AmateurGolf.com's Players of the Month: July 2022
01 Aug 2022
by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com
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There wasn't a shortage of candidates for our Players of the Month recognition in July, as amateurs from all corners of the globe caught our attention with their outstanding play.
Consistent play in Elite Amateur Series events carried the day for two of our honorees while one of the top female amateurs in the world added another chapter to her comeback story at Pinehurst's famed No. 2 Course.
The good doctor from Solon, Ohio made a house call at the Golfweek Super Senior National Championship while a father and son team competed for family bragging rights on opposite ends of the globe.
Finally, while the LIV-PGA Tour feud dominated the headlines in July, leave it to the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open to remind us of golf's true spirit and camaraderie. While all 96 individuals who competed at Pinehurst deserve special recognition, we recognize the winners of the men's and women's divisions of a championship which has the potential of growing into one of the USGA’s most impactful events.
AmateurGolf.com's Players of the Month for July, 2022
CALEB SURRATT
The Tennessee-bound Surratt has been the most consistent amateur in the game this summer. In July alone, he reached the final 16 at the North & South Amateur and then followed with a pair of top-five finishes at the Southern Amateur (4th) and Pacific Coast Amateur (t-2) while also reaching the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
JIRI ZUSKA
The Louisville standout by way of Kladno in the Czech Republic quietly went about his business in July, posting three top-five finishes in three Elite Amateur Series events, including the Trans-Miss (t-10th), the Southern Amateur (t-2) and the Pacific Coast Amateur (t-6). He was also the medalist in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifier held at Berkshire Hills in Pittsfield, Mass. where he shot 10-under.
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO
After taking a year off from competitive golf, the Cary, NC native is looking forward to rejoining her Wake Forest teammates this fall. By all accounts, it looks like the two-time Curtis Cup team member has not lost her All-America form, as she won the
North & South Women's Amateur at Pinehurst where she rallied past Auburn’s Megan Schofill 2&1 to win the championship.
MIKE MCCOY and NATE MCCOY
July was a pretty good month for the McCoy family. Mike jump-started the month with a runaway victory at the
British Senior Amateur held at esteemed Royal Dornoch in Scotland, where he battled four days of high wins to post a seven-shot win over fellow American Lee Porter. The 2023 Walker Cup captain called his third-round 69 in gale-like conditions off the Dornoch Firth as being "one of the best of my life."
In much calmer conditions back home, Mike's son, Nate, won the
120th Iowa Amateur Championship at Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport. The younger McCoy went into the final round tied for the lead and preceded to shoot a final round 68 which led to a seven-stroke victory. With the win, McCoy became the first player to win the IGA Mid-Amateur Championship, the IGA Match Play Championship and the Iowa Amateur Championship in a single season.
MARC FRIED
Two top-five finishes, including a win at the
Golfweek Super Senior National Championship, earned the Ohio native his first player of the month nod. Dr. Fried came from five shots off the lead in the final round to defeat Gary Durbin in a playoff to win the Golfweek Super Senior National at The Golf Club Of Georgia's Lakeside Course. He closed out a strong month with a fourth-place finish in the Society of Seniors Jack Hesler Invitational.
SIMON LEE and KIM MOORE
Simon Lee and Kim Moore make history as the first winners of
U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst. Lee, a 25-year-old professional from South Korea, was one of 10 players in the intellectual impairment category, finished the 54-hole event knotted at 3-under 213 with Felix Norman of Sweden, a 25-year-old with tuberous sclerosis who competed in the same category. Thanks in part to a memorable 20-foot birdie putt, Lee won a two-hole aggregate playoff by two strokes.
Moore, 41, won the women’s division by a commanding seven strokes. Born without a right foot and a severely clubbed left foot, Moore, who serves as the head women's golf coach at Western Michigan, led from start to finish, ending each round at the top of the leaderboard. She opened the tournament on Monday shooting a 76, followed up by an 80 on Tuesday and a final round of 76 for a 54-hole total of 232 (+16).