| Aug. 24-29, 2019, Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham, N.C. What Happened A new name is going to be engraved on the Frederick L. Dold Trophy. Bob Royak, 57, of Alpharetta, Ga., outlasted defending champion Jeff Wilson, 56, of Fairfield, Calif., in 21 holes, in the semifinals of the 65th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Old Chatham Golf Club, ending his hopes of being the first repeat winner in 39 years. Roger Newsom, 55, of Virginia Beach, Va., claimed the other semifinal match with a 1-up win over Rick Cloninger, 62, of McDonough, Ga. The two will square off in Thursday’s 18-hole championship match at 7:45 a.m. EDT.The Royal-Wilson semifinal was the third-longest in championship history, only trailing Richard Van Leuvan’s 24-hole victory in 2000 and a 23-hole decision by John Kline in 1978. Neither player went on to win the title. Royak, who qualified for this year’s U.S. Senior Open and was the 2017 Georgia State Golf Association’s Senior Player of the Year, parred the 21st hole, the par-4 third, to edge past Wilson, one of two players to be the low amateur in the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. Wilson’s approach from a downslope rolled back into a bunker and he failed to convert a 4-foot putt after Royak’s 11-footer for birdie just missed. “He’s a great player,” said Royak of Wilson. “He wasn’t on his A game. He gave me a couple of putts here and there that he could have made. But I didn’t give him anything either. I was pretty steady and drove it well.” Wilson, 1 down going to 17 after his opponent converted a clutch 8-foot par putt the previous hole to maintain his advantage, knocked his tee shot to 10 feet on the par 3 to set up a birdie, tying the match. Royak managed to force extra holes with a brilliant up-and-down par from the left-greenside bunker on the 18th hole, hitting a 54-degree wedge to 6 feet.“That could have been a 4 out of 10 getting that up and down,” said Royak, who had never advanced past the Round of 16 in the 15 previous USGA championships he has played. Then on the 586-yard, par-5 19th hole, Wilson reached the green in two. Royak, knowing he would likely need birdie to continue the match, hit a perfect 60-degree wedge from 90 yards to 5½ feet to set up a birdie, which tied the hole.“I knew I had to hit it [hard],” said Royak. “I was in the rough, so that helped because I got a little bit of a jump.” Said Wilson: “Unfortunately, Brady [Exber] took it all out of me earlier today [in the quarterfinals], and I really didn’t play very well. I was just hanging in there with everything that I had, but it wasn’t very good.” Royak and Wilson were briefly interrupted by a 17-minute suspension due to a heavy downpour at 5:10 p.m., with the players on the 20th hole. It was the first time this week golf was interrupted for weather.In the other semifinal, Newsom, an ophthalmologist who had to postpone several scheduled surgeries this week, looked in trouble when Cloninger, a former honorable mention NAIA All-American quarterback at Wofford College in the late 1970s, won holes 8, 9 and 11 to take a 2-up lead. He converted a long birdie on the par-4 ninth and added another birdie on the par-5 11th. But Newsom, a 1986 graduate of East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., clawed his way back with a winning par on 13 and took advantage of Cloninger finding the penalty area near the green on 14 to tie the match. The two traded wins on Nos. 15 and 16 before Newsom delivered a clutch 9-iron, 170-yard downhill approach from a sidehill lie in the rough. The challenging 437-yard, par-4 18th statistically played the toughest in stroke play (4.67). Newsom’s shot landed on the green, 18 feet above the flagstick. Cloninger, however, short-sided himself with his approach, his ball stopping in the rough between two right-greenside bunkers. His first pitch came up short of the green. Newsom then trickled his birdie putt to within 2 feet, and when Cloninger failed to hole his fourth shot, the Virginian calmly converted for the win. “My friend Pat Tallent, who won this [in 2014], said, ‘Don’t quit. Go to the end. You never know.’ That’s what happened today. Rick is a good player and I just eked it out; we were both leaking oil a little bit coming in.” Earlier on Wednesday, Newsom had bogeyed the hole in the quarterfinals against former Pinehurst No. 2 superintendent Paul Jett, 55, of Southern Pines, N.C., forcing the match to extra holes, where he made a winning par on the first playoff hole (No. 1 at Old Chatham). “No, no,” said Newsom when asked if what transpired earlier in the day was on his mind playing 18 for a second time. “It didn’t even remind me. I was just thinking about the shot that I had to hit.” Added Cloninger of his 7-iron approach to 18: “[It] wasn’t a nervy deal. I just didn’t trust some things coming down. I finally hit a good tee ball there to get myself in a good position. He hits a great shot from where he was at. He’s two feet away from being in really bad shape. I didn’t execute when I needed to.”Also in the quarterfinals, Wilson used an eagle on the par-5 14th and a birdie on the par-3 17th to edge Brady Exber, 63, of Las Vegas, Nev., 1 up. He knocked a 6-iron to 12 feet to set up the eagle on the 491-yard hole, and a 7-iron from 187 yards to 15 feet on No. 17. The birdie putt had nearly a foot of break, but Wilson judged it perfectly. On 18, his approach found the green and when Exber failed to convert from 35 feet, Wilson calmly two-putted for the win.Royak produced his second-biggest margin of victory with a 6-and-5 decision over Walter Todd, 59, of Laurens, S.C. He opened match play on Monday with an 8-and-7 win over Kenneth Coutant. Royak won the first five holes and cruised home from there, playing the equivalent of 1-under-par golf over the 13 holes.Cloninger broke open a tight match with wins on Nos. 7 and 8, the latter a conceded birdie for a 2-up lead at the turn. He extended his lead to 3 up with a