Hudelson rides hot putter to Oklahoma Mid-Am title

Kyle Hudelson leaned hard on his putter in winning the Oklahoma Mid-Amateur at Twin Hills G&CC in Oklahoma City, Okla. Hudelson hit just seven greens in regulation in his opening round of 3-under 69, but got up-and-down from everywhere. He took advantage of the par 5s, going 4 under on those holes, and didn’t miss a putt inside 5 feet.

Hudelson, who formerly played college golf at Oklahoma Christian from 2008-13, followed the opening 69 with an even-par 72 to post a 141 total that was three shots clear of Tyler Trout of Oklahoma City (73-71) and four ahead of a trio that included Rhett Bolen of Edmond (73-72), Eric Fox of Weatherford (75-70) and Peter Vitali of Oklahoma City (74-71).

Hudelson, 31, is now a property and casualty specialist for NFP Property and Casualty of Oklahoma City. This was his fourth OGA event since returning from a three-year stint in San Francisco, and first state championship since his Deer Creek high school team won the state in 2007. He and Clark Collier made it to the final match of the 2017 USGA Four-Ball Championship.

“The course was playing tough with long rough and I didn’t hit it particularly well,” Hudelson said. “But my up-and-down game was really good. The fairways are tight and the greens are small, so I just stayed patient. I was able to take advantage of some of the par-5s (making birdies on 13 and 16 in both rounds) and that really helped me.”

After his short game wizardry on Wednesday, Hudelson chipped in twice Thursday, including on the difficult 18th hole. He knew he had a three-shot cushion to start the hole, but that was looking a bit perilous after flubbing his third shot before ending it with the chip-in.

“That was a fun way to cap it off,” he said while celebrating the victory with family and friends at his home course Gaillardia Country Club. “I just tried to keep everything in front of me today and didn’t have to do anything crazy.”