The U.S. Amateur has eluded the grasps of a UCLA golfer for over
a hundred years and will continue to do so this year.
Four current Bruins and two former Bruins participated in the
grueling six-day event held at historic and brutal Oakmont Country
Club in Oakmont, Pa.
Seniors Steve Conway, Travis Johnson, and John Merrick, along
with junior John Poucher, each qualified to earn one of the 312
spots in the two-round stroke play competition.
Stroke play is used to whittle the field down to 64. Conway and
Johnson both made the cut at 3-over par and 6-over par,
respectively. Former Bruins Parker McLachlin and Spencer Levin also
made the cut.
Merrick’s 11-over performance and Poucher’s 21-over
two round total were not good enough to advance on into the later
rounds of the competition. Aug. 20 was the first day of match play,
with Conway and McLachlin earning the higher seed in their matches,
and Johnson and Levin playing the role of underdogs in their
matches.
McLachlin scored a 3 and 2 victory over Greg Reynolds and
advanced to the second round of match play (McLachlin was 3 up with
two holes to play). Levin was quickly eliminated 4 and 3 by Billy
Hurley.
Johnson’s match with Division II standout Marc Lawless
came down to the 18th hole with Johnson 1-up. Both golfers drove
their balls into the right rough and drew nasty lies. While Lawless
was forced to play short of the green, Johnson smacked an iron from
a hanging lie onto the middle of the green. Johnson 3-putted his
way to victory to earn him more playing time on Thursday.
“This course is tough,” Johnson told ESPN. “It
rivals where we played nationals at Karsten in
Stillwater.”
Conway, the only player to shoot under-par at Oakmont CC during
stroke play, was in a dog fight with Nebraska native Nate
Lashley.
Coming into the short par-4 17th hole 1 down, Conway elected to
play conservatively and hit an iron off the tee. On his approach to
the green, Conway’s ball carried a tad too far, and instead
of the ball spinning back right toward the flag, the ball hung up
on the fringe inches from the green. Electing to take a drop
because of a sprinkler head near his ball, Conway drew a more
difficult lie and then went on to hit a sub-par chip.
Conway’s subsequent putt inched past the hole.
Lashley’s par on the hole earned him a 2-up victory.
With most of their teammates eliminated, Johnson and McLachlin
were UCLA’s last hope of obtaining the crown. However, their
runs at the Amateur title came to a halt Aug. 21 in the second
round of match play.
McLachlin’s match with West Virginian Patrick Carter came
down to the 18th hole all square. McLachlin’s double bogey on
the final hole gave Carter the victory and McLachlin an early
ticket home.
Johnson began his match with Sacramento’s Jason Hartwick
on a good note, birdieing the first two holes to quickly go 2-up.
But Hartwick quickly answered the challenge by winning the next two
holes. All square through eight holes, Hartwick went 1-up on the
ninth hole and never relinquished the lead from that point forward,
closing out Johnson 3 and 1.