Nate Menon was the 2015 PIAA Class AA champion as a junior
at Wyomissing, but passed up the scholastic postseason as a senior to play in
an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) invitational.
He was headed for Stanford, which is in the big leagues of
Division I college golf and in the big leagues academically as well, which
makes it a win-win for a talented golfer.
Menon disappeared a little at Stanford, suffering a torn
calf muscle three days before his freshman season was to start in the fall of 2017.
This spring he started to resurface as the Cardinal made a late surge that
ultimately resulted in an NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in
Fayetteville, Ark.
In the Pac-12 Championship, teams have six players and score
five, a departure from the usual five-score-four format. My theory has always
been that the Pac-12 coaches look at the conference championship as one last
chance to test their depth, to decide who is going to be that often critical fifth
guy for the regionals and the NCAA Championship.
Menon finished tied for 23rd individually at
Eugene Country Club and helped the Cardinal claim the Pac-12 team title. But
when Stanford hosted the Stanford Regional a couple of weeks later, Menon was
not among the starting five.
Guessing from afar, it looked like Stanford head coach
Conrad Ray went with Henry Shimp, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., instead. And
that decision paid some serious dividends when Shimp pulled out a 2 and 1
victory over Spencer Soosman in the Cardinal’s 3-2 win over Texas in the Final
Match at the Blessings.
It was a key win that made Shimp, Stanford, Ray and Menon
NCAA champions – forever.
Menon hasn’t forgotten how to play, either. He proved that
point with rounds of 67 and 69 over two days last week in a Golf Association of
Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Bidermann Golf Club in Wilmington, Del.
for an 8-under 136 total that earned him a ticket to the U.S. Amateur at the
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. next
month.
Menon shared medalist honors with Conestoga High product
Michael Cook, who plays out of Applebrook Golf Club. Cook, who completed a
solid college career at Drexel this spring, opened with a 3-under 69 over the
6,836-yard, par-72 Bidermann layout and added a 5-under 67 to match Menon’s
8-under 136 total.
Menon and Cook grabbed the only two tickets available for
Pinehurst. The qualifier was scheduled to be 36 holes last Monday, but play was
suspended in the afternoon when the previous weekend’s brutal heat wave finally
broke with an outbreak of violent weather.
The 20-year-old Menon, who plays out of LedgeRock Golf Club,
returned to Bidermann Tuesday with a one-shot lead and facing a 96-yard
approach to the 361-yard, par-4 first hole, his 10th of the round.
He wedged it to 12 feet and converted the birdie try.
The 23-year-old Cook had striped his tee shot on the third
hole at Bidermann just before the siren sounded Monday afternoon. He was 97
yards away and did a little extra sand wedge practice during his warmup for the
resumption of play. He knocked his approach to 10 feet and made the birdie
putt.
Both players solidified their qualifying efforts by making
birdie at the 332-yard, par-4 seventh, the 34th hole for both of
them.
Menon nearly drove the green and hit a bump-and-run to four
feet and made the birdie putt. Cook lofted a wedge to six feet and made his
birdie try.
“It feels really good,” Menon told the GAP website. “I’ve
been close the last couple of years. To finally finish it off and get through
to Pinehurst is really exciting.
“I was first alternate (in 2017 and 2018). Being able to not
have to make a decision as to whether you’re going down (to the U.S. Amateur
host site) is nice. The U.S. Amateur is the pinnacle of amateur golf.”
I suspect Menon still harbors some ambitions of a pro golf
career. Cook, on the other hand, had to ask for an extra half-day from his
internship at Penn Mutual Asset Management to complete his second round and was
graciously granted it.
But both are headed for one of America’s golf meccas,
Pinehurst, where qualifying for match play on the No. 2 Course, a Donald Ross
classic, and the newly renovated No. 4 Course will get under way Aug. 12.
Little Mill Country Club’s Zach Arsenault, a developer in
Camden, N.J., and Matt Smith of Yorklyn, Del. were the first and second
alternates, respectively, as each came up a shot short of forcing a playoff
with 7-under 137 totals.
Arsenault earned a trip to last year’s U.S. Amateur at the
Pebble Beach Golf Links by claiming medalist honors in a qualifier at Laurel
Creek Country Club. He failed to reach match play at Pebble Beach. He followed
up a solid 3-under 69 with a 4-under 68 at Bidermann.
Smith, a recent Yale graduate, matched Menon’s opening-round
67, but a 2-under 70 in the afternoon left him at 137.
I looped for Smith in a practice round on Stonewall’s Old
Course for the 2017 U.S. Amateur qualifier held at the ’Wall and was impressed
with his game. He said he always thought his athletic future was in baseball,
but then realized golf might be a better choice.
He got into some events as a senior at Yale, but was unable
to crack the starting lineup on a fairly loaded roster. Nice to see him playing
some really solid golf at Bidermann.
Canadian Eric Shea, a junior at Southern Wesleyan, had fired
a sparkling 6-under 66 in the opening round, but fell back with a 76 that left
him in a tie for fifth at with Chance Watson of Banner Elk, N.C. at 2-under
142, five shots behind Arsenault and Smith. Watson, who completed his college
career at Appalachian State this spring, opened with a 4-under 68, but couldn’t
sustain his first-round momentum, adding a 2-over 74.
Zachary Barbin of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md.
finished alone in seventh place at 1-under 143 after adding an even-par 72 to
his opening-round 71. Barbin is a junior on a Liberty golf team that had risen
into the Golfstat top 25 by the start of the NCAA postseason this
spring.
Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Marty McGuckin and Radnor Valley
Country Club’s Carey Bina were among three players tied for eighth at even-par
144.
McGuckin, the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League champion in 2015
as a senior at Malvern Prep, had opened with a 74 and added a 2-under 70.
McGuckin was another player I looped for during his tour of Stonewall’s Old
Course in advance of that 2017 U.S. Amateur qualifier.
Bina, whose standout scholastic career at Radnor High I
chronicled in my days at the Delaware County Daily Times, bounced back
from an opening-round 75 with a 3-under 69. Bina plans to give pro golf a shot
at some point later this year.
McGuckin and Bina both qualified for match play in last
month’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall.
Rounding out the trio at even-par 144 was Bill Jeremiah, a
Glen Mills resident playing on his home course at Bidermann. Like McGuckin,
Jeremiah opened with a 74 before bouncing back with a 2-under 70.
No comments:
Post a Comment