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OAKMONT, PENNSYLVANIA | The U.S. Amateur has been dominated by college players for years and last week was no exception. Among those players who reached match play, only one was older than 25 years old: University of Tennessee assistant coach Bo Andrews, a former Georgia Tech player who graduated more than seven years ago.
While that may be the case, the tournament would not be complete without a story like the one belonging to Steve Carter. The towering 51-year-old resident of St. Augustine, Florida, competed in his fourth U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club, the same venue he played in his third U.S. Am start – a full 18 years ago.
His caddie for this year’s tournament wasn’t even alive in 2003. That would be his son, Jacob, a 16-year-old who talked excitedly through each shot with his dad and fist-pumped par saves as the two journeyed around one of the world’s hardest courses, wife and mom Karen walking alongside them.
“It’s a phenomenal experience, sharing this with him,” Carter said. “He knows the game, he knows my game. He knows when to say something or when not to say something, although we had a couple of good laughs today where he told me, ‘Hey, don’t go there.’ We have that type of relationship where he can say that.
“The experience is for all of us, not knowing if I’ll be in one of these again. Likely not.”
Carter was on the University of North Florida golf team that won the 1993 NAIA National Championship, and he’s gone on to author a respectable mid-amateur career after a brief stint in professional golf. He won the Florida Mid-Amateur in 2004 and 2009, as well as the Florida State Golf Association’s Forty & Over Four-Ball North Championship earlier this year.
Steve Carter
In 2018 and 2019, Carter served as the FSGA president and occasionally played in the same events his association conducted. However, qualifying for this year’s U.S. Amateur and getting to play along 311 of the best amateurs in the world came as a surprise given how long it had been since Carter previously competed in elite national tournaments.
After shooting 67 in Round 1 of the July qualifier in St. Augustine, his 71 in Round 2 secured second place and the last available spot. Carter had to get up and down from a bunker on the 18th hole to make a par that avoided a playoff.
“It was really just a shot in the dark to be honest with you,” Carter said. “It was at our home course where we live, St. Johns Golf and Country Club, so I figured, ‘Why not? What the heck?’ I want to give my son a little spark, to get back into the game. He has some talent. Just him getting to see a venue like this, his head is on a swivel. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
With Monday’s opening round being played in firm, fast conditions before rain softened Oakmont, Carter got the poor end of the draw. He shot 9-over 79, which was far from the worst score shot on Day 1, and completed a 2-over 72 at Longue Vue Club on Day 2. Considering there were 81 competitors who finished worse than 11 over, it was not a disastrous showing in any sense.
A lot has changed since Carter’s most recent U.S. Amateur, including Oakmont. There are fewer trees and more fairway bunkers. The rough was cut much shorter than it was in 2003.
And yet, it was still Oakmont.
“It was as difficult as I remember it being,” Carter said. “The green complexes are still the hardest in the world.”
But the tournament wasn’t about a result. In that way, Carter had as good a week as anyone.
Sean Fairholm