Jackson Van Paris wasn’t an integral part of the Vanderbilt lineup last season, and that’s not necessarily his fault.
He was a talented sophomore stuck battling with one of the deepest lineups in college golf. He teed it up in only five tournaments, his best finish coming at the John Hayt Invitational at T-6.
Heading into his junior season, he has made a case he could be a big factor for the Commodores.
Van Paris won the 82nd Sunnehanna Amateur on Saturday at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He shot 13-under 267, beating Ohio State’s Neal Shipley by one shot for the title. Van Paris won in big part thanks to his 9-under 61 in the second round, where he took the lead and never looked back.
Even with a bogey on his final hole, Van Paris shot 3-under 67 on Saturday to claim the title. Shipley started the final round two shots behind, carding a 4-under 66 on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to catch Van Paris.
Sebastian Moss of Louisville shot 7 under in the final round to move into solo third at 11-under 269. Luke Clanton, Herman Senke and William Moll tied for fourth at 10 under.
The Sunnehanna Amateur is the first of seven men’s events that are a part of the Elite Amateur Series. Up next is the Northeast Amateur from June 19-24 at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island.
Seven of the top summer amateur tournaments in the nation have joined forces to form the Elite Amateur Golf Series, where top point earners from the events will earn exemptions into select USGA, PGA and Korn Ferry Tour events. Prior to the official …
Seven of the top summer amateur tournaments in the nation have joined forces to form the Elite Amateur Golf Series, where top point earners from the events will earn exemptions into select USGA, PGA and Korn Ferry Tour events.
Prior to the official announcement expected on Tuesday, the Elite Amateur Golf Series has been rolling out the names of the tournaments that will make up the coalition, adding, “The Best of the Best Amateur Golfers. Many will try, but only a few can truly be elite.”
The seven tournaments which will make up the Elite Amateur Golf Series include the Southern Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Northeast Amateur, North and South Amateur, Trans-Miss Amateur, Pacific Coast Amateur and Western Amateur.
“These tournaments have a long history of hosting the best players at the best venues producing the best competition,” according to the EAGS promotional video.
Much like PGA TOUR University Global Rankings, the Elite Amateur Golf Series provides another path for top amateurs to gain exemptions into professional events based on season-long performance. The Elite Amateur Golf Series will combine the seven tournaments into a collective competition called the Elite Amateur Cup. The player with the highest amount of World Amateur Golf Ranking points earned from these events will be named the Elite Amateur Cup champion, earning exemptions into select professional tournaments.
Trent Phillips saved his best for last after four years playing the Sunnehanna Amateur, adding his name to a prestigious winner’s list.
There is some amount of timing involved in making a run at the Walker Cup, the top line on many an amateur player’s goal sheet. Win the Sunnehanna Amateur, and you can guarantee a pretty hard look for that team. In the case of Trent Phillips, however, the clock will likely run out on his amateur career before another look for the team in 2023.
Phillips, who appeared on a Walker Cup practice squad after his freshman year at Georgia and is about to enter his senior season there, has teed it up in competition four times at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This trip is likely to be his last, but he’ll go out on top after a one-shot victory on Saturday over Ian Siebers, a Duke freshman, and that’s a good enough line on the resume for him.
Phillips and the rest of the Sunnehanna field faced some amount of wind every day. “The weather was a little weird today,” as Phillips said on Saturday afternoon, which caused the greens to get a little soft in the final round. In his mind, that made the course play even harder.
“The greens are wicked and they have so much slope that the balls were almost plugging and landing on spots where they would normally funnel down to the low areas,” he said.
The Inman, South Carolina, native approached the final round wanting to play aggressively and keep his foot on the gas. He had a one-shot lead after three rounds and didn’t want to fall into the trap of coasting it home. He couldn’t, as it turns out, with Siebers firing a 65 behind him plus Travis Vick (third) bringing in a 66 and Leo Oyo (T4) a 64 behind that.
Travis Vick, Ian Siebers and Trent Phillips at the Sunnehanna Amateur. (Photo: Barry Reeger)
Phillips thinks the challenge at Sunnehanna lies in placing it on the right spots on the greens.
“For me, and I feel like a lot of people would say this too, just keeping it underneath the hole and hitting fairways. That rough out there is super thick…” he said. “So keeping it in the fairway is important and keeping it under the hole to have uphill putts.”
On his way to a final-round 68 (which left him at 9 under for the week), Phillips “drove it fantastic,” hitting every fairway as well as 14 greens.
As the No. 48-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Phillips’ summer continues with more of the best stops on the amateur calendar: next week’s Northeast Amateur then the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur in the following months.
The Sunnehanna breakthrough could lead to more.