winning par on No. 12, and then traded wins over three of the next four holes before tying the 17th to seal the victory. Notable Both finalists are now exempt into the 2020 U.S. Senior Open Championship at historic Newport (R.I.) Country Club. The dates of the championship are June 25-28. They are also exempt into next month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Colorado Golf Club in Parker (Sept. 14-19) and the 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. (Aug. 10-16). The two semifinal losers are not only exempt into the 2020 U.S. Senior Amateur at the Golf Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. (Aug. 29-Sept. 3), but also the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. (Aug. 28-Sept. 2). They also each received bronze medals.This is the second time Rick Cloninger has lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur and both have come to Virginians. Pat Tallent, of Vienna, defeated him en route to the 2014 title at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif. Bob Royak just missed qualifying for next month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur, failing to advance from a 7-for-1 playoff for the last spot at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Ga. But he’s now in the field. “I told my wife, if I play good [at the U.S. Senior Amateur], I can get into the Mid-Am.” Royak plans to stay with former University of Tampa teammate Brian Claar, a PGA Tour Rules official who lives 10 minutes from Colorado Golf Club, the host site for the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora is the second stroke-play venue. Royak has older brother, Jack Royak, serving as his caddie this week. Jack also caddied this week for Bob’s younger brother, Paul, who missed the match-play cut. This week was a quasi-homecoming for Rick Cloninger, who was born in Charlotte, N.C., and attended junior high in the Queen City. He would have attended Olympic High in the area if his family had not moved to South Carolina. He has also lived in Florida and Georgia. It was a tough Wednesday for two members of Green Valley Country Club in Fairfield, Calif. Not only did defending champion Jeff Wilson lose his match, but fellow member Tina Barker lost in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Country Club to Patricia Ehrhart. Quotable “I was struggling with my swing the whole week. [Tuesday] I kind of made some progress. I played pretty well this morning [against Brady Exber in the quarterfinals]. This afternoon, I just didn’t play very well.” – defending champion Jeff Wilson after his semifinal defeat “Honestly, I don’t care about all that. I want to win this. If I’m taking off from work and my patients are paying the price, I’m playing to win.” – Roger Newsom when informed about all the exemptions he’ll be receiving as a result of being a finalist “That’s great. I don’t even know where it is…Is it really [at Bandon Dunes]? That’s going to cost me $4,000 [in travel expenses]. I played the [U.S. Amateur] Four-Ball out there [in May] and it takes forever to get out there.” – Bob Royak on being exempt into the 2020 U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes in Bandon, Ore. It’s tougher to take having not executed down the stretch. I executed down the stretch couple years ago and Pat [Tallent] made a couple putts. I let this one get away a little bit. No disrespect to Roger. Roger played really, really good. But I had control of the match and I let it get away. He didn’t come get me.” – Rick Cloninger on losing in the Senior Amateur semifinals for the second time in five years “I hit a brick wall today, didn’t I?” – Brady Exber, who defeated two USGA champions Tuesday, after falling, 1 down, to defending Senior Amateur champion Jeff Wilson “It’s always great to not have to qualify. Qualifying is the hardest thing. It’s harder sometimes than playing in the tournament. I’m thrilled to be back again next year. I wish I could have done a little better today. Next year with a little preparation, who knows.” – Exber on being exempt for the 2020 championship by reaching this year’s quarterfinals “I really had no idea what it would be [like]. I’ve been on the other side of [USGA championships], but as a player, I’ve never been treated this well at a golf tournament or at any club that I’ve ever been to. It was an unforgettable experience.” – former Pinehurst No. 2 superintendent Paul Jett after losing in the quarterfinals in his first-ever USGA championship start “I mean, to make it to the quarterfinals is a great honor. I’ve had a great year. I wanted to go a little further, but it’s definitely an honor just to play in the USGA championships.” – Steve Harwell after his 2-and-1 loss to Rick Cloninger DURHAM, N.C. – Results from Wednesday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, played at 7,134-yard, par-72 Old Chatham Golf Club. Quarterfinal Round(Upper Bracket)Roger Newsom, Virginia Beach, Va. (146) def. Paul Jett, Southern Pines, N.C. (151), 19 holesRick Cloninger, McDonough, Ga. (146) def. Steve Harwell, Mooresville, N.C. (150), 2 and 1 (Lower Bracket)Bob Royak, Alpharetta, Ga. (149) def. Walter Todd, Laurens, S.C. (148), 6 and 5Jeff Wilson, Fairfield, Calif. (144) def. Brady Exber, Las Vegas, Nev. (149), 1 up DURHAM, N.C. – Results from Wednesday’s semifinal round of match play at the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, played at 7,134-yard, par-72 Old Chatham Golf Club. Semifinal Round(Upper Bracket)Roger Newsom, Virginia Beach, Va. (146) def. Rick Cloninger, McDonough, Ga. (146), 1 up (Lower Bracket)Bob Royak, Alpharetta, Ga. (149) def. Jeff Wilson, Fairfield, Calif. (144), 21 holes DURHAM, N.C. – Pairing and tee time for Thursday’s 18-hole championship match at the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, played at 7,134-yard, par-72 Old Chatham Golf Club. All Times EDT Championship Round -7:45 a.m. – Roger Newsom, Virginia Beach, Va. (146) vs. Bob Royak, Alpharetta, Ga. (149) |
