ChAmpionShipS mediA GUide - USGA

Fifteen years after losing in the championship match, Randal
Lewis, 54, of Alma, Mich., finally claimed a U.S. Mid-Amateur
title, defeating 31-year-old Kenny Cook of Noblesville, Ind., 3
and 2, in the 36-hole finale conducted at 7,170-yard, par-72
Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas.
There was a bit of irony in this victory for Lewis. When he lost
that 1996 final at Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford, Conn., it
came to Indiana resident John “Spider” Miller of Bloomington
by a 3-and-2 margin.
Lewis also became the oldest winner of this national championship
for golfers 25 and older, surpassing the previous mark held
by George Zahringer, who was 49 when he claimed the 2002
title at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn. Lewis was also
20 years older than the average age of the previous 30 Mid-
Amateur champions (34.8) and the second-oldest player to
make match play behind 60-year-old Paul Simson.
With his victory, Lewis, a financial advisor who played four
weeks of professional golf on Florida mini-tours after graduating
from Central Michigan in 1980, earned a 10-year exemption
to the U.S. Mid-Amateur, a two-year exemption to the
U.S. Amateur, an exemption to the next two USGA Senior
Amateurs (he turns 55 in May 2012), an exemption out of local
qualifying for the next three U.S. Opens and a likely invitation
to the 2012 Masters.
“I know the Masters is a dream come true,” said Lewis, “but to
be a USGA champion, especially the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion,
is just unbelievable.”
Lewis capped off quite a week in the Houston suburbs, especially
the final two days when he eliminated Michael McCaffrey,
41, of League City, Texas, in the quarterfinals, 3 and 1, two-time
defending champion Nathan Smith, 33, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in a
19-hole semifinal thriller and the long-hitting Cook in the final.
Smith, a two-time USA Walker Cup Team member (2009 and
2011), had his consecutive Mid-Amateur match winning streak
stopped at 16 and saw his bid for an unprecedented fourth
national title come up two victories short. Smith had won the
championship in 2003, 2009 and 2010.
Lewis said he took a different mindset into this championship
final. Back in 1996, he admitted to thinking too much about the
likely Masters invitation instead of his opponent. So as he prepared
to play Cook, who had defeated second-seeded John
Engler, 32, of Augusta, Ga., in the semifinals, Lewis told himself
to just go out and enjoy the moment and not think about the
end game.
That philosophy worked as Lewis jumped out to a quick 2-up
lead, thanks to some aggressive mistakes by Cook. At the par-5
first hole, Cook tried to reach the green in two, but instead
Lewis Wins the 2011 Championship
U.S. Mid-Amateur 5
pulled his fairway-metal approach into the water hazard. On
the green in four, Cook watched Lewis drain a 15-foot birdie
putt.
Then at the second hole, with the tees moved up to make the
par 4 play just 292 yards, Cook’s 3-wood went left and after
leaving his approach shot in a greenside bunker, he failed to get
up and down for par, and Lewis won the hole with a 4.
Cook, an accountant for the U.S. Department of Defense who
spent seven months playing professionally after graduating
from Ball State in 2003, would eventually square the match
with birdies at 13 and 14, but a bogey-5 at No. 16 and doublebogey-7
at the par-5 closing hole – he put two balls in the
water, including a 6-iron second shot from 201 yards – left him
2 down at the lunch break.
“I was definitely furious walking off 18,” said Cook, “ just
because I didn’t give myself an opportunity there. I kind of gave
it to him.”
Lewis, however, wasn’t at all bothered by Cook’s power,
despite giving up as much as 60 yards off the tee and needing
to hit long irons or hybrids into the longer par 4s compared mid
and short-irons for his opponent.
What Lewis lacked in length, he made up for with precision
and dexterity around the greens. A beautiful flop shot from
60 yards at the 19th hole led to a winning birdie against Smith
in the semifinals, and in a third-round 1-up win over Scott
Harvey, a match he called one of the finest of his career, he had
seven one-putt greens over the final nine holes.
Against Cook, he shot the equivalent of four under par – with
the usual match-play concessions – and registered only three
bogeys over the 34 holes.
Cook managed to cut the deficit to 1 down at the 20th hole
by driving the 342-yard second hole and making a two-putt
birdie. But he could never return the match to all square.
At the par-5 ninth, Lewis holed a delicate 8-foot downhill
birdie putt to take a 2-up lead. He would eventually increase
that margin to 4 up through 31 holes.
Cook, whose wife Lisa competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-
Amateur that was held concurrently with the Mid-Amateur at
Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va., would win the par-5
32nd hole with a birdie, but the next two holes were halved
and Lewis had that elusive national championship.
“That’s as good as it gets for me,” said Lewis. “You saw my peak
performance.”
Mid-Am