“My past couple summers just haven’t been great. I’ve had great college season and then I come play summer golf and it’s just not all there,” he said. “So this was really important for me to get off to a good start in the summer, especially heading into my senior year.”
Phillips thinks it was as much about what was going on in his mind as it was being a younger player without so much awareness of his golf game. Simple mistakes add up.
“When you grow up, you get better each year, that’s kind of what I’ve learned throughout college,” he said. “Each year I’ve gotten better, and my scores may not show it each week but I’m learning and you just learn each week some new things that you can carry on with you.”
Back home in South Carolina, Phillips works on his game with Tommy Biershenk and Taylor Crosby. But after three weeks on the road – Phillips competed for the victorious Americans last week in the Arnold Palmer Cup – he’s not rushing back to the range.
The ability to lay low may be one secret to Phillips’ newfound good headspace, even though it’s been something he’s always practiced.
“I like to kind of stay away from golf sometimes when I get back from long trips and stuff like that,” he said, “just because I don’t get a whole lot of time to myself, especially with golf and the college season so when I get a chance I like to take advantage of it and just practice when I can.”
Preston Summerhays improved for a fourth consecutive day, cruising to the Sunnehanna Amateur title.
Preston Summerhays entered the final round of the 67th Sunnehanna Amateur on Friday morning with a one-shot lead and a clear plan: don’t miss long, stay below the hole, attack where you can with a wedge in hand.
“Pars and two-putts are going to be very valuable tomorrow,” Preston said Thursday night.
His 11 pars made during the final round were quite valuable, as were the six birdies. The 2021 Arizona State commit improved yet again for the fourth consecutive day, carding a 5-under 65 to win the title, tying the tournament record at 14 under. Past champions include the likes of Ben Crenshaw, Brad Faxon, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.
Summerhays would have run away with the title had it not been for Texas’ Travis Vick, who signed for an incredible 7-under 63 on Friday to take solo second at 11 under. LSU’s Trey Winstead finished third at 10 under, followed by Quade Cummins (Oklahoma), Connor Schmidt (Drexel) and Brandon Mancheno (Auburn) all T-4 at 9 under.
Instead of defending his U.S. Junior Amateur title – this year’s event was scheduled for July 20-25 at Hazeltine before being canceled – Summerhays added another major amateur championship to his name, but his summer is just starting to heat up.
The kid known as “Ruthless P” for his attitude on the course now goes straight to the Western Amateur at Crooked Stick (July 27-Aug. 1), followed by five much-deserved days off. From there it’s on to the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes (Aug. 10-16) and the the U.S. Open at Winged Foot (Sept. 17-20).
A measured approach has led Preston Summerhays to the top of Sunnehanna Amateur leaderboard entering Friday’s final round.
The summer of Summerhays is continuing this week, not only at the PGA Tour’s stop in Minnesota at the 3M Open, but also in Pennsylvania at the Sunnehanna Amateur, one of golf’s premier amateur events.
After Tony Finau parted ways with his caddie, his coach Boyd Summerhays jumped on the bag and the two worked together for a 6-under 65 during the opening round at TPC Twin Cities. While that was happening, Boyd’s son, Preston, a rising star in the amateur golf world and reigning U.S. Junior champion, was working his way around Sunnehanna Country Club and now sits alone atop the leaderboard entering Friday’s final round.
“I was easing my way in, trying to play smart golf and pick apart the course where I can, try to attack when I get some wedges in my hand, but mostly play safe and try to make a lot of pars,” Preston said of his first-round strategy. “The second day I got hot with the putter on the back nine, then today I stacked in a couple wedges and long irons and I made a big putt to shoot the 4 under.”
The 2021 Arizona State commit has been able to improve each day with rounds of 68, 67 and now 66, but knows he needs to improve in order to bring home the title. He left himself some “sketchy putts” that didn’t bode well for Sunnehanna’s “really sloped” greens on Thursday.
“Pars and two-putts are going to be very valuable tomorrow,” said Preston.
He would know. Making his debut at the event last year, Preston didn’t make the cut before the final round. Last year, he remembers six or maybe even eight three-putts. Over the last three days, he’s three-putted just once.
“Shaving shots that way has helped a lot this week,” he added.
No kidding.
That same measured approach to the game will be key for Preston not only in Friday’s final round, but for the rest of his summer.
After the Sunnehanna, Preston goes straight to the Western Amateur at Crooked Stick (July 27-Aug. 1), followed by five days off. From there it’s the the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes (Aug. 10-16). Then the U.S. Open at Winged Foot (Sept. 17-20).
The kid they call “Ruthless P” for his attitude on the course has the schedule to back the name. Another major amateur win will prove he’s got the game, too.
