There is an adage around Pinehurst No. 2 that, given Donald Ross’ masterful turtleback greens, the perpetual saw is to aim for the middle of the green and putt to the corners.
No one apparently told Luke Clanton.
And if they had, he likely would have just talked them out of it.
Playing aggressively from the very moment the sun began its early morning stroll amidst the North Carolina pines, Clanton fired at tucked championship pins not with reckless abandon, but with poised precision.
"I’ve never played a match like that before in my life, never had to make so many birdies to tie so many holes before in my life."
Luke Clanton
With five birdies and an eagle, Clanton essentially went around Pinehurst No. 2 shooting a 64. And yet, he needed every monumental moment, every pure ball-striking lash, every walked-in putt. Because without even one of them, he would not be the champion of the 122nd North & South Amateur. That honor Sunday would have gone to his opponent, Tommy Morrison, who made one of the great charges this grand old course has ever seen, but who ultimately fell 1-down to his best friend and regular practice-round partner.
“It was unbelievable,” said Clanton, of Miami Lakes, Florida, and an incoming freshman at Florida State. “Tommy is one hell of a golfer. I’ve never played a match like that before in my life, never had to make so many birdies to tie so many holes before in my life.”
A classy concession by Morrison closed one of the most electric and hard-fought matches the North & South has witnessed in its storied history.
“It was an honor to play in the final match,” said Morrison, a Texas commit from Dallas. “If you had told me that I was going to shoot 67 today and lose, I probably would’ve argued with you. Luke and I both played some great golf. Luke just had a couple less mistakes than I did.”
Clanton’s name will be emblazoned in bronze on the Perpetual Wall in Pinehurst’s clubhouse, and he’ll have a locker in the North & South Locker Room, big enough to fit his Putter Boy trophy. He joins his cousin, LPGA Tour player Cydney Clanton, the 2010 Women’s North & South Amateur champion, as Pinehurst winners.
“This is big. This is a big one for me,” Clanton said. “It’s special to be here. I love this place.”
The North and South was the third of seven Elite Amateur Golf Series events this summer. The fourth tournament, the Trans-Mississippi Amateur, takes place this week at Denver Country Club in Colorado.
RESULTS
Pinehurst Resort contributed to this report
Stuart Archibald claimed the English Men’s Mid-Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship, and with it the Logan Trophy, amid dramatic scenes at Liphook Golf Club.
The Test Valley golfer completed victory in a playoff against Martin Young (Brokenhurst Manor) and Michael Henson (Rockcliffe Hall) after the trio were tied on 1-over-par totals of 214, but only after suffering from back spasms in the final round.
Nor was the victory merely a triumph over short-term adversity because the Hampshire man’s professional touring career was ravaged by back problems, cutting short the promise he displayed with success on the third-tier EuroPro Tour.
The limping 38-year-old fired his tee shot at the 208-yard par-3 first extra hole to 20-feet and drained the birdie putt for the win.
“It’s been a weird week,” Archibald said. “I had to pull out of my club championship because of my back. Then I slipped and put my back out today. I didn’t expect to be standing here with the trophy.
“Wearing a bit of black inspired me. I had a tip from my younger days that if you’re ever struggling to get through the golf ball – Gary Player was the best at it – just walk after the shot. That’s all I did after every shot.”
If Archibald was the most resilient golfer of the week, Hornsea’s Steven Uzzell was the most unfortunate, following an opening 81 with 68 and a course-record 66 to miss out on the playoff by one shot.
Matt Cooper