Jake Holbrook, a rising senior at the University of Oklahoma, made a 40-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to defeat Ohio State’s Neal Shipley and capture the 119th Trans-Mississippi Amateur on Friday at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.
The putt concluded a wild sequence near the end of the prestigious event, the fourth tournament in the summer-long Elite Amateur Golf Series.
Holbrook, of Granbury, Texas, and Shipley, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shot identical rounds of 66-65-69 to take a one-stroke advantage over the field heading into the final day. But Shipley appeared to grab command of the tournament when he made birdies at Nos. 5, 10 and 11 and an eagle on the par-5 14th. Holbrook, who was just even on the day through 14 holes, sat five strokes behind the leader.
Little did anyone know that Shipley would be trailing three holes later. Holbrook made birdie on No. 15 while Shipley made bogey on the hole, creating a two-shot swing. After both made par on the 16th, Shipley hit his tee ball into the water on the par-3 17th en route to a triple bogey. At the same time, Holbrook made birdie to generate a stunning four-stroke swing in his direction.
With Holbrook leading by one stroke on the 72nd hole, Shipley bounced back with a 15-foot birdie conversion to force a playoff at 12-under 268. The two had played the tournament with exact round-by-round scores for all four days as they finished with 2-under 68s.
Heading back to the 18th hole for a playoff, both players hit the green but were putting from long range. That is when Holbrook made his long birdie attempt and let out a roar; Shipley attempted to match him, but his 25-foot birdie effort slid past the hole.
Holbrook’s victory is yet another sign of the tremendous depth at the amateur level. He came into the tournament at No. 167 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and did not finish in the top 20 of the Sunnehanna Amateur or the Northeast Amateur.
Shipley continues to have a standout summer, albeit one without a victory. The former James Madison player who transferred to play for the Buckeyes has finished runner-up in the Dogwood Invitational, Sunnehanna and Trans-Miss. He was No. 234 in the world before this week.
Riley Lewis of Loyola Marymount shot a 6-under 64 in the final round to take solo third at 11-under. Other notable performances included world No. 9 Nick Dunlap registering a T8 finish and Evan Beck (T19) earning low-mid-am honors.
William Moll, the world No. 26 out of Vanderbilt, shot a 7-under 63 to establish a Brook Hollow course record. He finished T8 for the tournament.
There are three more events in the Elite Amateur Golf Series. The next tournament is the 117th Southern Amateur, taking place this week at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Following that, the Pacific Coast Amateur and Western Amateur will conclude the series.
RESULTS
Anna Morgan of Spartanburg, South Carolina, defeated Madelyn Gamble, 5 and 3, in the championship match on Saturday to win the 121st Women’s North & South Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2.
Morgan, a Furman University graduate who is likely to turn pro in short order, earned the No. 17 seed for match play and escaped her opening-round match against Katherine Schuster, winning on the second extra hole. From there, she never saw the 17th or 18th holes in her ensuing four matches, including a dominant victory over Gamble, a Washington State University golfer from Pleasant Hill, California.
It was a nice exclamation point to Morgan's amateur career. Two years ago, she lost the championship match to Gina Kim, a Duke University standout who is now on the LPGA Tour. This year, Morgan grabbed an early lead in the final match and never let Gamble get close.
Morgan came into the week at No. 73 in the WAGR on the strength of two collegiate victories last semester.
Juan Martin Loureiro of Bueno Aires, Argentina, fired a bogey-free, 5-under 65 in the final round to win the 64th Porter Cup men’s title by two strokes on Saturday at Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York.
Loureiro, the No. 351 player in the world, came to the final hole at 10-under for the tournament, which was the same scenario that Charlie Berridge of Scarsdale, New York, found himself in one group ahead of Loureiro. However, Berridge suffered a closing bogey on the par-3 18th, and Loureiro followed him by holing a bunker shot for a finishing birdie. That put Loureiro at 11-under 269, two strokes clear of Berridge.
Loureiro, the first Argentine to win the Porter Cup, was the only player in the field to post all four rounds under par (68-69-67-65).
This was the first year the Porter Cup included a simultaneous playing of the women’s event rather than having the men’s and women’s competition on separate weekends. Canada’s Sarah Gallagher, a rising sophomore at Ball State University, shot 8-over 288 to win the 10th women’s Porter Cup title by two strokes. Gallagher shot a pair of 2-under 68s in the tournament but struggled to a 7-over 77 in the final round.
The tournament is considering a new date in future years to avoid going up against the Women’s North & South Amateur.
Sean Fairholm