SIASCONSET, MASSACHUSETTS | Hayes Brown tossed his club in the air and went running down the fairway as the crowd of several hundred surrounding Sankaty Head Golf Club’s 15th hole erupted in euphoria.
There is almost always a playoff to get into the match-play bracket at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, but they almost never end like this.
Brown, a 32-year-old resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a former Wofford College player who is not even listed in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, went out in the first foursome of a 13-for-7 playoff last Monday afternoon to see who would advance out of stroke play. He made a bogey on the par-4 10th and figured there was “only a small chance” his week would continue.
Everything that came after that bordered on miraculous.
While six players made par on that first playoff hole and advanced, others botched their opportunity and kept Brown alive for the last spot. Rob Couture yipped a putt inside 3 feet. Jason Rossetti saw a 5-foot downhill effort snap before it reached the hole. Domingo Jojola had an uphill 5-foot putt that grazed the lip.
“I was aiming at this dude’s white tennis shoes. ... After that, I was just hoping for the best.”
hayes brown
The result was a 6-for-1 playoff on the par-4 15th to see who would get the No. 64 seed. With the wicked coastal wind helping, Brown hit the fairway with a driving iron and then watched as Couture hit his approach to near tap-in distance.
Par wouldn’t be good enough. Brown, and everyone else in the playoff, needed a birdie just to extend it to another hole.
That’s when Brown pulled out a 58-degree wedge with 96 yards between him and the hole.
“I was aiming at this dude’s white tennis shoes,” said Brown, whose day job is working in asset management for a real estate company. “And I literally hit right at his tennis shoes. After that, I was just hoping for the best.”
The flighted wedge landed in the short rough right of the hole and spun viciously to the left. Had it not hit the hole, which was sitting on top of a shelf, it would have gone past some 15 to 20 feet.
Instead, it crashed into the cup. The crowd buzzed for 10 minutes as Brown received accolades from both friends and strangers. According to tournament officials, the last time a player won a USGA playoff on a hole-out was Sean Maruyama, son of former PGA Tour player Shigeki Maruyama, at the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
As he walked back up to the clubhouse, Brown was asked whether he’s been playing a lot of competitive golf recently.
“No, not at all actually,” Brown said.
That only made what happened next even sweeter. Brown turned around a little more than an hour later to face medalist Yaroslav Merkulov, a former Duke University golfer who had set a U.S. Mid-Am stroke-play record of 9 under.
Merkulov went 3 up through 12 holes in a match that had to be played in two acts because darkness set in, but he missed three short putts in the final six holes and Brown rallied for a 1-up victory.
Strangely, the No. 64 seed has won five times in USGA championships this year. Rachel Kuehn (U.S. Women’s Amateur), Mark Goetz (U.S. Amateur), Tim Hogarth (U.S. Senior Amateur) and Jennifer Peng (U.S. Women’s Mid-Am) all lost after earning medalist honors.
“I think my energy level was a little too high after just sneaking into the match-play field,” Brown said. “I feel like I kind of gave away some holes, and I was glad we had darkness because I was a little emotionally exhausted.”
Brown, who was featured in Global Golf Post when he made an unlikely run to the sweet 16 of the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in the only other USGA championship he’s ever competed in, had more magic up his sleeve.
He pulverized Sam Straka, 5 and 4, and then pulled away on the back nine to beat Skip Berkmeyer, 4 and 2. His quarterfinals match wasn’t close, either, an easy defeat of Colby Harwell, 6 and 5.
With his father, Mike, on the bag, Brown was two wins from playing in two major championships next year. The other three semifinalists were among the clear elite in mid-amateur golf, while Brown came into the week as a complete unknown.
Also, no 64-seed had ever reached the Mid-Am semifinals, nor had one ever won a USGA championship. Jensen Castle won the U.S. Women’s Amateur this year as a 63 seed, tying the record for highest seed to win a championship.
He finally cracked. Brown bogeyed his first three holes against eventual champion Stewart Hagestad and went on to lose, 4 and 3.
He came up just short, but nobody will forget the week he had. Especially Brown.
“I think the whole experience – between the holing out and making it this far, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that most people dream of – I got to experience it, so that’s pretty neat,” Brown said in the aftermath, keeping a smile and positive attitude. “I think I just proved that I’m good enough to be here.”.
Sean Fairholm