Local Qualifiers Get Early Look At Winged Foot

By David Shefter, USGA

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Six local qualifiers from the New York metropolitan area attended U.S. Amateur media day and each had a chance to speak to reporters about their experiences getting to the championship. One competitor, Tim Schmitt of Garden City, N.Y., got quite emotional about advancing.

"My father (John) was a Super Bowl champ, so this is my Super Bowl," said Schmitt, fighting to get the words out.

The 34-year-old Schmitt was born a year after his father, the starting center for the New York Jets, played in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The heavy-underdog Jets stunned the football world by beating the Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in Miami's Orange Bowl. Schmitt said his father, who played 12 years in the NFL (11 with the Jets and one with the Green Bay Packers) had pneumonia the week before the game and lost 15 pounds.

Following in his father's footsteps, the younger Schmitt had football running through his veins. But he injured his knee prior to high school and turned to golf. His parents sent him to Arnold Palmer's camp at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., when he was 13. Coincidentally, Palmer will be the guest speaker at the players' dinner for this year's U.S. Amateur.

"He and his wife (Winnie) came and I think there were 15 or 17 kids and he sat down and talked with each one of us individually," said Schmitt. "It's something I will never forget. It was pretty wild."

This summer Schmitt set two goals: win a tournament and qualify for the U.S. Amateur. Earlier this year, he won the Travis Memorial at Garden City Golf Club and now he's headed to Winged Foot.

"This is my second U.S. Amateur," said Schmitt. "I played at Cog Hill in 1997. But I wanted to make this one. This one at Winged Foot is something you want to make."

For 52-year-old Allan Small of Florham Park, N.J., this will be U.S. Amateur No. 7. And he's hoping it will be a lucky number. In six previous U.S. Amateurs, he has yet to make the match-play cut. "That's my goal," said Small, the 2004 New Jersey State Amateur champion.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting scene at Media Day, with Small sitting between 19-year-old American University sophomore Todd Shagrin and 21-year-old University of Virginia junior Brad Tilley.

When Small took the podium to introduce himself he quipped: "Hi I'm Al Small and I'm age 22."

Small, who spent six years in the 1990s coaching at Seton Hall University, then continued with a more serious tone: "You are very aware when you are at these Amateurs about the youth. Just about everybody has a college bag. I think last year [at Oakmont] I might have been the oldest qualifier. But to be at my age and still competing with these guys, I don't know of any other sport that that's a possibility. Just to compete against these guys is fun."

Abbie Valentine, a 22-year-old recent Bucknell University graduate, had an interesting experience at his qualifier at North Shore Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y. First, he beat Raymond Floyd Jr. in a playoff to earn the final qualifying spot. "I had heard of that name before, so that was pretty cool," said the Bayville, N.Y., resident.

And second, he had his 14-year-old brother caddie for him. His brother had never been on a golf course before, let along carried a bag. Valentine had to give him a crash course in etiquette and caddie fundamentals prior to the 36-hole event.

"I taught him how to put the bag on his shoulder before we went out," said Valentine.

During the second round, Valentine hit an errant tee shot and was visibly upset. As he was walking down the staircase from the elevated tee, he noticed that his brother had chosen a more difficult path to the fairway.

"He's walking down the hill and all of a sudden his feet just come out from under him and he's rolling down the hill with my bag. So that made me feel a little bit better about [my situation]."

David Shefter is a staff writer for the USGA. E-mail him with comments or questions at dshefter@usga.org.