Oklahoma men’s golf coach Ryan Hybl is among the leaders midway through the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur.
How does that old saying go, those who can’t do, teach? Or something like that, right? Well, Ryan Hybl is proving he’s pretty good at both at the 67th Sunnehanna Amateur.
Hybl, Quade Cummins – who played for Hybl and recently completed his senior year at Oklahoma – recent Auburn grad Graysen Huff and Arizona State commit Preston Summerhays are all tied for the lead at 5 under after the second round of play at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Hybl led after a first-round 5-under 65 but shot even par on Wednesday. Huff and Cummins did the inverse while Summerhays improved on an opening-round 68 with a Wednesday 67.
During his collegiate career at Georgia from 2001-04, Hybl was a two-time All-American and All-SEC team member and a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist. From 2005-09 he was an assistant for the Bulldogs before taking over at Oklahoma in 2009. Hybl briefly played professional golf while a coach at Georgia, recording several top-10 finishes on developmental tours before retiring due to an elbow injury.
This summer has been about scrambling to keep amateur golf events on the schedule, modifying them and stripping them down to the basics.
It’s not in John Yerger’s nature to turn his back on a player searching for an opportunity in golf. It may be music to a college golfer’s ears that there’s still tournament golf to be played this summer. As co-chairman of the Sunnehanna Amateur, Yerger knows something of the demand.
Yerger could fill the 100-man Sunnehanna Amateur field five times over. Something says he would, too.
“They want to have a chance to do the thing they care about at this point in their life,” he said of players searching for playing opportunities.
Tournament sponsors and Sunnehanna Country Club members stood by the decades-old event, ultimately making it possible to play the Sunnehanna July 21-24, five weeks after its original June 17-20 spot. The tournament now falls directly before the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur, creating an intriguing end-of-summer gauntlet.
Players will have a two-and-a-half-day window to travel from the Sunnehanna in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, for the Western Amateur. They’re likely to do it in droves.
The summer amateur schedule is something of a living organism and has been for years. When one tournament changes its dates, it has a domino effect on every other tournament down the line. The strength of each field depends on which tournaments overlap. This summer has been about scrambling to keep events on the schedule, modifying them however necessary and stripping them down to the basics.
So far, the early-June events have taken the biggest hit. Among those canceled this year are the Dogwood Invitational, Monroe Invitational, Northeast Amateur, Sahalee Players Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur and Eastern Amateur. The cancellation of the Pacific Coast Amateur freed up dates for the Sunnehanna’s move.
Certainly the summer amateur schedule will be back-loaded.
Under normal circumstances, a player could go a whole summer without ever sleeping in his own bed, teeing it up week after week, hopping from host house to host house. When a community hosts an amateur event, it typically rallies around that event.
In Johnstown, residents will still open their homes to players. That won’t be the case at many stops.
Yerger fielded more than 80 requests for host housing and so far is just six beds short of meeting that. The Sunnehanna will remain as normal as possible – and safe – with paper (scorecards, pin sheets) likely going out the window. Caddies are out too, with pushcarts being allowed for the first time. An extra food tent is likely to go up, as well.
Yerger has been involved with the Sunnehanna for 50 years, from playing (1978, ’80) to housing players to co-chairing. He knows the amateur landscape intimately. With the 2021 Walker Cup moved up to May 8-9 from its usual early September dates, this summer’s results are very much in play.
“There’s a lot of things that people aren’t thinking about,” Yerger said. “They didn’t realize it’s May of next year. … These tournaments have a big impact on Walker Cup and also on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.”
Braden Thornberry and Collin Morikawa both played the Sunnehanna Amateur. (Sunnehanna photo)
At the Western Golf Association, Steve Prioletti watches players move from the Western Junior on up to the Western Amateur and on from there. For Prioletti, the association’s director of amateur competitions, it’s hard not to become invested in this community of players.
“Watching that progression, how could you not care for these guys and want to provide them with opportunities to compete?” he said. “Being the third-oldest amateur event in the world, it’s our responsibility to exhaust all options to try to make this tournament happen.”
Prioletti & Co., have some time on their side. Though forced to cancel the Western Junior, scheduled for June 15-18 in Lake Worth, Illinois, plans remain to play the Western Amateur on its original date of July 27-Aug. 1. Crooked Stick hosted the Dye Junior Invitational at the end of May. It was a helpful test run – albeit on a much smaller scale – for competition.
Prioletti won’t be shy about asking other tournament directors how they’re managing COVID-19 challenges.
“Really getting granular with all those tournament details to make sure – obviously safety is the main priority – but you have to make sure it’s a good experience for all involved as well.”
