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In a year with only four USGA championships and countless cancellations across the amateur golf calendar, state amateur tournaments are taking on greater importance.
It definitely felt that way for Jamie Lukowicz, a 46-year-old who won the 115th Rhode Island Amateur at Pawtucket Country Club earlier this month. The territory manager for a medical supplies company had captured significant titles in the Ocean State the past several years – a stroke-play championship two years ago and mid-amateur victories in 2014 and 2015 – but this is the one he wanted the most.
To get there, he had to go through four-time Rhode Island Mid-Amateur winner Bobby Leopold and then defending champion Andrew O’Leary, a rising junior at the University of Notre Dame who is 26 years his junior. While both matches came down to the closing moments, Lukowicz’s finishing efforts against O’Leary will go down in tournament lore.
Holding a 1-up lead on O’Leary coming to the 35th hole, Lukowicz missed his drive right into the trees but found an opening to hit an 8-iron to within 18 feet of the hole. Determined to avoid going to the 36th hole, he rolled home a downhill double-breaker for birdie dead center in the hole and then watched O’Leary miss a birdie putt of a similar length that would have extended the match.
“When he missed his (putt), I just looked at my caddie and we had big smiles,” Lukowicz said. “I’ve been in the finals before, been in the semis a couple times. It’s been a long wait.”
Age difference aside, O’Leary was considered a heavy favorite going into the final. He had been stroke-play medalist at the event two years running while winning nine consecutive matches, including the previous year’s finale. However, Lukowicz played the 35-hole match in 4 under and had several crucial moments go in his favor. On the 18th hole of the morning match he made a 20-foot birdie putt to go 2 up, right after O’Leary had made a 30-foot par putt.
Any state amateur victory against a strong field is worth celebrating, but there’s an extra layer for Lukowicz. Unlike many successful amateurs, he didn’t come to golf until age 18 because he had been focusing on baseball until that point. He picked up the game quickly but didn’t play collegiately and took another seven years before entering his first golf tournament. Playing professionally never even entered his mind.
“I had about 12 tournaments where I was right there but couldn’t win. It wasn’t that I couldn’t finish, because I was always coming from behind."
Jamie Lukowicz
As he slowly grew to enjoy competitive golf within Rhode Island, Lukowicz found himself playing his best golf in his 40s. His first win came at the state’s 2014 Mid-Amateur following years of runner-up finishes in various state events.
“I had about 12 tournaments where I was right there but couldn’t win,” Lukowicz said. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t finish, because I was always coming from behind. But it was one of those things where you start a tournament and you just want to make par. You don’t want to embarrass yourself and then all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘What are you doing here? You can make birdie.’ ”
Finding the proper amount of aggression is something that may come naturally to seasoned amateurs, but it was something Lukowicz learned later than most. That skill became valuable at the state amateur when the younger O’Leary lost several holes by short-siding himself in awkward positions. Lukowicz capitalized on those opportunities by hitting his approach to the middle of greens and securing pars.
Experience may have played a vital role, but Lukowicz doesn’t feel like he’s that much older.
“I’m a young 46,” he said. “I stay healthy, I work out a lot, I stretch a lot. You try to stay emotionally young … these kids hit it a long way, but in match play you don’t have to hit it 350 or hit it close every hole. If you can make 18 pars, you’re probably going to win a lot of matches.
“And I know Andrew is a member at Pawtucket, but I’ve probably played a hundred more rounds than he has there, you know? I’ve played a lot of good rounds there, including in 2001 when I lost in the semis. It’s those things you learn from.”
Lukowicz has played in the Northeast Amateur, but has yet to venture out into qualifying for USGA events. He had planned on attempting to get into the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship this year but that event was canceled in mid-May.
It’s not the end of the world. Family and work take precedent well ahead of golf.
“I’ve never really signed up for the qualifiers, because it takes a lot of time,” Lukowicz said. “Hypothetically if I do make it, I don’t know if I would have enough time to take off because I already take a lot off for my tournaments locally. Obviously if I didn’t have work, I couldn’t do what I do, so that comes first.”
Maybe the U.S. Senior Amateur will be on his calendar nine years from now when he turns 55. Until then, he has no problem enjoying a local schedule and schooling the young kids who can learn a thing or two from a late bloomer.
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