Bad Start, Fast Finish. For Dunlap, It Adds up to a U.S. Amateur Title

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CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE -- Nick Dunlap arrived at the U.S. Amateur on a roll, having won two big amateur tournaments -- the Northeast Amateur and the North & South -- earlier this summer. But the 19-year-old University of Alabama All-American (he'll start his sophomore year in a few days) was 0 for 2 in his attempts to qualify for match play at the Am. It looked as if he were going to be 0 for 3 when, after birdying the par-5 first hole at Colorado Golf Club on Monday, he made a triple bogyey at the 433-yard, par-4 third hole, a double at the 487-yard, par-4 fifth and a bogey at the 577-yard, par-5 seventh.

Only seven holes into the tournament, and he was already 5 over par. 

Dunlap responded with birdies the next two holes, and he added four more birdies (plus a bogey) on the back nine, which enabled him to avoid total disaster. He followed the resulting even-par 72 at CGC with a 1-under 70 at Cherry Hills Country Club, and his 36-hole total of 142 got him into the match play portion of the Amateur with one stroke to spare. He was given the No. 41 seed. 

The matches started Wednesday, and right out of the blocks, Dunlap had to face the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Gordon Sargent, the No. 24 seed. Sargent won the 2022 NCAA Division I individual championship as a freshman at Vanderbilt, and he's an exceptionally long hitter, even by modern standards. He birdied the 327-yard, par-4 first hole at Cherry Hills (that was where all of the matches were played) and was still 1 up when he and Dunlap finished the front nine. That was when Dunlap, who is No. 9 in the WAGRs, went to work. He birdied the 10th hole and the par-5 11th, made another birdie at the 511-yard, par-4 14th and closed out a 2&1 victory by tying the par-5 17th hole with a birdie. 

He was 5 under for the 17 holes he played, and he was 5 under for 16 holes Thursday morning in a 4&2 Round of 32 triumph over No. 9 Connor Jones.

By the time he concluded his 3&2 semifinal conquest of No. 52 Parker Bell on Saturday afternoon, Dunlap was 17 under par for the week.

But he saved his best for the final on Sunday against Ohio State grad student Neal Shipley. Shipley, the No. 47 seed, has an impressive resume. He started college at James Madison and was there for three years, during which time he earned a degree in quantatative finance. He transferred to Ohio State, and in the year that he's been there, he got a masters in data analytics. Neverthless, he'll be sticking around for one more year of eligibility with the Buckeyes in 2023-24. (The NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all college athletes who lost a year to Covid 19 during the 2019-20 school year.)

As for Shipley's golf credentials, they're impressive, too, especially this summer. Prior to the Amateur, he had  played in six tournaments, and had four top-3 finishes -- three seconds and a third. 

In Sunday's scheduled 36-hole final against Dunlap, Shipley played well enough to be 5 under for the first 18 holes -- but he wasn't leading. The match was tied.

"You shoot 5 under (in the morning round), and you would think you'd be 1 or 2 up, at least," Shipley said

But he wasn't, and even though he birdied the first hole after lunch, he still wasn't leading. Dunlap birdied it, too. That was how well Dunlap was playing, and he kept it up for pretty much the whole match. He made 12 birdies in the first 28 holes. He was 11 under par for the day by then -- and 4 up, and he went on to defeat Shipley 4&3.

For his eight rounds of stroke and match play, Dunlap was 26 under,

With this victory, Dunlap joined Tiger Woods on the short list of U.S. Junior Am champions who went on to win the U.S. Amateur. Woods won the Junior Am in 1991, '92 and '93, and he won the Am the next three years: '94, '95 and '96, then turned professional and went on to make $121 million in official events, and more than $157 million overall. Not to mention 15 major championships.     

"Well, I think it's only a third of what Tiger's actually done," Dunlap said, referring to the fact that Woods had three each of the Junior and the Am, compared with his one each.  "But just to be in the same conversation as Tiger is a dream come true."



U.S. Amateur Championship

At Cherry Hills Country Club (par 71, 7,368 yards)

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 

& Colorado Golf Club (par 72, 7,642 yards)

Parker, Colo. 

Stroke play

Final results (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

T1. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn.               72 CH-64 CGC -- 136

T1. Sampson Zheng, China                            66 CGC-70 CH -- 136

T1. Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Ga.              69 CH-67 CGC -- 136

T4. Piercen Hunt, Canada                              66 CGC -71 CH -- 137

T4. Maxwell Ford, Peachtree Corners, Ga.    71 CH-66 CGC -- 137

T4. Caleb Surratt, Indian Trail, NC                  70 CGC-67 CH -- 137

T4. Andi Xu, China                                           69 CGC-68 CH -- 137

T8. Connor Jones, Denver                               68 CGC-70 CH -- 137

T8. Nicholas Gross, Downington, Pa.              71 CH-67 CGC -- 137

Missed cut -- 143 (15 players tied for 50th; so there was no playoff required)

Brett Reid, Spicer                                            75 CH-72 CGC -- 147

Cecil Belisle, Red Wing                                   77 CH-73 CGC -- 150

Sam Foust, Edina                                             81 CGC-73 CH -- 154

Nate Adams, Maple Grove                               79 CGC-76 CH -- 155

Carson Herron, Wayzata                                  79 CGC-78 CH -- 157


Match play

Round of 64

No. 1 Blades Brown def. No. 64 Benton Weinberg 1 up

No. 2 Jackson Buchanan def. No. 63 Karl Vilips 2 up

No. 3 Sampson Zheng def. No. 62 Preston Summerhays 1 up

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. No. 61 Brian Stark 4&3

No. 60 Grant Smith def. No. 5 Piercen Hunt 1 up

No. 6 Caleb Surratt def. No. 59 Dylan Menante 6&5

No. 7 Audi Xu def. No. 58 Matthew McClean 1 up

No. 8 Bowen Mauss def. No. 8 Nicholas Gross 2 up

No. 9 Connor Jones def. No. 56 Vocemte Marzilio 4&3

No. 55 Austin Greaser def. No. 10 Jonas Baumgartner 6&4

Round of 32

No. 32 Jackson Koivun def. No. 1 Brown 4&3

No. 31 Cooper Jones def. No. 2 Buchanan 4&3

No. 30 Jose Islas def. No. 3 Zheng 2&1

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. Nick Gabrelcik 3&2

No. 28 David Ford def. No. 60 Smith 5&4

No. 38 Paul Chang def. No. 6 Surratt 22 holes

No. 7 Andi Xu def. No. 26 Cole Anderson 2 up

No. 57 Mauss def. No. 25 Brenden Valdes 1 up

No. 41 Nick Dunlap def. No. 9 Connor Jones 4&2

No. 42 Connor Gaunt def. No. 55 Greaser 3&2

Round of 16

No. 32 Koivun def. No. 40 Matthew Sutherland 19 holes

No. 47 Neal Shipley def. No. 31 Jones 3&2

No. 30 Islas def. No. 51. Carson Bacha 3&2

No. 52 Parker Bell def. No. 4 Maxwell Ford 5&4

No. 12 Ben James def. No. 28 David Ford 19 holes

No. 11 John Marshall Butler def. No. 38 Chang 19 holes

No. 7. Andi Xu def. No.42 Gaunt 2 up

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 57 Mauss 5&3

Quarterfinals

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 32 Koivun 19 holes

No. 52 Bell def. No. 12 James

No. 47 Shipley def. No. 7 Xu 2&1

No. 11 Butler def. No. 30 Islas 3&2

Semifinals 

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 52 Bell 3&2

No. 47 Shipley def. No. 11 Butler

Final 

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 47 Shipley 4&3