, didn’t challenge Bennett on the final hole. Menante’s tee shot was right and his second shot short of the green in the rough. Bennett, meanwhile, found the fairway and hit a 7-iron to about 15 feet for birdie, giving a vicious club twirl after hitting the shot.

For Bennett, he continues his stellar run. None of his opponents have been ranked lower than No. 27 in the WAGR.

Carr, 22, from Columbus, Georgia, capitalized on a strong back nine. He won three holes in a four-hole stretch, including birdies on the par-5 13th and par-4 14th, to go 3 up. He narrowly missed a short birdie putt on the par-3 15th to clinch victory, but he ended up winning with a par on the next hole.

No. 70 in the WAGR, Carr is looking to become the first current or former Georgia Southern player to win the U.S. Amateur since alum Stewart “Buddy” Alexander captured the 1986 title at Shoal Creek.

There was also an emotional moment for Carr in his post-round interview. He uses a special ball marker to commemorate his father, who died in 2019. But, it went missing.

“On the first tee, I couldn’t find it,” Carr told Smiley Kaufman, who’s working as a reporter for Golf Channel, after the match. “I emptied out my pockets, there was nothing. I emptied out my bag. I couldn’t find it in my bag.”

But then he found it right before clinching his match.

“I’m over my putt on 16, and it’s just in my left pocket,” Carr said. “I don’t know how. I sweat to God, I checked. I check my pocket, I swear to God.”

U.S. Amateur: Scoring | Photo gallery

U.S. Amateur semifinal results

  • No. 36 Sam Bennett (Madisonville, Texas) def. No. 16 Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, California), 1 up
  • No. 34 Ben Carr (Columbus, Georgia) def. No. 59 Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis), 3 and 2

U.S. Amateur final schedule

  • No. 36 Sam Bennett vs. No. 34 Ben Carr, Sunday, 8 a.m.

How to watch

Sunday, August 21
36-hole championship match, Golf Channel: 2–5 p.m. ET

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And then there were four: Meet the semifinalist at 2022 U.S. Amateur

The 2022 U.S Amateur is down to the final four.

After five days of action-packed golf, four players remain at the 2022 U.S. Amateur in Paramus, New Jersey.

The two rounds of stroke play were held at Ridgewood Country Club and Arcola Country Club, but since match play started with the Round of 64, Ridgewood has been the lone host.

Created in 1895, the U.S. Amateur is the oldest of the USGA’s 15 championships. After the marathon Thursday featuring the Rounds of 32 and 16, Friday had four matches

One of the biggest storylines entering the quarterfinals was Nicholas Gross, a 15-year-old from Pennsylvania, who took down the No. 8 seed Luke Potter in the Sweet 16. Gross, however, fell in his Friday match.

U.S. Amateur: Scoring | Photo gallery

U.S. Amateur quarterfinal results

  • No. 16 Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, California) def. No. 56 Nicholas Gross (Downingtown, Pennsylvania), 4 and 3.
  • No. 36 Sam Bennett (Madisonville, Texas) def. No. 21 Stewart Hagestad (Newport Beach, California), 3 and 2.
  • No. 34 Ben Carr (Columbus, Georgia) def. No. 26 Alex Price (Hillsboro, Virginia), 2 and 1
  • No. 59 Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis) def. No. 51 Shea Lague (Jamul, California), 3 and 2.

U.S. Amateur semifinal schedule

  • No. 16 Dylan Menante vs. No. 36 Sam Bennett, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
  • No. 34 Ben Carr vs. No. 59 Derek Hitchner, Saturday, 2:20 p.m. ET

How to watch

Saturday, August 20
Semifinals, Golf Channel, 3–6 p.m. ET

Sunday, August 21
36-hole championship match, Golf Channel: 2–5 p.m. ET

2022 Southern Highlands Collegiate: It’s a Sooner sweep in Las Vegas

Oklahoma got an important win while one of its seniors earned a spot in the PGA Tour’s October stop in Vegas.

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LAS VEGAS — With Red River rival Texas lurking seven shots back, the University of Oklahoma men’s golf team fended off both the Longhorns and a late charge from Pepperdine to secure its third consecutive win.

As an added bonus, senior Patrick Welch will return to Las Vegas to make his PGA Tour debut in October.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this feeling,” said Welch, who will be in the field at the Shriners Children’s Open after earning a special exemption with his individual victory Tuesday. “Ever since I started golfing, I’ve always wanted to make it to the PGA Tour. To have this opportunity means the world.”

After tapping in at the par-5 18th to post 67, putting him three clear of a five-way tie for second place, his teammates rushed onto the green to douse him with bottled waters.

“As soon as I finished out and they surprised me with the water, I’ve never had that experience before,” Welch said. “I’m at a loss for words. It was a really good feeling.”

Oklahoma’s lead waxed and waned throughout the day. Pepperdine, whose deficit was 9 shots on the first tee, made a huge move with a blistering 14 under front nine. Senior Derek Hitchner’s 30 featured six birdies in his first seven holes before he went on to card 67. Fellow senior Joe Highsmith’s 65 paced the Waves, who had an outside chance of catching the Sooners but combined to go three over from 16 into the clubhouse. They finished seven back of the champions.

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As for the rivalry? For Welch and coach Ryan Hybl, it was business as usual.

“I think every win feels the same,” Welch said. “Ever since last year we’ve been neck-and-neck. They’re a really good team and I know they aren’t 100 percent healthy, but this week they competed hard.

