skip to main content

U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR

64th Seed Frost Stuns Medalist Hogarth at U.S. Senior Am

By David Shefter, USGA

| Aug 30, 2021 | Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

Kory Frost delivered the biggest win in his brief USGA career by ousting record-tying medalist Tim Hogarth in 21 holes. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

66th U.S. Senior Amateur Home

What Happened

For the previous two days at the Country Club of Detroit, Tim Hogarth’s golf game had been impeccable. The Northridge, Calif. resident made 11 birdies against one bogey during 36 holes of stroke play in the 66th U.S. Senior Amateur, matching the championship scoring mark of 134.

But the medalist and top seed couldn’t find the same form in match play on Monday, particularly with the putter.

No. 64 seed Kory Frost, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., took full advantage of his opponent’s struggles. Playing with a nothing-to-lose mindset, the 64-year-old stunned Hogarth in a 21-hole thriller. It was the first time since 2003 that the No. 1 seed was ousted in the Round of 64.

Frost, who watched Hogarth miss a 5-foot par putt to win the match on the par-4 20th hole, executed a magnificent 20-yard greenside bunker shot on the par-5 21st hole to 2 feet. Hogarth, the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion and 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up, also hit an excellent pitch from the fairway to 5 feet, but missed the birdie putt. Wasting little time, Frost converted his birdie attempt to eliminate the veteran of 37 USGA championships.

“It’s a little prayer there,” said Frost of his bunker shot. “That’s a tough shot. I knew that Tim was going to knock it close. I thought for sure he would make the putt.”

Hogarth, who just turned 55 in June to become eligible for the U.S. Senior Amateur, had seen this type of nervous performance creep up before. Besides the short putts in extra holes, he also failed to convert a 2-footer to win the par-5 ninth.

“I get a nervous feeling in my hands with the putter,” said Hogarth. “And I putted terrible, just awful.

“But Kory played well and deserved to win.”

Frost, who grew up in the small northern Montana town of Kevin (population 200) near Glacier National Park, won the first hole with a par and the seventh with a birdie. Hogarth did birdie the par-3 eighth and then holed a 7-iron from 180 yards for an eagle 2 on the 441-yard 12th hole to tie the match. After they traded winning holes at Nos. 14 and 15, the stage was set for extra holes.

“I think it’s harder on him from a perspective that he’s been playing well, and probably thinks it’s going to continue,” said Frost, who advanced to the Round of 16 in his first USGA event, the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur at Old Chatham in Durham, N.C. “[But] I was ready to shake his hands several times.”

That wasn’t the only marathon match of the day. Steve Harwell, of Mooresville, N.C., a quarterfinalist in 2019, eliminated 2018 champion Jeff Wilson, of Fairfield, Calif., in 23 holes. A two-putt par from 20 feet on the 242-yard, par-3 fifth hole allowed Harwell to advance. Wilson found the right greenside bunker and missed his par putt from 18 feet.

Early on, it looked like Harwell might be making a quick exit. Wilson won the first three holes, including an eagle on the par-5 third. The tide turned when Harwell made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and took the par-5 10th with a par.

“He’s one of the titans and I knew that,” said Harwell of Wilson, one of two players to earn low-amateur honors in the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. “All I kept saying was keep hitting good putts and they will eventually go in.”

No. 2 seed Chip Lutz, of Reading, Pa., the active consecutive cut streak leader in the U.S. Senior Amateur at 11, overcame a 2-down deficit after two holes to defeat Robert Nelson, of Fairhope, Ala., 5 and 3. The 2015 champion won six of the next eight holes in upping his total match wins in this championship to 26.

Third seed Sean Knapp, of Oakmont, Pa., the 2017 champion; fourth seed and 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball runner-up Sherrill Britt, of West End, N.C.; fifth seed and 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur runner-up Roger Newsom, of Virginia Beach, Va.; sixth seed and 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Michael McCoy, of Des Moines, Iowa; and eighth seed Chris Fieger, of Denver, Pa., also advanced. Hanzel improved his match-play record in the Senior Amateur to 21-7.

No. 7 Jeff Knox, of Augusta, Ga., was the only other top-eight seed to be eliminated, falling to 2017 semifinalist Craig Davis, of Chula Vista, Calif., 4 and 2.

