Golfweek's experts Ron Balicki, Julie Williams
and Cassie Stein tackle five questions,
including who was the
amateur player of the year, which player had
the most surprising year and more.
Who would you name as your amateur
player of the year (male and female)?
Ron: There were some very good
performances throughout the year, but as far
as my male amateur player of
the year goes, I have to go with Jordan
Niebrugge. He dominated both on the national
level as well as in his
home state of Wisconsin. After finishing 11th
at the Sunnehanna Amateur he went on a tear
– winning the
Wisconsin Match Play Amateur, finishing as
medalist and going on to win the U.S.
Amateur Public Links, winning
the Wisconsin State Amateur and then
capturing the Western Amateur after placing
third in the 72-hole qualifying
portion of the event. He advanced to match
play at the U.S. Amateur and then went 2-2-0
in helping lead the
U.S. to victory in the Walker Cup. He closed
out his amateur year by placing fifth at the
Spirit International.
Quite a summer no doubt for the current
Oklahoma State sophomore.
Julie: I’d go with Matthew Fitzpatrick and
Annie Park. Fitzpatrick, obviously, won the
U.S. Amateur at the historic
Country Club of Brookline in Boston, but he
also was the low amateur at the Open
Championship at Muirfield.
He’s the top player in the World Amateur
Ranking, and a gritty, if physically
unimposing, Englishman. As for
Park, I have to admit that I didn’t see the
postseason sweep coming in her first
semester at USC. I thought she’d
be a reliable counter for the team, but not the
college player of the year. Combine that with
co-medalist honors
at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links,
going bogey-free in 36 holes of U.S. Women’s
Open qualifying and
advancing to the quarterfinals at the U.S.
Women’s Amateur, and Park was a big factor
in women’s amateur golf
this summer.
Cassie: On the men’s side, Matthew
Fitzpatrick. First he qualified for The Open
Championship and then was low
amateur of the tournament and won the silver
medal. Then he proceeded to win the U.S.
Amateur at the age of
18 and became the first Englishman since
1911 to hoist the Havemeyer trophy. His
summer didn’t stop there.
Before starting at Northwestern this fall, he
represented GB&I at the Walker Cup, where
he went 3-1. What a
summer it was and this is only the start of
Fitzpatrick. On the women’s side, Ashlan
Ramsey won three
consecutive tournaments at the beginning of
the summer to put on an impressive show.
She won the Georgia
Women’s Match Play Championship, the
Women’s Eastern Amateur Championship and
the Western National
Amateur Championship. Two of the three were
match-play titles. Very impressive for a
player who wasn’t in
college yet.
What player had the most surprising year
on the amateur circuit (male and female)?
Ron: Basically it’s see above and the
accomplishments of Jordan Niebrugge. While
Niebrugge had a decent
freshman season at Oklahoma State and had
played well in his state competitions, he was
hardly known for any
major amateur accomplishments. That
changed in a hurry from early on in the
summer and turned him into a
U.S. Walker Cup selection.
Julie: Jordan Niebrugge’s summer was
outstanding, but seemingly came out of left
field. Niebrugge really came
into his own on the amateur circuit, winning
the U.S. Amateur Public Links, the Western
Amateur and both the
Wisconsin Stroke Play and Match Play
Championships on his way to a Walker Cup
selection. I like Niebrugge’s
demeanor, too – calm and collected. It’s
probably a big reason for his success. On the
women’s side, it was
Ashlan Ramsey. It’s always interesting to
watch how players transition from junior golf
to the next level. In her
final summer before college, Ramsey
expanded her schedule and was very
successful. She won the Georgia
Women’s Stroke Play and Match Play titles, as
well as the Women’s Western and Women’s
Eastern. She was
runner-up at the Trans National Amateur. The
talent wasn’t surprising, it was just that
everywhere Ramsey went,
she was winning (and that continued in college
as she won two of her first four events).
Ramsey’s soft-spoken
nature belies her competitiveness and her
talent.
Cassie: Jordan Niebrugge came out of
nowhere this summer, but made a name for
himself pretty quickly. He
won the Wisconsin Match Play Amateur, the
Wisconsin State Amateur, the U.S. Public
Links and the Western
Amateur – all within in a six-week span. That
was good enough for U.S. captain Jim
Holtgrieve to give him a
spot on the Walker Cup team in September.
