Birdie Barrage Helps Nichols Earn Spot in U.S. Amateur
8/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Note: Nichols shot 77 (+7) at Oakmont Country Club on Monday (Aug. 18) and 72 (+2) at Pittsburgh Field Club on Tuesday (Aug. 19) to tie for 80th with his 149 total. He did not qualify for the 64-player match play field.
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Rising senior Dave Nichols (Mesa, Ariz./Rochester Adams HS, Mich.) of the University of Michigan men's golf team qualified for the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship after staying alive in a four-way playoff for three remaining qualifying spots Aug. 4-5 at Ocotillo Golf Club.
| | Nichols |
After opening with a six-under-par 65, which included nine birdies, Nichols followed with a one-under 70 for a 135 total, putting him in a four-way tie for the second position behind regional medalist Ken Kellaney, who finished at 134.
In the playoff, Albany's Paul Welle birdied the second hole to secure a spot as the remaining three -- Nichols, Mesa's Aaron Watkins and Phoenix's Ben Flam -- all parred. All three parred the third hole before the drama hit at the fourth playoff hole. Watkins had an eight-foot putt and Flam was six feet away, while Nichols had a 15-foot putt remaining. After Nichols just missed the long putt, he tapped in for a bogey. Watkins sank his putt for par and earned the third spot. Flam pushed his putt four feet past the hole and then lipped out his next putt to double bogey, giving Nichols the final spot.
Wolverine head coach Andrew Sapp also tried to qualify for the U.S. Amateur and is an alternate after rounds of 74 and 73 for a 147 total July 28 at the Katke Cousins Golf Course in Rochester, Mich.
Q U O T E S
Dave Nichols
On qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Championship ... "This is just amazing. This actually is the first USGA event I have ever qualified for. I am really, really pumped for it. I haven't been sleeping much lately because I am so nervous, but I think once I get there and it all really sinks in I should be fine. But lately, I have just gotten up in the middle of the night and taken online tours of the course trying to map everything out in my head and find all the little nuances I am going to need."
On the regional qualifier ... "In the first round, I was driving the ball well, nothing great, but my wedge game was on fire. From 120 yards in I was just sticking everything. I was just seeing all the lines on my putts and I was making them. I had nine birdies, which kind of shocked me at the end of the round since everyone who was there could really hit the ball. In the second round, I actually was striking the ball better, I just wasn't sinking any of the long putts. I hated to get in the way I did. I couldn't even watch Ben's (Flam) final putt. But I will admit, I was watching out of the corner of my eye."
U.S. Amateur Championship Site
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