Golf in its purest form
The desire to play is no less on the women’s side – and with the Curtis Cup having been pushed back to 2021, the high stakes are there, too. The major events matter very much.
More than any other event, perhaps, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur has female amateurs keeping an eagle eye on the World Amateur Golf Ranking to make sure they qualify for an invitation. Though canceled, the same field (or at least, the invitees who remained amateur) will be recycled for the 2021 event.
Even as women’s events were canceled – the Women’s Southern Amateur, Women’s Porter Cup and Women’s Eastern Amateur among them – new back-to-back events were added in June. The U.S. Women’s Elite Amateur Golf Championships will be played June 23-25 at Heron Creek and June 30-July 2 at Charlotte Harbor in North Port, Florida.
Steve Washburn put a new competitive women’s amateur event on the calendar last year with the inaugural Donna Andrews Invitational. The Donna remains firmly on schedule for June 28-30 at Boonsboro Golf Club in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Washburn, a golf dad who saw the need for a tournament that gave elite players the same opportunities that it gave mid-ams and mid-handicappers, pulled the event together last year. Organizers have talked through all aspects of the event’s second year, from food and beverage (all to go) to Andrews’ tournament-week clinic (nixed) to whether caddies would be allowed (greenlighted).
“It’s been a very interesting process,” Washburn said. “A lot of questions, a lot of debate within the group.”
For the first time in his 11 years as Pinehurst’s director of tournament operations, Brian Fahey will be able host a one-day qualifier to help fill the 120-woman North & South Women’s Amateur field. He received 231 applications for this year’s July 14-18 event, breaking the record of 220 set in 2015.
Last year, the North & South men’s field was something like a test run for a Pinehurst-hosted U.S. Amateur – and who wouldn’t want to put in for an advantage like that? – but organizers received nearly 100 more applications for the 2020 event (to be played June 30-July 4) than they did a year ago. That’s a big indicator of the interest level in amateur golf this summer.
Both fields will feature 120 players competing on Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 4. With such a backdrop, the other frills are hardly necessary.
“We may not be able to do a lot of the extras that players have become accustomed to over the years – in terms of receptions or dinners, lunches and breakfasts, social gatherings – those will be eliminated,” Fahey said. “This was our communication to the players: This is going to be golf almost in its purest form.”
Austin Greaser during Day 2 of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst. (Photo: USGA/Chris Keane)
It takes a village
All things being normal, the Dogwood Invitational would have gotten underway June 10 at Druid Hills Golf Club, a hilly little gem tucked into a neighborhood near downtown Atlanta. The Dogwood is a week-long, 72-hole tournament that includes events like a long-drive contest and the “Taste of The Dogwood” to showcase local fare.
Like many high-level amateur events staged at historic clubs, the membership breathes life into all aspects of tournament week from housing players to giving up their golf course to cultivating relationships with players who will come back over and over again through their amateur careers.
All of those aspects, plus how limited member play has been of late, figured into the Dogwood’s cancellation. It simply couldn’t be the same event this year.
“As we went through our scenarios of what we could do,” said Ed Toledano, tournament chairman emeritus, “we said, well can we have a tournament with no spectators. We could make it twosomes and put all the special rules and regulations in and things like that and then we fell back to, if we’re limiting member play, how can we feel comfortable doing this now?”
The scoreboard at the 2019 Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club.
Shared responsibility
In the Dogwood’s absence, tournament director Bruce Fleming finds his own Rice Planters Amateur in the lead-off position. The June 23-25 event at Snee Farm Country Club, in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, will likely get more eyes because of that – and for two reasons.
“Coaches will want to see how their players had played or maybe perhaps they want to get a sense of what players have been doing out there in terms of practice and prep and that stuff,” Fleming said. “They’re going to look at us closely from that perspective. I can only assume they will look at us in terms of how we complete the event.”
Fleming looks at the latter as his own moral responsibility to do things right. The Rice Planters won’t feature any caddies, paper, social events or buffet meals. The field has been reduced from 99 players to roughly 65. The new guidelines were made very clear to invited players. A responsibility rests with them, too.
It’s not so much that Fleming was flooded with applications this year – he received about 220 when in past years he has received upward of 300 – but that more players in the tournament’s exemption categories accepted their invitation than ever before, from the defending champion Austin Fulton to Canon Claycomb, a top-50 player in the world. The number of acceptances from 34 exemption categories doubled this year.
“Our field – I don’t know how I quantify it – but it’s much better than in the past,” Fleming said.
If those players filter out again to other tournaments next summer when the schedule presumably goes back to normal, Fleming will understand.
“We want to run our tournament, we want to continue our history,” Fleming said. “… We have to do it in a manner that is appropriate and successful for what is going on.”