“To win over them, it’s nice. But it’s just another win.”

Texas would finish third, piloted by top-10 performances from juniors Mason Nome and Travis Vick and senior Cole Hammer. Hammer birdied four of his last six to jump into a tie for second place individually with Highsmith, Sooner freshman Drew Goodman, Georgia Tech sophomore Christo Lamprecht and Florida junior Fred Biondi.

Returning to competitive play for the first time since breaking his right arm was Texas senior Parker Coody, who was disappointed in his opening-round 73 but was certainly happy to be back representing the Longhorns.

“Mentally, I was pretty eager to get going,” Coody said after wrapping up a post-round driving range session. “Afterwards though I’m pretty frustrated. I just made mistakes that I usually don’t make and little things that add up to not a great score on a perfect day.”

Parker’s twin Pierceson, the 10th-ranked amateur in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, broke his arm in the same incident back in early December but didn’t travel with the team to Las Vegas.

“The doctor said he’s a couple of weeks behind me,” Coody said. “His fracture was a little bit worse than mine. Maybe he’ll be in Tucson [Arizona] in a couple of weeks.”

Coody would go on to sign for a 1-under 215, two years after claiming individual honors at Southern Highlands and earning the tournament’s inaugural PGA Tour exemption.

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Derek Hitchner charts massive comeback, wins Trans-Mississippi Amateur in playoff

Derek Hitchner is the latest Pepperdine player to find summer success.

An informal Derek Hitchner fan club ebbed and flowed at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota, over the past four days. At one point or another, 15 or 20 of the Minneapolis native’s friends and family members streamed through the fairways to cheer on their guy at the Trans-Mississippi Amateur.

On Friday, Hitchner, who just finished his junior season at Pepperdine, translated local knowledge and all that support into a massive comeback. He trailed Derek Busby by nine shots at the start of the final round, but after two playoff holes, was left standing with the trophy.

“It’s awesome from the standpoint of knowing I can actually get the job done when the situation calls for it,” he said.

Back in February, Hitchner lost a playoff for the title at the Prestige Individual. He remembers playing in one other playoff, when he was about 8 years old, but the details are foggy.

Scores: Trans-Miss Amateur

It’s not the Trans-Miss playoff so much as how he got in it that stands as the truly remarkable part of Hitchner’s week. Opening rounds of 70-71-69 on the par-71 layout left him within striking distance for the final day. In the final round, he made an initial bogey at No. 4, but had only two birdies the rest of the day – including one on the 18th. A closing 67 was enough to force two extra trips down the 18th with Busby, who closed with a 76, his highest round of the week by six shots.

The 37-year-old Busby is a former Louisiana Tech player who competes regularly on the amateur circuit, having already finished in the top 5 at the George C. Thomas Invitational (a mid-am event) and top 20 at the Maridoe Amateur in the past two weeks.

Busby couldn’t stop making bogeys on Friday, and Hitchner surged.

“I was striking it really nicely, I guess one of the things all week was I just couldn’t really get the ball to go in on the greens,” Hitchner said. “I just figured if I kept giving myself enough chances that hopefully I can make the round.

“I didn’t even really conceive of the possibility of winning because Derek was pretty far ahead. I just kind of went on a nice run on the back nine and just hit a lot of solid iron shots and I didn’t really need my putter to do a lot of work. I kind of took care of that with my iron play.”

Hitchner’s last college event was the Western Intercollegiate, where he finished fourth individually. He played to a 71.2 scoring average in his eight starts this season, but didn’t crack the NCAA championship lineup.

Derek Hitchner, Trans-Miss Amateur
Derek Hitchner during the Trans-Miss Amateur. (Photo by Luke Hendry, Anera Sports)

It takes three days to drive from Malibu, California, to Minneapolis, and Hitchner was burning up the road at the start of June as his Pepperdine teammates were in Scottsdale, Arizona, claiming the NCAA title.

Pepperdine head coach Michael Beard carried nine men on the roster this year and 11 last season. Inner-team qualifying is as difficult as nearly anything the Waves see on the road but up and down the lineup, it pays big dividends.

“It’s invaluable,” Hitchner said. “I’m just so grateful to be around so many good players. They have forced me to improve in so many areas.”

Last month, Hitchner’s teammate Dylan Menante won the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island. Asked how the team group chat might respond to his own win, Hitchner said there are a few such chats.

“I’m sure I’ll talk to them all at some point,” he said.

Hitchner likely won’t be the last Wave to pick up a title this summer. Two years ago – when the amateur circuit was unaffected by COVID-19 – Pepperdine players claimed the SCGA Amateur (Sahith Theegala), NCGA Amateur (Josh McCarthy), California Amateur (William Mouw), Sahalee Players (Joe Highsmith) and the Mexican International Amateur (R.J. Manke). In August, Pepperdine qualified six players for the U.S. Amateur.

Hitchner was one of those men at Pinehurst, and he had also played the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera when he was just 17.

Since returning from Malibu this spring, Hitchner has finished in the top 20 at the Sunnehanna Amateur and competed in last week’s North & South Amateur. He plans to play in a few more local and state events to finish out the off-season.

Since he’s been at Pepperdine, Hitchner said each facet of his game has improved by a little every year. At Windsong Farm, his iron game carried him through. Confidence will now carry him forward.

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