Firefighter Parziale too hot to handle in U.S. Mid-Amateur final

   Matt Parziale is a firefighter by trade and Friday in the final of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course in Atlanta, the 30-year-old from Brockton, Mass. was, well, too hot to handle.

   Parziale needed only 30 holes to finish off Josh Nichols, a 26-year-old wedding caterer from Kernersville, N.C.,  8 and 6 to hoist the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy. Parziale birdied 10 of those 30 holes. Sure, some of them were probably conceded in the match-play format, but 10 birdies is 10 birdies.

   He had eight of them in a brilliant 7-under 63 over the 7,207-yard, par-70 Crabapple Course layout to build a 6-up lead in the morning round of the scheduled 36-hoel final.

   Nichols needed Parziale’s firefighting skills because he simply could not put out the fire. Parziale got that 10^th birdie on the par-5 12^th to close out Nichols.

   Parziale also becomes the first mid-am to take advantage of the USGA’s newly announced exemption into the U.S. Open for the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. He’ll be in the field at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the William Flynn gem at the end of Long Island. Think the New York media will eat up the story of the firefighter in the U.S. Open? Yeah, me too.

   The USGA announced that the winners of the U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Junior Amateur will earn exemptions into the following year’s U.S. Open and the winners of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Junior Girls’ will earn exemptions into the following year’s U.S. Women’s Open on the eve of the Mid-Am at the players’ reception Oct. 5 at Atlanta National Golf Club, the course used for the second qualifying round for the Mid-Am.

   And it makes sense because the quality of play at the mid-am level makes a U.S. Open exemption appropriate. And Parziale, who failed to survive “Golf’s Longest Day” – the 36-hole sectional qualifiers for the National Open – earlier this year, certainly appreciates the importance of the U.S. Open bid.

   “That was a great announcement they had (last) Thursday night,” Parziale told the USGA website. “At the time, I didn’t know I would be the one going, but I’m very fortunate to have that opportunity now. I’m very excited for the upcoming year.”

   On yeah, he’s also exempt into next year’s U.S. Amateur that is being held at another golf course you might have heard of – Pebble Beach.

   Parziale took a shot at a professional career after playing collegiately at Southeastern University, an NAIA school in Lakeland, Fla., but gave it up after three years and joined his dad Vic in the firehouse in Brockton. Dad was on the bag Friday.

   I had the chance to see a U.S. Mid-Amateur up close a year ago at Stonewall. Had a front-row seat in qualifying on the bag of Michael Mitani from Irvine, Calif. Mitani didn’t make match play, so I hung around and reported on some of the matches for this blog. I got a ton of great blog material out of the whole week.

   Stewart Hagestad, who rallied from 4-down with five to play to defeat 2014 champion Scott Harvey and win the title at Stonewall, certainly validated the Masters invitation that traditionally goes to the Mid-Am champion by earning low-amateur honors at Augusta.

   Parziale went to sleep Friday night with visions of Augusta National, Shinnecock and Pebble Beach dancing in his head. And he hadn’t even started dreaming yet.