Tag: Golfweek Carolina CC Amateur

Liam Shinn uses three well-timed birdies to win Golfweek Carolina CC Amateur

College golf has suited Liam Shinn, who applied what he has learned at South Carolina to win at Carolina Country Club.

The college freshman thing is new to Liam Shinn, who just arrived at South Carolina this fall. He’s already benefiting, though, and for proof of that, look no further than his Tuesday win at the Golfweek Carolina Country Club Amateur. Shinn turned a five-shot swing on the 14th hole of the final round into a four-shot win.

Shinn fired opening rounds of 70-73 and had ground to make up on 36-hole leader Joey McCarthy. Shinn was still trailing by the time the two, playing in the same group, reached the 14th hole. Shinn birdied it and McCarthy had a quadruple-bogey eight.

“After that I knew if I could keep making pars and maybe one more birdie, I could take the tournament,” Shinn said.

Scores: Golfweek Carolina CC Amateur

Instead he made two more birdies in his final four holes for a closing 69 that left him at 4 under. That was four better than Cameron Willis of Wittenberg University. Cincinnati’s McCarthy finished solo third at 1 over.

Shinn led twice in junior tournaments this summer, but wasn’t able to finish off either title. A lead sometimes gets in his head. On Tuesday, he was proud of the way he handled the back nine, and thinks the new college environment had something to do with that.

“It’s been really good. Even with COVID, I’ve been able to get a lot more practice in than back at home,” he said. For Shinn, that means hours spent at South Carolina’s facilities, the benefit of having 11 to push him and access to his college coaches.

COVID has had an impact on competition opportunities, but Shinn is happy easing in this way.

“The freshman experience I guess is a little bit different but I’m still enjoying it, being able to golf pretty much all day, every day.”

Specially, Shinn points to a drill that forces him to aim small with his approach shots into the greens at the Gamecock practice facility. Points are awarded based on where the ball lands.

“It was a simple drill, but I feel like that helped me a lot,” he said.

Shinn has plenty of time left to hone his game in Columbia, South Carolina. Just imagine the possibilities.

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Riley Smyth keeps building on an August breakthrough with Golfweek Carolina CC title

Riley Smyth’s breakout performance came in August with a U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinal run. On Tuesday, she earned a victory.

The comfort that comes with a 36-hole lead isn’t always a good thing. Riley Smyth battled that Tuesday at the Golfweek Carolina Country Club Amateur. She entered the day with five shots of padding over Mathilde Delavallade, her closest chaser, and ended the day with only one shot to spare.

“I think definitely part of it is coming into the final day with a comfortable lead just because you know that you have a little bit of a cushion,” Smyth said, “and it’s a little nerve-wracking knowing that you have a little bit of that pressure having to close it out.”

The Virginia junior held on, though, and a final-round 78 was good enough to maintain a 3-over total. Tough hole locations contributed to Smyth’s higher score as the course played harder all the way around on the final day.

Scores: Golfweek Carolina CC Amateur

Madison Moosa, a Furman senior, finished second at 4 over with Penn State’s Delavallade third another shot back.

No competition was guaranteed for Smyth when the ACC announced golf teams would not compete in the fall. She found tournament opportunities herself. Smyth was fourth at a Golf Coaches Association of America event in North Carolina and 11th at the Women’s Griffin Amateur.

Tournament titles are hard-fought and infrequent at this level of the sport.

Riley Smyth, Virginia
Riley Smyth won the Golfweek Carolina CC Amateur.

“This one feels good,” she said. “I definitely haven’t been playing my best this fall, just with COVID and just trying to really hone in my game some. It definitely made it so that some of my tournaments weren’t as great as I would have liked them to be. This one felt really good just knowing that my work is paying off and that some of the changes I’m making are starting to come together.”

Smyth had a breakout week in early August when she finished T-5 in stroke play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, then battled all the way to the match-play quarterfinals. She walked away knowing she could compete with the best in the world. That realization is invaluable.

Smyth, an economics major at Virginia, spent much of her summer eating up whatever self-improvement titles she could find, often recommended by her Virginia coaches. Right now, she’s working through The Obstacle is the Way, a title former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy raved about earlier in 2020. With school in session, it’s slower going.

“I’m liking it so far,” she said. “We’ll see how the rest of it progresses.”

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