Emma Talley won the U.S. Women’s Amateur
after having a
mediocre start to her freshman year. She then
turned it on in the spring – when the Tide
needed it most – and it
translated to her summer play. It paid off at
the Amateur and now she’s a USGA champion.
The U.S. took back the Walker Cup after
losing it at Royal Aberdeen in 2011. Which
American Walker Cupper
was the most valuable player?
Ron: I would have to have co-MVPs on this
one with both Bobby Wyatt and Michael Kim
sharing the honor. The
two were undefeated in leading the U.S. to an
impressive 17-9 victory. Wyatt rolled up a 3-
0-1 record while Kim
was a perfect 3-0-0.
Julie: Based on play alone, it’s a toss-up
between Michael Kim (3-0-0) and Bobby Wyatt
(3-0-1). If we’re talking
about sheer memorability, however, then I
say Nathan Smith (1-1-0). All the noise about
the mid-amateur
mandate leading up to the Walker Cup put
Smith and Todd White in a pretty unenviable
position. Given that
situation, it was cool to watch Smith not only
win his first singles point in three tries, but
win when it was the
cup-defining point. And what a post-round
interview. There were enough cameras and
recorders in his face that
day to make it feel like a Tour event, but
Smith was impressively composed and witty.
From a journalist’s
perspective, it stands out.
Cassie: Bobby Wyatt. Not only did he play all
four sessions and go undefeated (3-0-1), he
and his Alabama
teammate Cory Whitsett had a huge
momentum swing for the U.S. in the first
match of the Walker Cup. Wyatt
made a 4-footer for birdie on 18 to halve the
match and secure a half-point for the
Americans. That was only the
start. He went on to defeat GB&I’s Neil
Raymond twice in singles play, and took down
Nathan Kimsey and Max
Orrin again.
The semifinals of the U.S. Amateur
consisted of an entirely international
foursome. What, if anything, does
that say about the state of amateur golf?
Ron: I think it says what most followers of
amateur golf have known for quite some time
-- the game is global
and there are plenty of very talented players
in every part of the world. Like with the pros,
this can only be a
healthy thing for the amateur game.
Julie: With so many big-name American
collegians in that field (Justin Thomas, Bobby
Wyatt, Cory Whitsett,
Patrick Rodgers), I was surprised that an
American didn’t crack the semifinals. It truly
is a global game, and
Matthew Fitzpatrick was an outstanding
winner.
Cassie: It’s really, really good. Obviously, the
internationals have always had the game to
compete globally, but
this just shows that they mean business,
especially since three different countries were
represented (Canada,
England and Australia) at the U.S. Am. The
same thing happened at the British Amateur
Championship when
American Jim Liu made it to the semifinals.
Golf is a global game and it only continues to
grow worldwide.
Ellen Port won her second consecutive
U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur at CordeValle
in San Martin, Calif.,
also the sixth USGA title of her career. The
women’s record is eight championships. Will
Port to break this
record? If so, when?
Ron: She will set a new women’s record and
surpass the current mark of eight USGA
championships. She has
proven she still has plenty of game and should
be a chief contender in the U.S. Women’s Mid-
Amateur and USGA
Senior Amateur. I can see Port setting the
new level of excellence in 2015.
Julie: Port, at 52, has a lot of good years left.
I think she’ll reach (and likely surpass) eight
in the next two or
three years. Those will probably be Women’s
Senior Amateur titles, but I think Port still has
the game to win a
Women’s Mid-Amateur, too. In the meantime,
Port is a good fit to lead the U.S. at the Curtis
Cup because she’s
energetic, competitive and knowledgeable.
She’s also humble – I liked this quote she
gave the USGA after
winning the 2013 Women’s Senior Am (in
reference to other players who have won lots
of USGA championships
like Tiger Woods, Bob Jones and Jack
Nicklaus): “I don’t put myself up at their level
because they’re the greatest
in the game at their level. But, I’m very
blessed in what I’ve been able to accomplish
in a short time, and I’m
thrilled.”
Cassie: Port has been at the top of her game
for a while now. Just this year, she showed
she can compete at the
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and USGA Senior
Amateur. If not by the end of next year, 2015
will be the year Port
shows she is one of the best women’s
amateurs to ever play the game.