Controversy And Excitement At U.S. Junior Amateur Championship At Baltusrol
The first round of stroke-play for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship was not without controversy and excitement.
The controversy involved one of the two New Jersey residents playing in the event, Will O’Neill of Morristown, who signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified.
Some of the excitement was achieved by Travis Vick, 18, from Hunters Creek Village, Texas, who made the first double eagle in the 70-year history of the U.S. Junior Amateur. The double-eagle, which came on the eighth hole of the Upper Course, helped him complete a round of 4-under 67, for a time putting him atop the leaderboard on Monday. His 3-iron shot from 250 yards ended up in the cup for the double eagle on the par-5 hole.
Also, Luke Ludwig, 17, of Effingham, Ill., posted his first hole-in-one Monday on Baltusrol’s Upper Course when he aced the 176-yard, par-3 15th hole with an 8-iron. It was the 15th known hole-in-one in U.S. Junior Amateur history. A hole-in-one has now been recorded in the championship in three straight years.
O’Neill incorrectly signed for 5-over-par 75 after he completed his round on the Lower Course. According to a report on NJ.com, shortly after O'Neill signed his scorecard and finished his interviews, O'Neill discovered his error. The USGA scoring website showed that he'd taken four strokes to play the par-4 14th, when he had actually taken five strokes, including a drop on the hole, so he should have signed for a 76.
The recent graduate of Morristown High School rushed back to the scoring area to report the error, but it was already too late; O'Neill was disqualified for signing for a score lower than his actual score, prematurely ending his run in the championship.
"I'm just disappointed. I just wanted to get a chance to play the second round, have a chance to get to match play. But I'll learn from it, I guess," said O’Neill, who will attend Georgetown University.
The other New Jersey resident playing in the event, Sean Taylor of Westfield, shot a 12-over-par 83 on the Upper Course.
“It was definitely not my best day. I got off to a rough start and couldn’t get it going,” said Taylor a graduate of Westfield High School who will play golf at the University of Rhode Island. “It was exciting to play here. This is as good as it gets.”
Taylor was six over for his first five holes. He did card a birdie on the par-3 15th hole.
“I was nervous on the first hole. I made some dumb mistakes that are easily fixable. I’ll got out tomorrow and try to enjoy myself,” said Taylor, 18.
John Driscoll III of Lake Mary, Fla., who won the 2014 NJSGA William Y. Dear Boys Championship at Suburban Golf Club, shot a 4-over-par 74 on the Lower Course, thanks to an eagle on the par-5, 556-yard 18th hole. There, Driscoll hit a 4 iron from 247 yards to 15 feet and drained the putt.
He was medalist at his qualifier by two strokes with a 66 at the Country Club of Winter Haven in Florida. The Driscoll family moved to Florida two years ago.
“I was very happy to get that eagle on 18,” said Driscoll III, 17, who is a rising senior at Lake Mary Prep in his hometown and has committed to Northwestern University. His family maintains a membership at Arcola Country Club in Paramus.
“Hitting it in the wrong spots can really penalize you. I want to play a nice round tomorrow and get into match play. I figure anywhere around par would be a good score,” he said.
Driscoll withdrew from the championship after playing 17 holes on Tuesday, a victim of a heavy downpour that drenched the area in the afternoon.
According to his father, John: "While John was on the 18th tee, they blew the horn to stop play. He had waited 3.5 hours to finish and then withdrew. He was going to miss the cut and wanted to try and catch a flight to Jacksonville to play in the U.S. Amateur qualifier in the morning."
The U.S. Junior is open to any boy who is 18 or younger on July 21, the final day of the championship, and has a handicap index of 4.4 or less. A total of 3,693 players entered the U.S. Junior. The 18-hole qualifying rounds conducted in 40 states helped narrow the field to 156 golfers.
The second round of stroke play takes place on Tuesday over both the Upper and Lower Courses at Baltusrol, with the top 64 advancing to the match-play bracket. Starting Wednesday, six rounds of match play on the Upper Course will determine the champion, with the 36-hole final match being played on Saturday.
The winner receives an exemption for all future U.S. Junior Amateurs until he is no longer eligible, an exemption into the next two U.S. Amateurs and an exemption into the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
