Lovemark Making Most Of Opportunity

By Stuart Hall

San Francisco – Jamie Lovemark is making the best of what could be considered a mulligan.

Due to a U.S. Amateur entry form snafu, Lovemark was not entered in the 107^th edition of this championship when the deadline passed July 11. And only with his selection to the USA Walker Cup team Aug. 6 did Lovemark make the 315-player field.

"They have strict rules," said Lovemark of the USGA.

Jamie Lovemark sends his ball, and a clump of grass, toward the 14th green Wednesday. (John Mummert/USGA)

Now that he has advanced to match play and dispatched of Argentina’s Estanislao Goya 3-and-2 in the first round, Lovemark, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is ready to make a statement that he certainly belonged in the field from the outset.

"If you want to win the tournament, you’re going to have to beat the best players," said Goya, 19. "So I would just as soon play the better players first and then it might become easier."

A nice thought in theory, but Goya found Lovemark’s short game acumen and The Olympic Club’s ball-suffocating rough to be the better adversary.

Lovemark, having twice let a 1-up lead slip away, won the 422-yard, par-4 10^th with a par to take his third lead of the match. He nursed that margin until winning the 186-yard, par-3 13^th with a par and closing the match with a conceded birdie on the 607-yard, par-5 16^th.

"Obviously it was a tough match," Lovemark said. "We both grinded it as hard as we could. He didn't make as many putts as he wanted to … I'm sure he's thinking that right now."

Actually, Goya was more upset by his spotty play in the Lake Course’s ever-growing rough and equally impressed by Lovemark’s saavy short game.

"I’m just not used to playing in this kind of rough," Goya said. "We don’t have anything like this back in Argentina, but it was a great experience."

At the 13^th, Goya and Lovemark both found the rough fronting the smallish green with a front hole location. While Lovemark popped out to within 2 feet and saved par, Goya dribbled his 12 feet past and made bogey.

Then on the decisive hole, Goya pitched his third shot through the green to the first cut up against the rough. His fourth shot then skidded 20 feet beyond the hole.

"On the back nine, probably the turning hole was No. 11," said Lovemark of matching bogeys. "I thought for sure he was going to win that hole and somehow I managed to make that long putt and he missed that short one. And I think that gave me the momentum, even though we tied."

The 430-yard, par-4 hole typified the players’ ability to navigate the rough.

Lovemark’s approach found a nasty clump of rough right of the green, from which he found the rough on the left side of the green. He chipped 20 feet past and holed the putt. Meanwhile, Goya muffed a chip from 10 yards behind the hole and missed a 6-foot putt to halve the hole.

"College golf now days is starting to get that long rough," Lovemark said. "That helps tremendously. Even some of the amateur events around here are starting to grow that long rough.

"As an American and someone who grew up playing here we're very used to that, but likewise if we went to Europe or even out to South America things would be much different. So it's just the territory."

And Lovemark also likes where he is at right now a lot better than he did before Aug. 6.

Stuart Hall is a writer for the Golf Press Association whose work has appeared previously on www.usamateur.org.