Chris Devlin of Birmingham, Alabama, and Paul Mitzel of Gig Harbor, Wash., won the Trans-Mississippi Mid-Master and Mid-Amateur Championships at The Club at Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte, Ore. In 2024, the TMGA split its Senior/Mid-Master event into two separate tournaments and added a Mid-Amateur division to the latter.
We have to start with the Mid-Master Division, where Devlin posted a draw-dropping number of 20-under.
Devlin was in a world of his own, finishing 20-under with rounds of 63-67-66 to run away from the rest of the field by a whopping 14 strokes. It's the kind of result that makes the research team at AmateurGolf.com do a "refresh" on the Golf Genius leaderboard to make sure we weren't seeing double.
Carson Pilcher of Atlanta finished in solo second place at 6-under, and Chris Thayer of Golden, Colorado, finished in solo third place at 3-under. Only three golfers to finish under par in the Mid-Master Division.
MID-AMATEUR DIVISION
In the Mid-Amateur Division, Paul Mitzel went wire-to-wire with rounds of 65-71-69 to win the championship by four shots at 11-under.
"Honestly, it was new territory for me," Mitzel said. "I don't think I have really gone wire-to-wire (to win)"
Mitzel added, "I have been working hard on my putting to get ready for the U.S. Mid-Amateur [at Virginia's Kinloch G.C.] next week. I made it to match play last year and got beat up pretty badly in match play. The guy I faced was one of the best putters I have ever seen, so I knew I needed to work on my putting more."
Mitzel's first U.S. Mid-Amateur was last year, and he qualified again this year to make it two trips in a row. He faced the No. 1 seed, Jeronimo Esteve, in the round of 64 match play last year, losing 3 and 2.
"It was a learning experiment for me and a good one, to be quite honest," Mitzel said about going wire-to-wire at the Trans-Miss Mid-Am. "This entire week was meant to be prep for next week and work that competitive muscle. The game is in a good place, and I am really proud of myself."
Mitzel may not have gone wire-to-wire before, but he picked up a big win in 2022 at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Amateur.
Forbes Collins of Lake Forest in Southern California finished in solo second place at 7-under, and Harrison Moir of Portland, Oregon finished in solo third place at 5-under.