“You know, it’s still sinking in a little bit. You’re just out there grinding, and I didn’t necessarily have my best stuff today, but I kept it in the fairway, and I hit greens, and I putted really well,” said Copeland.
Copeland slept on a two-shot lead after posting an opening round even par 71. Though he dropped to plus-one after a bogey on the third, he got that shot back with a birdie on the uphill par-4 No. 9, when his bending, 15-foot birdie putt trundled into the right side of the cup.
“That helped, and then I just had to calm myself down, you know, I wanted to make sure I didn’t get all excited about that, but I was happy to be even par and knew what was in front of me,” said Copeland.
With some breathing room established, Copeland was a fairway-green-two-putt machine on the inward nine, notching nine consecutive pars to keep the field at bay. Frank Vana Jr. was the only player to pose a threat. After a disappointing opening 5-over 76, Vana Jr. posted the only under-par round of the tournament, with a two-under 69. He piled up four birdies, including two on the difficult back nine, coming in with 33.
Even with the Hall of Famer Vana lurking, Copeland remained focused on his own game: “I don’t pay attention to the leaderboard, so I really don’t know. I know if I just go out there and hit fairways and greens and make pars and maybe sneak a few birdies in there, the rest just takes care of itself.”
After holing a four-foot par putt on No. 17, Copeland knocked his approach on No. 18 to about 15 feet. From there, fittingly, he nestled it up to a foot and tapped in for the win. He became the first player since Vana in 2018 to win both the Lowery Division at the Ouimet Memorial Tournament and the Senior Amateur in the same season.