There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart-breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid-Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
Compiling a list of the best of them for 2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my top 10:
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Williamson captured titles in two of the most long running, tradition-rich amateur events in the country. He won the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort. A couple of weeks later laid claim to the Southern Amateur crown, outlasting Alabama All-American Bobby Wyatt when he sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark.
The following month he tied for 10th in the 72-hole stroke-play portion of the prestigious Western Amateur at Exmoor Country Club just outside Chicago to advance to the Sweet 16 where he advanced to the semifinals of match play before bowing out on the 20th hole against Jordan Russell, a recent Texas A&M grad.
Later in the month he qualified for match play in the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, but lost in the opening round 3 and 2 to then top-ranked Chris Williams.
