SIASCONSET, MASSACHUSETTS | Before Stewart Hagestad became just the sixth player to win multiple U.S. Mid-Amateurs and further cemented his place as the best mid-am in the world, there were two moments we should remember more than his stellar play.
The first came in the quarterfinals against Christian Sease. Hagestad, the 30-year-old who played his college golf at Southern Cal and has remained an amateur without any foray into professional golf, came to the 15th hole at Sankaty Head Golf Club with a 2-up lead in a tightly contested match.
Sease flew his approach over the green and, facing a deficit, did everything he could to hole his chip. That included pulling the flagstick and asking Hagestad, who had a 10-foot birdie putt upcoming, to move his mark one putter head to the left.
When Sease’s chip missed the hole and left him with about 8 feet to save his par, Hagestad settled into his own process. His broomstick putter had been magical for him all week, despite the 30 mph winds that were gusting through the exposed property that sits on the easternmost edge of the island of Nantucket.
Hagestad was locked in, ready to convert his birdie effort and take a commanding 3-up lead with three holes to play. But near the end of his routine, Sease stopped Hagestad to ask if he had remembered to move his mark back. Hagestad had completely forgotten.
Had Sease not said anything and Hagestad hit the putt, it would have been a loss of hole and a starkly different match. Instead, Hagestad moved his mark back and missed the birdie putt. Before Sease could even step in for his par effort to tie the hole, Hagestad conceded the putt, one that was well outside the circle of friendship.
“It just felt like the right thing to do to give him the 8- or 9-footer,” Hagestad said. “For him, he could have easily said nothing and I could have lost the hole. … It's more important to be a good guy and do the right thing than anything else.”
That wasn’t the only time Hagestad did the right thing during his U.S. Mid-Am victory.
During the round of 32, the three-time Walker Cupper boat-raced his way past Marc Dull, a respected player from Florida. It was on the eighth hole that Dull had to take relief from a cart path well left of the green and then pitched his ball about 10 feet past the hole. Being out of position, Dull had a long walk to reach his ball on the green.
Before Hagestad hit his chip shot, he yelled over at Dull in concern that his opponent’s ball could provide a potential backboard of sorts. Hagestad easily could have played his shot without asking for a mark, and Dull kindly declined the offer, but it was a sincere moment from someone who cares far more about playing the game the proper way than winning.
And winning was something Hagestad did plenty of with a U.S. Open berth and traditional Masters invitation hanging in the balance.
Sometimes in a match-play event like the U.S. Mid-Am, the “best” player is ousted early in the competition. This time, the best player did win. Counting match-play concessions, Hagestad was a combined 19 under in his six bouts and only trailed for one hole out of the 121 holes he played. In every match, he was no worse than 1 under.
If it was a stroke play event, a 10-handicap could have played the last couple of holes for Hagestad without worry of costing him the trophy.
That’s not to say there weren’t dangerous moments. Sease took Hagestad to the 18th hole before losing, 2 down. In the round of 16, Stephen Behr Jr. engaged the eventual victor in a 23-hole marathon that Hagestad called one of the best matches he had ever been a part of in his life. And in the 36-hole finale when Hagestad took a seemingly insurmountable 7-up lead over Mark Costanza, the 2020 New Jersey and Metropolitan Golf Association Player of the Year, Hagestad had to cope with the margin being whittled down to a 1-up lead with five holes left. He survived the onslaught, making a birdie at the par-5 17th to take a 2-and-1 victory.
But still, everyone on the property had a sense that Hagestad was a cut above the rest.
“He really makes no mistakes,” said Hayes Brown, a semifinalist Hagestad defeated with ease.
There were a couple of mistakes, but Hagestad more than made up for them. In a week when the field had to be flexible due to fog delays early in the championship, Hagestad fought through a 36-hole finale that had to be split into two days, slowing the momentum he built early in the match. Even with a 5-up lead through 18 holes, Hagestad was adamant that his work was far from finished. Costanza proved him correct when he came out of the gates for the second half firing.
“When you walk into breakfast and someone says, ‘Hey, you’re the guy who is going to win today,’ it’s like, ‘No, no, no, I haven’t done anything,’ ” Hagestad told Global Golf Post. “You need to go through your process and go win this thing.”
Back when he won the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am at Stonewall Links, two different courses were used in the final match for the first time in championship history. In that unique final, Hagestad was 4 down with five holes remaining and clawed his way back.
This time, he staved off a comeback and fought through some nervous moments.
That brings us back to those two moments of sportsmanship. This week on social media, there were several accusations that Hagestad winning this championship is somehow unfair. Hagestad has the flexibility in his life to play a more full national amateur schedule than most, this being his eighth WAGR-counting event of 2021. The word “professional amateur” has been thrown around several times, some insinuating that Hagestad does not have the same stress as other mid-amateurs.
"I think since the Walker Cup I’ve done a really good job of appreciating the moment. You lose so much more than you win in golf, and you have to give yourself credit when you do win. Life still goes on if you lose.”
Stewart Hagestad
Those flinging such criticisms have probably never met Hagestad, who is one of the most well-spoken and thoughtful individuals you will come across in or out of golf.
One of the beauties of amateur golf is that anybody in any life situation has the opportunity to compete. Many of the competitors can’t play or practice as much as they would like to, which is a life choice they have made. Some have work situations that allow them to play a lot and some only get to play a couple of events per year.
If you ask any mid-am who doesn’t get to play much competitive golf whether they would like to play more, nearly all of them will say yes. Many of them do play as much as Hagestad does, but he gets singled out because of what he has accomplished.
Let’s single out Hagestad for another reason.
He cares about the game, as evidenced not just by his sportsmanship but by his honesty and well-rounded perspective.
A few weeks ago when he lost in the Crump Cup final to Michael Muehr, Hagestad expressed to his playing partner that no matter what happened, neither of their lives would change. They could just enjoy the moment, competing against each other at venerable Pine Valley.
When asked whether he was able to extend that attitude into this past week, Hagestad replied without hesitation.
“I could tell you that was the mindset going into the Mid-Am, but we both know that would be bulls---,” Hagestad said. “But having said that, I think since the Walker Cup I’ve done a really good job of appreciating the moment. You lose so much more than you win in golf, and you have to give yourself credit when you do win. Life still goes on if you lose.”
Seeing Hagestad win, I was reminded of a conversation we had earlier this year at the Walker Cup media day steps away from the first tee at Seminole Golf Club. The late great amateur legend Bob Lewis had recently passed away and Hagestad was commenting on whether he could see himself being a Lewis-like figure in the game. After all, Lewis played in four Walker Cups and later captained another two. Hagestad has already played in three, all of them on a winning team.
The assumption was that Hagestad would want to rack up as many as he could, continuing to be the world’s top-ranked mid-amateur for as long as time would allow.
It’s not that simple. Life is not that simple. Labeling Hagestad a professional amateur is not that simple.
“There are a lot of sacrifices you have to make, a lot of things you have to give up on,” Hagestad said of maintaining his Walker Cup presence. “Kids, family, money, responsibilities … as much fun as it is to be working on my MBA for eight months and then playing for four months, it’s just not a sustainable practice.
“The honest answer is that I don’t know. But I know for sure that I will think about it.”
The more you get to know Hagestad and who he is as not just a golfer but a person, the more you are able to understand that he’s just a guy who loves the game and has committed a tremendous amount of energy to reach the position he’s earned.
He proved that again this week.
Top: Stewart Hagestad with caddie Peter Kiley
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