Tug Maude and John Sawin were Haverford School standouts
early in my days as the golf writer at the Delaware
County Daily Times.
I could say I covered them, but that wouldn’t be entirely
accurate. With the Inter-Ac League playing golf in the spring in those days,
there was just too much going on with all the high school sports at that time
of the year to get out to any matches or even the individual championship.
But I knew they were pretty good players, both Merion Golf
Club members, and both were All-Delco selections. In hunting around the
Internet for this post, I found a Golf Association of Philadelphia account of
the 2005 Patterson Cup won by Maude in a playoff with Conrad Von Borsig, whose
high school career at Strath Haven had just ended and which I had covered
pretty extensively because the PIAA’s fall schedule fit my schedule a lot
better.
Maude had just finished up at Wake Forest and Sawin actually
caddied for him in the 18-hole Patterson Cup playoff. Maude, who had lost in
the BMW Philadelphia Amateur final earlier that summer, was also the runnerup
in the Silver Cross standings – to Sawin.
I was near the end of my time at the Daily Times four summers ago when I ventured up to Stonewall –
where I revived my caddying career two years ago, caught a loop today on a
beautiful May day at the Old Course – for a U.S. Amateur qualifier.
And Sawin shared the qualifying medal. He was about to turn 30
and explained how he had taken the summer off from his high-stakes investment
financing job in San Francisco to play some high-level competitive golf and
attend a few weddings and bachelor parties.
So it was interesting to see the old Haverford School
teammates join forces again this week for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
Championship at the Jupiter Hills Club’s Hills Course in Tequesta, Fla.
Sawin is still listed as residing in San Francisco, so I
imagine he is still finding some time to broker a deal here and there in the
world of high finance. Maude is listed as living in Atlanta. I’m pretty sure
Maude embarked on a brief career in professional golf. I think I chronicled his
decision to turn pro in my summer golf column, but I couldn’t quite dig that
one up on the Internet.
And, not surprisingly, Sawin and Maude acquitted themselves
quite well at Jupiter Hills. They qualified for match play with an even-par 70
at the Hills Course after an opening round of 4-under 66 at the Villages Course
for a 4-under 136 total that left them in a tie for 16th.
They cruised to a 3 and 2 victory over Michael Childress and
Langsdon Robbins, high school teammates in North Carolina, in the opening round
of match play.
Sawin and Maude then ran into the buzzsaw that was Cole
Hammer, an 18-year-old from Houston, and fellow junior standout Garrett Barber,
an 18-year-old from Stuart, Fla.
Hammer, headed for Texas later this summer, and Barber, an
LSU commit, rolled past Sawin and Maude, 4 and 3, in the round of 16 Tuesday
morning on their way to the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Hammer and Barber reached the semifinals later Tuesday
afternoon with a 3 and 2 victory over former North Texas teammates Zach
Atkinson, a 35-year-old Colleyville, Texas resident, and Brad Gibson, a
35-year-old Lewisville, Texas resident.
Atkinson and Gibson could boast of being the only team to
ever lead Hammer and Barber as the Texans won the first hole of the
quarterfinal match and halved the second.
Hammer and Barber claimed a 5 and 4 victory over Idaho high
school teammates Sam Tidd of Meridian and Carson Barry of Eagle, in the
semifinals Wednesday morning.
In the final, Hammer and Barber captured the title with a
convincing 4 and 3 victory over a pair of Floridians, 32-year-old Marc Dull of
Winter Park and 49-yaar-old Chip Brooke of Altamonte Springs. Dull, the 2015
U.S. Mid-Amateur runnerup at the Johns Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla., is a
looper at the Streamsong Resort.
Dull and Brooke had played probably the match of the
tournament when they survived a 22-hole marathon over Georgians David Denham, a
35-year-old Athens resident, and Stuart Moore, a 35-year old from Gainesville, in the quarterfinals.
Hummer and Barber had stated their intentions when they
teamed up for a front-nine 28 at the Hills Course in the second round of
qualifying that enabled them to finish third behind qualifying medalists Bobby
Bucey and Brett Viboch, both Northern California residents.
Bucey, a 29-year-old resident of Concord, and Viboch, a
34-year-old from Moraga, had a 66 at the Hills Course and a sizzling 7-under 63
on the Village Course for an 11-under 129 total. Hummer and Barber rode that
blazing front nine to a 64 at the Hills Course, which, combined with a 67 at
the Village Course, left them two shots behind Bucey and Viboch at 9-under
131.
On the final day, in the semifinals and the title match, the
wunderkids had 10 birdies and two eagles. They were a remarkable 7-under for
the 15 holes the final lasted. They never had to play the 17th or 18th
holes in match play.
“Growing up watching U.S. Opens and U.S. Amateurs on TV, I
just know being a USGA champion is something I desperately wanted,” Hammer told
the USGA website. “And to finally do it, it feels incredible. It feels as good,
if not better, than I thought it would.
“And especially being able to do it with Garrett. It’s
really cool to share this moment and I’m sure we’ll look back on this for a
long time.”
Barber echoed his partner’s feelings.
“Pretty cool, I mean the USGA, everybody knows it’s a
world-class organization, the best championships around the world,” Barber told
the USGA website. “It means so much to be on that Wall (of Champions) in the
(USGA) Museum (at Golf House). I can’t really put it into words.”
Sean Semenetz and Jack Wallace, a week removed from helping
Philadelphia Cricket Club’s first team capture the BMW Team Matches Playoff, just
missed making a seven-teams-for-six-spots playoff in qualifying. Semenetz and
Wallace fired a 1-under 69 at the Hills Course and matched par with a 70 at the
Village Course for a 1-under 139 total.
A couple of former Conestoga standouts a generation apart,
29-year-old Stephen Dressel and 42-year-old Brian Gillespie, were the medalists
in the local qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball last fall at Rolling
Green Golf Club and Waynesborough Country Club, Dressel’s home course.
But Dressel and Gillespie, who plays out of St. Davids Golf
Club, couldn’t get it going at Jupiter Hills. They posted a 5-over 75 at the
Hills Course and a 6-over 76 at the Village Course for an 11-over 151 total.
T
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