What’s Next

Match play continues on Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. EDT with the Round of 32. That will be followed with the Round of 16, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, with the 18-hole championship match set for Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Spectators are welcome to attend, and admission is free.

null

2019 runner-up Roger Newsom rolled to a 7-and-5 victory in his Round-of-64 match on Monday at the C.C. of Detroit. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

Notable

  • An overnight storm dropped 1.24 inches of rain, but outside of a few puddles outside the ropes, the course absorbed the storm nicely. It was the second time in four days the club received a heavy dose of rain, yet the players hardly noticed, outside of slightly softer greens.

  • This is the third consecutive USGA championship in which the medalist/top seed has fallen in the Round of 64. Rachel Kuehn lost to Marissa Wenzler in the U.S. Women’s Amateur; Mark Goetz fell to David Nyjfall at the U.S. Amateur and Tim Hogarth lost to Kory Frost.
     
  • California led the way with nine players qualifying for match play. Georgia followed with seven and North Carolina had 5. Dave Bunker, of Canada, was the only international golfer to make the final 64.

  • Four matches went extra holes in the Round of 64. Besides the losses by Hogarth and Wilson, Tom Peterson defeated two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Tim Jackson in 21 holes, and Brad Wayment needed 20 holes to eliminate Mark Morgan.

  • Reigning Ohio Senior Amateur champion Michael Kelley, of Westerville, who lost to No. 4 seed Sherrill Britt, of West End, N.C., 2 and 1, attended Miami (Ohio) University with new USGA CEO Mike Whan and studied and traveled abroad with Whan. This was Kelley’s 22nd USGA championship.

  • Looking ahead to the Round of 32, two matches stand out. Two of Iowa’s finest, McCoy and his U.S. Amateur Four-Ball partner, Gene Elliott, go off at 10:18 a.m. They have played in a combined 100 USGA championships, own 15 Iowa Player of the Year awards and have captured dozens of state titles. At 8:54 a.m., Georgia rivals and close friends Bob Royak and William Mitchell square off. Royak won this championship in 2019, the last time the event was contested, and Mitchell was the low amateur in this year’s U.S. Senior Open at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club.

  • Alternate Daniel Russo, one of the last players into the field, advanced to the Round of 32 with a 2-and-1 win over 2019 semifinalist Rick Cloninger. Russo replaced exempt player Craig Hurlbert on Wednesday, when Hurlbert withdrew due to a work commitment.

Quotable

“There’s a self-imposed pressure that is put on a situation where you feel like you’re the favorite. Everyone here can play. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me. When I’ve won big events in the past, I have always come in as the underdog. As you get a little bit of notoriety, there comes a pressure. People rise up against me and I tend to wilt. I did it again today.” – medalist and top seed Tim Hogarth after his 21-hole loss

“Experience is very important just to keep your confidence level and try to remember that you’ve got what it takes to hang in there long enough to the point where maybe the other guy gets a little nervous, and you might start putting some doubt in their mind. You try not to show too much emotion and stay in the game.” – 2015 champion Chip Lutz after rallying from an early 2-down deficit to post a 5-and-3 win

“Two years ago, I had a lot of success in this tournament. It’s just getting that first one out of the way. But when you have your first match against a past champion, I was like, whoa!” – 2019 quarterfinalist Steve Harwell on drawing 2018 champion Jeff Wilson in the Round of 64

“I root for him and he roots for me. We battled each other in California this year [at the George Thomas Invitational] and also we were paired together at the Trans-Miss in Northern California. It’s a unique situation.” – Gene Elliott on his Tuesday matchup with fellow Iowan and U.S. Amateur Four-Ball partner Michael McCoy in the Round of 32

“It’s really special. I have my family here and friends from my club (Oakland Hills). I get to drive home and cook a steak on the grill tonight and come back here tomorrow.” – Tom Gieselman, of Commerce Township, Mich., one of two current residents of the Wolverine State among the final 32

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

The Social Scene






More From the 66th U.S. Senior Amateur

Championships Photos: Monday at C.C. of Detroit
Championships Photos: Sunday at C.C. of Detroit
Championships Palmer’s 1954 U.S. Amateur Win Celebrated at C.C. of Detroit
Championships Hogarth Ties Scoring Marks En Route to U.S. Senior Am Medalist