SCHMITZ’S ACE PAVES WAY TO 2015 U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
VERO BEACH, Florida – Bolstered by a
hole-in-one on the par-4 33rd hole, Sammy Schmitz, of Farmington,
Minnesota, defeated Marc Dull, of Lakeland, Florida 3 and 2, in the Final to win the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur on the 6,855-yard,
par-72 West Course at John’s Island Club.
Schmitz, a 35-year-old father of
two who works in healthcare services, was angry when he walked to the
tee of the uphill, 260-yard par 4 with a driver in his hands.
He had just lost the par-5 32nd
hole with a bogey that resulted from plugging a short wedge shot into a
greenside bunker. His lead stood at 2 up with four holes to play.
“That wedge shot got me fired
up, missing the green from 110 [yards] and plugging it and giving the
hole away,” said Schmitz, a 2003 NCAA Division III All-America player at
St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
After Dull hit his tee shot on
the West Course’s 15th hole, Schmitz rifled his driver, which landed on
the green 17 feet to the left of the hole, caught the slope behind the
hole and rolled back in for an ace.
It is believed to be only the second
hole-in-one on a par-4 in USGA amateur competition.
“I can’t believe it,” said
Schmitz, who advanced to match play in both of his previous
Mid-Amateurs, losing in the Round of 64 in 2011 and the Round of 32 in
2012. “I’ve been hitting driver (on the hole) the entire tournament. I
think I’ve hit the green four times. I just had a good feeling. I can’t
believe it went in. It’s very surreal.”
Schmitz had one previous hole-in-one, an ace on a par 3 in a nine-hole scramble competition.
“I win [No.] 14 and I’m thinking maybe we can get back in this,” said
Dull, who works at Streamsong (Fla.) Resort. “I didn’t hit a good tee
shot, and when a guy jars it on a par 4, what are you going to do? You
just shake his hand and laugh it off. It was an amazing shot that he
hit.”
With a 3-hole lead, Schmitz calmly
reached the green on the downhill, 233-yard, par-3 34th hole with a
3-iron. Dull, who has caddied at Streamsong for two years, followed with
a tee shot which landed in the right greenside bunker. He blasted to 10
feet.
When Schmitz, a recreational
hockey player, two-putted from the front of the green for a par, Dull
was closed out and Schmitz was a USGA champion, with a likely invitation
to the 2016 Masters Tournament in the offing.
.
Both finalists are exempt into
the 2016 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club, in Bloomfield
Hills, Mich., and are exempt into 2016 U.S. Open sectional qualifying.
The champion also receives a likely invitation to the 2016 Masters.
Labels: USGA
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